Your Vol Colonel leads things off on this Tuesday. Vol Colonel please commeth correcteth....
Vol Colonel
Florida week is finally here. The undefeated 3-0 Tennessee Volunteers take on the undefeated 3-0 Florida Gators this Saturday in Neyland Stadium. To say this is a big game would be the understatement of the year. Coach Jones might want to play it down, saying it's the next game on the schedule, but we all know (including Butch) that it's far from just the next game on the schedule. If Coach Jones wants to know just how big this game is, lose it, and he'll find out! It's easily the biggest game Coach Butch Jones has ever coached in. This game is about so many things. It's about ending that ridiculous streak and beating our most hated rival, Florida! It's about seeing our beloved Vols officially return to the top of the SEC East. It's about officially returning to the football pallet of the nation. It's about coming out of the darkness and back into the daylight for this football program that has been down for so long and let there be no doubt, for a lot of us, it's about knowing if we have a football coach who can win the big games. Championships aren't won in racetracks or in Outback or Gator bowls! It's officially put up or shut up time in Tennessee!
Look folks, don't take my words so harsh. I won't be looking to run our coach if we lose to Florida. It will hurt like hell and I'm sure some of us will say things in anger (coughs). Heck, this game is as big as it gets! Think about it, this is easily the biggest game since what, 2007? That's 9 years. The East is wide open. This is supposed to be our year!
Ever since that day we walked off the field in Jacksonville last January, I knew this would be a put up or shut up year. If not now, when? We are due. It's our time to shine again. I know our players and coaches want it just as much or even more than all us fans. I know Coach Jones wants it as much as any man, woman, or child on this planet. The things is, you can want it so bad, but that doesn't mean you win it. I'm sure the last 11 Volunteer teams wanted it too. Can Butch Jones win the big games?
I really believe Saturday will go a long way towards answering that question. He can lose this game and have two more chances to make amends. Beating Georgia in Athens would help mend the fence and certainly if you knock off Alabama the question would be answered, but if you lose to Florida, how can you have great faith in beating Alabama? I know this, I don't feel near as good about beating Florida now as I did all off-season up until this week. We might be 3-0, but we look like a team that could just as easily be 0-3.
Don't get me wrong, I'll take 3-0 any way we can get it, but we just haven't looked good. I promise you, if we look anything close to the team that's played it's way to this 3-0 start, we'll get beat Saturday. If our O-Line plays the way it has, they'll get crushed by that Florida defensive line.
One thing I will not do this week,, if we lose. I will not blame it on injuries. Every team has injuries and while maybe not as severe as ours, Florida will roll in here without their starting QB. Injuries are a part of this violent game. You have to suck it up and roll with what you have. I do acknowledge it absolutely sucks to lose a kid like Kirkland Jr. and to add to the problem you lose a key back-up in Quart'e Sapp. Jalen Reeves-Maybin has a banged up shoulder and while I'm almost certain he's a go for Saturday, there's no way he's at 100%. Losing Cam Sutton is a back breaker. I feel so bad for that young man. I doubt we ever see him in orange again. He has a broken bone in his foot. Maybe, we see him in the bowl game, but why take a chance with a certain NFL career on the line. It looks like there's a chance we get Chance Hall back for Saturday as i told you a couple of weeks ago on this blog, but that's no lock. I'd say right now it's maybe 40% that we see him against Florida.
Sometimes through adversity, you find out what you're made of. I'm hoping this Saturday in Neyland we find out we're made of heart and fight and we leave it all on the field! It's not going to be easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is easy. One thing is for sure, all the pressure is on us.
