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FOOTBALL NEVER ENDS
WHAT A DONNIE-BROOK
Posted: Thu, January 22nd, 2015, 11:26 PM
by Beano
• Permalink
SINCE WE LAST SPOKE: 1-22-15

BIDDING BAJAKIAN BYE: Through the first two years of Butch Jones’ tenure as the Vols Head Man I have resisted the urge to quickly judge his coaching staff or approach. I have steadfastly supported the thought process that you can’t accurately –or fairly- evaluate coaches or how they use the players at their disposal when many of their conference opponents have much more to work with. That being said I must admit I have been far from sold on Mike Bajakian and have even entertained early thoughts that the Vols may have an SEC-caliber defensive staff and a Big East offensive staff. While not the President of the Mike Bajakian fan club there is something very comforting about staff stability –in very short supply around here for years- and Jones will now be forced to hire only the second OC of his 8 year head coaching career. I also believe that regardless of who replaces Bajakian that the offense will remain exactly what Butch Jones wants it to be. He won’t soon be seeking my council but unsolicited here is what I want it to be; one that requires less carries by Josh Dobbs lessening his chance of missed time due to injury; a RB-by-committee approach that still features but preserves Jalen Hurd; a more cohesive O-Line alignment with a more physical and sound technique blocking approach and much more efficiency in short yardage and red zone opportunities. That is probably too much to ask from one man but not if the right candidate is selected and his boss is willing to adjust his thinking slightly as well.

COMPLIANCE COASTER: What a roller coaster ride the Donnie Tyndall vs the NCAA posse has been and will continue to be. UP- the Vols hire Donnie Tyndall who amazingly pieces together a roster in the spring that has fans excited. DOWN- an investigation of Tyndall’s time at Southern Miss is made public- UP the Vols are fun to watch and play as hard as any team seen here in a number of years. DOWN- NCAA Investigators visit campus and shortly thereafter two assistants resign due to personal reasons. UP- through distraction after distraction the Vols get off to an amazing start in the SEC and Tyndall and what remains of the staff continue to endear themselves to the Big Orange faithful. DOWN- Southern Miss in a preemptive strike announce a self-imposed post season ban that fuels some in the national media to suggest it is another strike against Donnie Tyndall though it is likely only a for-show one-game penalty and has NO bearing and gives NO indication of what is to come for the Vol’s coach. UP the Vols go to 3-0 on the road with a win in Columbia mere hours after Southern Miss’ dog and pony show of contrition. And so it will continue with the receipt of the NCAA letter, to the gnashing of teeth and forecasts of doom sure to follow, to the meeting with the Committee on Infractions, to the announcement of penalties, to the ultimate decision of Tyndall’s fate. All of which appears will be interspersed with Tennessee’s Basketball Team surprising everyone and making all of Big Orange Country hold their breath even more in hopes that the coach we all have become so fond of can somehow survive.

VERY EARLY EXPECTATIONS: In the age of a team’s best players bolting to the NFL after their junior seasons Year 3 has become a time of judgment for most college football coaches; a time when -fair or not- fans and administrators expectations are raised and lasting judgments are formed. Butch Jones and his Team 119 face that daunting realization this fall. Though I think most believe 2016 would be a more reasonable target for SEC East Championship aspirations a significant leap forward will –and should- be expected beginning in September. Though I don’t profess to speak for the Big Orange Nation as a whole I don’t expect and certainly won’t demand that the Vols play in Atlanta on December 5th. That would seem to be skipping a rung on our hopefully steady climb up the SEC ladder. I do expect us however to remain in the conversation beyond our recent jumping off point which in the last several years has been long before Halloween. That being said here is one Vol fan’s desire for the 2015 football season:

DEFEND OUR TURF: Neyland Stadium -once a feared venue for any and every opponent- has seen far too many celebrations by someone other than the home team in recent years. The Vols have lost three home games in seven of the last ten seasons with 2007 being the only year in that timeframe with only one home loss (2 losses in 2006 & 2009). Not surprisingly that was the last time the Vols made an SEC Championship Game appearance. In order for the Vols to have the season we all hope for they must end the five-year streak of suffering three home losses. With both juggernaut Alabama and the invincible –for us- Florida Gators on the road this year, the success of the season will depend on how the Vols fare in the four games in Neyland versus Oklahoma (Sept 12), Arkansas (Oct 3), Georgia (Oct 10) and South Carolina (Nov 7). For my satisfaction –and sanity- Tennessee must win two of the three SEC games mentioned above and a win over the Sooners would be gravy.

