GLORIOUS ALABAMA THOUGHTS
OPENING: Tennessee’s magical season continued Saturday in raucous -and later jubilant- Neyland Stadium with the biggest win anyone’s seen here in eons. Bad streaks continued to be erased including 15 straight -mostly humiliating- losses to the Tide and 39 straight (courtesy of the mind of The Great Matt Dixon) versus Top-10 opponents. The question will remain until history provides an answer of whether this is real or is it Memorex? Sometimes it’s better not to question the legitimacy of magic but just enjoy the show.
QB EXTRAVAGANZA: Bryce Young (35-52; 455 yds; 2 TDs) is everything advertised; a defending Heisman winner and fantastic player. His arm talent and improvisational skills kept mighty Alabama from being blown away amidst Heupel’s team’s offensive blitzkrieg. But Hendon Hooker (21-30; 385 yds; 5 TDs; 14 rushes for 72 yds) barely took a backseat to Young if at all. I realize Tennessee has signed and have committed more talented, highly rated prospects. I’m not sure however any from this point on will operate Heupel’s offense more proficiently. Somehow Hendon showed up out of nowhere to play for a coach who’s nowhere and may prove to be as good as anyone Josh has to direct his attack now or in the future.
THINK THIS WILL REALLY WORK? There have been a lot of questions since his arrival if Heupel’s offense will work against top echelon SEC defenses. 567 yards, 7 TDs and a 52-burger hung on the great Nick Saban’s defense later, I’m guessing yes.
HYATTSMAN PERFORMANCE: Think the young and impressionable -or the old and cynical- Vol fans will ever forget where they were the day Jalin Hyatt made Alabama’s defense look like a bad MAC program’s JV? 6 catches for 207 yds and 5 TDs. He now holds the all-time Tennessee record for TD receptions in a game and is the first Vol to catch more than 2 TDs in a game versus the Tide. That’s how legends are made.
HAIL THE VOL WALL: The Vols O-line played tremendous football. Aside from paving the way to the gaudy offensive stats mentioned above they also held the best defensive player in America -Will Anderson- to 3 tackles with ZERO tackles-for-loss or sacks.
RUN STOPPERS: There are many areas where Tennessee’s defense must improve but in the most critical phase, they are very good. The Vols can stop the run. They held Bama’s #1 in the nation rushing attack to only 3.7 ypc. The only way to slow the Vols prolific offense is for their opponents to grind out yardage and time off the clock by running the ball. No one has accomplished that to date.
CLOSING: As I said on The Garza Law Firm 5th Quarter Fan Reaction, I don’t know what the win over Alabama means going forward and I don’t give a rat’s ass. I do know that I’ve been attending Tennessee games regularly for almost 50 years and that’s the best football game I’ve
ever seen and the most fun I’ve
ever had in the stadium. The question of if Tennessee Football is
back will be answered in the years to come. What I do know without a doubt is the program is in the best shape and most capable hands it’s been in since 2001. That for now is good enough for this old fan.