I think Florida comes in here calm, cool, and collect. They've talked crap all off-season. Their coach seems to have a certain arrogance too. He certainly hasn't told his kids to put a lid on it. I deplore the way Florida carries themselves, but at same time, I admire it. It's a bring it on attitude. Sure it's cocky and brash, but they sure seem to buy into it. I'm for whatever works. Butch wants to down play every little thing. It's the next game on the schedule and all that jazz. Our players take a business like approach and hardly even respond to the Gators brash, trash talk. Sometimes, I wish it was it was us, talking it up. I'm not sure all that bravado is a bad thing. We'll see Saturday which approach works. Like I said, It's put up or shut up time!
I see a very, very, close game Saturday. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win this ball game. We can ill afford to shoot ourselves in the foot with penalties and stupid mistakes. We also need to go out there and let it rip and empty the kitchen sink. I sure hope Mike DeBord has been playing possum so far this season. I sure hope he has some tricks to let out of the bag. His play calling and our game-plans have been horrid so far. To call them vanilla is an insult to all things vanilla!
So there you have it, as i see it, Saturday. Make no mistake! This game is as big as it gets. It's big for our players, our coaches, our fans, and for a host of other reasons. This one is Huge! Did you hear that Coach Jones? H-U-G-E !
Have a Great Day and Let's Skin Us a Gator!
Your Vol Colonel
Stand With The Tony Basilio Show
Join the T Club
Make a One-Time Donation
Send Us A T-Mail. Click Here.
Click to subscribe on Apple Podcasts
Here's our schedule for Florida Week:
Today: Live @ Wing Xpress:Clinton Highway (5 min from downtown)
Wednesday: Live @ All New Sushi Spot (New Menu, New Look, Yass)
Thursday: Live @ Citizens National Bank Severieville (You're invited)
Thursday Night 8pm: Performing W/ FC Ramblers Live @ Clancy's Gay St
Friday: Live @ KenJo Lenior City, TN, USA
Saturday: Postgame Live 10 Hour Celebration Immediately Following Game
People ask why IGYV. It simply stands for the International Geophysical Year of the Volunteer. I designated this season as such when it dawned on me that Tennessee was destined to win the division in 2016. I still believe this is coming. Why? It's as much about how Tennessee is due versus how much they've done thus far this season. Take the Florida game as an example. Do I believe UT has the coaching edge versus Florida. No. Not on the offensive side of the ball for sure and not when it comes to head coaching. I would trade their guy for our guy when it comes to managing a football game from start to finish. How about you? But that's not what Saturday is about. Saturday is about destiny.
Tennessee is DESTINED to win on Saturday. That's the bottom line. IGYV isn't about making a National Playoff. That would be nice but that's not what this is about. This is about getting to Atlanta and winning the weakest SEC East of all time. It's not possible for the SEC east to be any worse. So, somebody's got to win this side of the league. I'm going with the team with the most experience. Tennessee is a veteran football team. Beat up or not, they belong. They deserve this moment. I feel great for those kids. Saturday is going to be a special day for Tennessee football.
I understand the significance of Saturday but why pull out all the stops for a game where you've had so little success? All the extras don't seem to work here. Checkering Neyland is one thing but the Vols are also going to wear those goofy 'Smoky' grey uniforms too. Plus Butch Jones was talking about 'extra things we're going to do to keep the crowd in the game Saturday.' Here's an idea to put in your journal Butch...Go out and get a convincing signature win. You want a crowd that's into the football game from pillar to post? Play with some kind of emotion on Saturday. Get an early lead and pin your ears back and get at their QB. Turn your opponent over. Come with some creativity on offense. Get Dobbs involved in your running game. The rest of that frilly crap is for losers. Alabama doesn't rely on gimmicks.
I hate to tell Butch Jones, but this place was plenty loud before he got here. These modern day coaches kill me with all this junk that just 'clutters up the game'. That's a Butch Jones saying. And all that stuff doesn't add a damn thing to a fan base that's plenty ready to stay in this one for the duration. It's up to Butch Jones and his staff to come with something that will keep his crowd in it. If he thinks Saturday is about alternative uniforms and goofy 3rd down gimmicks, and in stadium color schemes, he's got another thing coming. We don't need ANY of that stuff this week. Leave the gimmicks for the Kentucky game in November. This Florida game should be about IGYV. It's called destiny. Period. End of sentence.