COACHO OCHO: What I once derided I now desire. For the 2015 season ONLY I will be satisfied with 8 regular season wins. If the Vols can finish no worse at home than the 6-2 stated above (including Bowling Green in Nashville) then a split of their four road games (@Fla, Bama, KY & Mizzou) will accomplish the magic eight-ball. Which brings me to the last of my expectations…

BEAT MISSOURI: I don’t care if Mizzou has been the most surprising team in the league –and possibly the country- the last two seasons it is time for the Vols to register their first SEC win versus Gary Pinkel’s Tigers. As we have seen for as long as most can remember a win in Gainesville regardless of the Gators inadequacies is a Haley’s Comet-like occurrence for the Vols and Alabama is …well….Alabama. That leaves Missouri and Kentucky as must-win outings. The Cats have about as much luck against us as we have versus the Gators so a visit to Columbia could prove to be of equal importance as the four-game home stretch mentioned above. The time is now for the Vols to officially welcome the Tigers to our league.

BLOGGER’S NOTE: Back on August 21st I wrote a segment on how the 2014 Tennessee Football Team could finish the regular season at 7-5. While falling a game short of that Team 118 did win 7 games total so I thought it might be interesting to revisit my blueprint to get to seven wins and see where the Vols fulfilled and faltered according to my “master” plan. Portions of what I wrote that day are italicized with current comments bolded:

HOW TO KEEP ALIVE 7-5: A couple of weeks back Jonathan Reed started a firestorm with his contention that Tennessee Fans should EXPECT the Vols to finish no worse than 7-5 this season. As only Tony –and his Phillies bullpen- can do he fanned the flames by adding “Reed says anything less would be a failure”. I think the Twitter uproar was due to a Cool Hand Luke-like “failure to communicate”. Jon said “expect” while most heard “demand”. Reed later amended –or stated more plainly- that 6-6 would show signs of progress and be acceptable but 7-5 is not an unreasonable expectation. With that clarified I agree with young Jon 100%. This team can win 7 games and here is what they will have to do different from last season and beyond to make it happen:

START 2-0: Not long ago starting off the season with Utah State and Arkansas State would have Tennessee fans counting their chickens and the staff game planning for Oklahoma but this “ain’t” then. The Aggies and Red Wolves won the Poinsettia and GoDaddy.com bowls respectively while the Vols were home for the holidays for the third consecutive year. Utah State won the Mountain Division in their first Mountain West Conference season and Ark. State shared the Sunbelt Title.


CHECK: The Vols routed Utah State and Arkansas State by a combined score of 72-26. The Aggies recovered to finish 10-4 and routed UTEP 45-10 in the Royal Purple Bowl. Arkansas State on the other hand finished a disappointing 7-6 but one of the seven wins came against Utah State

PROTECT OUR QUARTERBACK: Say what you will about the departing offensive lineman they could pass protect. Over the last three seasons (2011-13) they finished no lower than T-2nd in sacks allowed in the SEC (2011-18; 2012-8; 2013-15).

AAAAAANT!! (My imitation of wrong answer buzzer) Though improving dramatically after Joshua Dobbs took the reins the Vols allowed a whopping 43 sacks on the season and finished dead last in the SEC in sacks allowed

SAAAAAACK THEIR QUARTERBACK: Tennessee garnered only 18 sacks in 2013 good for dead-last in the SEC in that crucial category.

DISCOUNT DOUBLE CHECK: The Vols fell only one sack short of doubling their 2013 total with 35. A healthy Curt Maggitt led the way with 11 followed closely by wunderkind Derek Barnett with 10

END A COUPLE OF RIDICULOUS LOSING STREAKS: This just in; to quote Phil –The Mayor of SoNo- Vandy should N-E-V-E-R be on a winning streak against the Vols…..
Missouri is the other rash that Tennessee must scratch.


HALF CREDIT: Though it wasn’t easy and definitely wasn’t pretty the Vandy streak -to quote the great Philadelphia again- is O-V-E-R. Missouri however continues to be a bizarre burr in the Big Orange bohunkus as well as the rest of the Eastern Division

KEEP THE FLIPPIN BALL: The Vols bested only Vandy (32.97%) and Kentucky (30.91) in converting third downs with a paltry 57 conversions in 159 attempts (35.85) in 2013.

BARELY MEASURABLE PROGRESS: The Vols improved only slightly in 3rd Down Conversions to 38.94 % besting only the usual suspects Vandy (29.68) and Kentucky (33.88) along with a Florida Offense (36.46) that got everyone associated with the Gator program fired.

GET THE #@$& OFF THE FIELD: God Bless Kentucky. Along with Arkansas they were the only ones keeping the 2013 Vols from being the worst in the SEC; heck maybe the worst in the world at 3rd down conversions of any kind. The Vols finished 12th in the SEC in Opponents 3rd Down Conversions allowing opposing offenses to successfully convert 3rd downs 42.5% of the time (71 of 167).

