MONDAY ON MY MIND
WALKING THE ORANGE MILE: If you weren’t convinced already, Saturday’s loss to an average, beat-up, South Carolina team -and the putrid offensive showing that caused it- should provide all the evidence needed that the Butch Jones era at Tennessee is reaching its conclusion. It is now not a question of if, but when? I have no sources or brilliant insight just a long-term period of following the program and an educated gut. It’s telling me that he coached his last game at Neyland Stadium yesterday. I think the axe will drop shortly after Alabama does what everyone expects and drops the Vols to 0-4 in the SEC and under .500 on the season. Tennessee fans are the most loyal of any in America but there is only so much that even the most dedicated group can stomach. If Jones somehow miraculously survives beyond Halloween I would hate to guess just how few people will be in the stands when Southern Miss comes calling on September 4th.
SAD GAMECOCK TAKEAWAYS
-With all that’s going on within and surrounding the program I thought the player’s focus and effort was commendable. Talent and desire is not the issue; direction is.
-The Vols offense has now gone 10 quarters without scoring a TD. And we thought the Clawfense was bad. That has to be the longest period without penetrating the end zone in modern UT history. If it’s not I’m sure as hell not going to research when it occurred.
-Jarrett Guarantano wasn’t awful by any measure. He too was hamstrung by an offensive staff hell-bent on dinking their way down the field. He is however far from the program savior many were making him out to be and his ability to escape is startlingly lacking.
-When you complete two passes -as the Vols did on their first possession of the second half- and it’s still 3rd and 3, it’s hard to refer to those as “forward” passes.
-Has anyone seen Tyler Bird other than on Twitter?
-John Kelly is so good, yet our offensive line, passing game and play calling inadequacies make it impossible for him to truly shine. You just can’t keep running at your opponent’s team picture and be effective over the course of a game.
-Ty Chandler looks to be as good as advertised.
-The Vols Red Zone issues have gone beyond laughable to absurd. They would be better off to put Kelly in the Wildcat and direct snap it to him every play inside the 20.
-I’m still trying to figure out how on a day when we caught every break, didn’t commit a turnover, playing a bad opponent, who played a D+ game we still got beat at home.
-Thought our defense played pretty well overall. Hard to tell for sure because Carolina’s offense isn’t a juggernaut to start with and lost its top back early.
WHAT WE LEARNED IN WEEK SEVEN:
FRIDAY THE 13TH: You expect a little craziness to happen in college football games played on a night traditionally reserved for high school. But you expect it to happen to members of Conference USA and the Big West not Power-5 squads. I’m not sure what Clemson and Washington State were doing on the undercard but the Tigers lost a split-decision and the Cougars got knocked out. Both entered their respective games in the Top-10 and seemingly cruising toward headliner games in the weeks ahead to becoming headline punchlines. Clemson has at least a bit of an excuse for the loss to Syracuse losing QB Kelly Bryant to injury in the second quarter but there were simply no believable explanations for WSU’s performance in a 37-3 beatdown at the hands of Cal who was 0-3 in the PAC-12. Colorful Cougar Coach Mike Leach didn’t try saying
''There's no bright spot. We were pathetic, we're a bunch of pathetic front-runners''.
STILL SOME VOODOO IN TIGER STADIUM: Wasn’t it only two weeks ago that Troy made Ed Orgeron seem like the worst hire in the SEC since Mike Price at Alabama? And most LSU fans thought they would have been better off if Coach O hadn’t made it past the spring meetings himself. Then Ed and his Tigers turned some of the noise down by getting a much-needed victory in Gainesville. Saturday, they muted it completely -or deflected it toward Gus Malzahn- coming back from a 20-0 deficit against then #10 Auburn for a 27-23 win. Though LSU’s offense is still nothing that will strike fear in the hearts of anyone around say, Tuscaloosa, their defense held Auburn to just 64 yards and no points. I don’t believe in Voodoo or Black Magic as many who reside in the Bayou do; but don’t tell Auburn there’s not some kind of mojo going on in Death Valley. They haven’t won there since 1999.
JUST PLAY FLAG FOOTBALL: I’m not sure what that was we witnessed in Morgantown on Saturday but it was rarely “tackle” football. WVU and Texas Tech combined for 857 yards and 81 points. WVU did hold the Red Raiders scoreless in the 4th quarter and answered with 22 points to erase a 34-25 deficit. And if you’re really looking for some sliver of defensive aptitude TTU was the first team this season to hold the Mountaineers under 500 yards. That spin aside both Dana Holgorsen and Kliff Kingsbury should find an arena to move their teams to or stop pretending and just play 7 on 7.
NO-MO PETRINO: Enough with the Bobby Petrino talk already. With last year’s Heisman Trophy winner still eligible and participating Louisville lost its third straight ACC game. This one wasn’t to Clemson or NC State it was to lowly Boston College who entered the game without a conference win. Petrino has certainly had his share of success cleaning up messes -when he’s not making them on his own- but the reward of wanting him to lead your program no longer exceeds the risk. His time has come and gone and the compost pile that is currently Louisville Athletics is exactly where he belongs.
BEDEVILED IN TEMPE: Washington became the last of four Top-10 teams to taste defeat over the weekend falling to Arizona State 13-7. The Huskies became the highest ranked team (#5 at the time) to fall to the Sun Devils since #1 Nebraska in 1996. Washington has now lost seven straight games versus ASU in Sun Devil Stadium. The Sun Devils had allowed 30 points or more for 11 straight games but somehow found a way to hold the Huskies to a single TD. Washington had failed to score less than 37 points only once prior and that occurred in their opener versus Rutgers way back on September 1st. In a weekend that became an Apple Cup ambush the Huskies and Washington State were both bounced from the ranks of the unbeatens and combined to score only 10 points.
FINAL MONDAY MUSING: I’ve never been a firm believer in Butch Jones but I am surprised how quickly it has come apart at the seams.