Got some #'s for you as we begin this Tuesday. ESPN's Chris Low had a great # last night on Twitter. This is the 1st time Tennessee opened as a touchdown favorite against Florida since the SEC split in divisions in 1992. This is called a can't lose football game. More on that in a second.
Here's another # courtesy of Dubyer Lynn. Buckle up for this. When the Vols win, they will go to 4-0 for the first time since 2003. Since 1975 (The Beano Era), Tennessee has started 4-0 only 7 times.
Year Final Record
1987 10-2 Peach Bowl Champs Beat IU
1989 11-1 Cotton Bowl Champs Beat Ark
1990 9-2-2 Sugar Bowl Champs Beat VA
1991 9-3 Lost PSU Fiesta Bowl Lost PSU
1992 9-3 Won Hall of Fame Bowl Beat BC
1998 13-0 Won Fiesta Bowl (National Champs)
2003 10-3 Lost Peach Bowl Lost Clemson
Butch Jones was doing so well at yesterday's press conference until he started that non-sense about keeping a journal of what pisses him off in the media. No head coach in any major sport in college should ever admit to anything close to this. Why would you tell the world that you're that thin skinned at the beginning of a week in preparation for a game you've be just dreadful in as a head coach? It makes no sense. Who is advising Butch Jones on matter such as these? What did that serve yesterday? Did it make him feel better? It's small minded and childish to tell the media something like that. You're making $4.5 million per year. If I paid you that kind of money, would you worry about what somebody wrote or said about you? Of course you wouldn't. Then on my Twitter timeline I saw a couple of Vol fans post that he blocked them on Twitter. Can you be ultra thin skinned and still succeed as a head coach at this level? We're going to find out. Saturday is a huge test.
Jim McElwain was doing some standup comedy yesterday when he was talking about Tennessee looking at Florida as a layup. Is he kidding? I'm really sure Antonio Calloway isn't going to play this weekend as McElwain was alleging yesterday. What a joke. Not only will he play, but he'll be returning kicks too. That guy is a force. And I'll promise you this, Florida will take some shots downfield with him.
A guy with these career stats just isn't beating the Vols on Saturday. It's not going to happen. Check this out...Does this scare you? Because it doesn't scare me in the least. I realize Tennessee has a skeleton crew in the secondary but look at these #'s. This guy can't win in Knoxville on Saturday. He just can't.
Link
Missouri just landed a 4 star player in hoops. Mizzou!!! The place that sports forgot. Rick Barnes is officially on the clock. No commitments from the weekend? Signing day is weeks away. EVERYBODY else in the SEC is moving the ball. We had a legacy kid on campus and he's making 3 more visits? Why is Butch able to close them right on the spot when he asks for commitments. I hope Rick Barnes and his staff get aboard the energy bus.
Final Thought: Have you told 5 friends yet about what we do here at Tonybasilio.com? We really need your help in spreading the word!!!
Get the app!
Droid |
iPhone
The Tony Basilio Show
Current Sponsorship Opportunities
•
Beano: Monday and/or Friday Sponsorship
•
Studio: Naming Sponsorship
•
Football Fridays: Live Tony B Broadcast EVERY Friday before football games!
SALE PENDING •
Postgame Call-In Show: Both audio and visual presentations with visual product placement avails on Periscope/Youtube
•
Book Corner: All Interviews. Your Business gets a presenting sponsorship with 30 second commercial.
•
Tony B App: Presenting Sponsor. Perfect for regional concerns.
•
Mike Huguenin: Thursdays. A presence W/TB Since 1997.
SOLD •
Football Mondays: Every Monday we will BROADCAST LIVE FROM YOUR BUSINESS Mondays after UT football games!