FRICKIN OUTSTANDING: I don’t care if it was lil Jon or channeling Big John Henderson the Vols were outstanding defensively on 3rd down allowing conversions on only 65 of 190 opponent attempts. That was good for 2nd in the SEC trailing only Ole Miss’ (Pre TCU) daunted Land Shark Defense.


STOP THE STAMPEDE: The Vols finished 13th in the SEC in Rushing Defense in 2013 surrendering 207.33 ypg and 5.26 ypc. Texas A&M was the only team that exhibited that type run-stopping ineptitude and the Aggies had the worst defense in the history of the SEC not coordinated by a guy named Sunseiri.

A NICE STEP: The Vols held opponents rushing attacks to 39 less yards /game in 2014 surrendering 168 yards per contest good for 9th in the SEC

CONCLUSION: The Vols accomplished much of what I suggested they must but fell short of the 7 regular season win plateau in large part due to an inability to protect Justin Worley and yet another loss to Missouri. Here’s guessing that the line’s performance –with an assist from a full year of Dobbs- is improved in 2015 and the Tiger’s mastery over the Vols ends as well leading to the first 8 win or more season since 2007.

ROAD NOT SO WOEFUL As the calendar flipped and college basketball teams turned to conference play I was convinced that most SEC teams would struggle mightily on the road. It was apparent from non-conference results that Kentucky was in a different stratosphere and Mississippi State was on a level that only an archeologist would love. With very little discernible difference between the remaining 12 league members I was convinced that home court would be the deciding factor in an even greater percentage of outcomes than usual. Though very few SEC venues are known for their raucous environment the comfort of one’s own room and routine combined with the persistent favorable home whistle inherent with CBB has overcome talent deficits more than most of us care to admit. In a league like the SEC where the differences in most teams are imperceptible you would think the advantage would be even greater. Thus far however that hasn’t been the case. We’re only five games into the conference season and 10 of the 14 members have registered at least one road win. The only squads yet to scratch on the road are Auburn, South Carolina, Missouri and Vandy while only Kentucky has yet to lose at home. Our Tennessee Vols have provided the other surprise by being the only SEC team to be 3-0 away from their friendly confines with the Cats only traveling twice to-date. Home SEC teams are currently only 7 games over .500 at 21-14. I thought it would take at least half the conference schedule to total that many wins away from home and that most of those would be registered by Kentucky or occur at The Hump.

IN A PERFECT WORLD: Donnie Tyndall would be Tennessee's Basketball Coach

Caitlin Clark
Posted: Fri, Mar 1st, 2:21 PM
We can now officially congratulate Caitlin Clark on breaking the record for the most points scored in women’s basketball!

Caitlin Clark is the biggest superstar in college basketball (men’s or women’s). That’s not just me being a fan, Caitlin Clark is HER! Caitlin scored 49 points on February 15th to pass Kelsey Plum’s NCAA record for the most career points in women’s college basketball..... [more]
It's a Love Story
Posted: Wed, Feb 14th, 11:23 AM
Jared (the redneck from Roanoke, VA) thought the Taylor Swift coverage would end with the Super Bowl, but this love story isn’t going anywhere. In a game that was four hours and 18 minutes (that’s a total of 15,480 seconds). Swift only appeared for around 55 seconds! 55 SECONDS from the moment the game kicked off to the overtime touchdown.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C3ONwhRyugP/.... [more]
Missouri Game Preview
Posted: Thu, Nov 9th, 12:56 PM
by Josh
The Vols did what they were expected to do against UConn. There's not really much to say about that game. The game this Saturday in Columbia, Missouri will decide whether or not this season is a failure in my opinion. If they Vols lose, they are staring at 8-4 and probably the Gator Bowl. Maybe Reliaquest..... [more]
Connecticut Game Preview
Posted: Thu, Nov 2nd, 6:19 PM
by Josh
The Vols are coming back to Neyland Stadium and I am returning after a discretionary bye week. I'll be honest with you. This year it seems like I've been writing the same preview over and over because the formula to win has been the same pretty much every SEC game. I didn't want to sound like a broken record so I needed a bit of a break from that.

I'll start with some general observations..... [more]



Calhoun's Atop Bearden Hill
6515 Kingston Pike
Knoxville, TN
865.673.3377

Calhoun's on the River
400 Neyland Drive
Knoxville, TN
865.673.3355

Calhoun's at Pellissippi Parkway
10020 Kingston Pike
Knoxville, TN
865.673.3444



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