OneManGang
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Tennessee vs The Maxims vs Syracuse
DATE: 30 August 2025
PLACE: Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA
ATTENDANCE: 45,918
FINAL SCORE: Tennessee 45 Syracuse 26
The family issues that bedeviled Your Humble Scribe late last season have continued. Suffice to say that on a 1-to-10 scale on the stress meter I'm sitting at about 52. I;m going to try to do all the games this year but beg forgiveness in advance if that doesn't work out. Never forget, though, that I treasure each and every one of you.
Nico who?
The nattering nabobs of ESPN and other national sports outlets were united in sneering that Tennessee had erred in letting Nico get away and that the Vols were doomed to mediocrity in 2025.
Well, THAT particular question got settled Saturday. Joey Aguilar ran the Vol offense with skill and poise. He may not have put up Manning-esque passing numbers in leading the Vols to an opening day victory, but he didn't need to. His 247 passing yards were quite adequate.
The Vol defense was expected to be the strength of this year's team and did a good job but took far too many injuries. That and they still can't seem to cover a crossing route, but they haven't done so in nearly two decades so … why gripe now?
It is an axiom that teams make the most improvement between games one and two, Given that game two this year is against ETSU methinks we will have to wait until Georgia heaves upon the sacred shores of Ft. Loudoun Lake to find out.
Let's get into the football action!
It was apparent from the beginning that Joey Aguliar had no problems running Coach Heupel's signature up tempo offense.
The Vols took the opening kickoff and moved smartly down field until they stalled on the Syracuse 16 and settled for a Gilbert field goal. Time of possession: 2:14.
Syracuse then went on a four play drive and punted. Time of possession: 3:09.
And so it went.
Tennessee took their next possession on an 85-yard drive capped by a Peyton Lewis touchdown.
Syracuse went backwards. Tennessee was driving when Aguilar got blind sided and fumbled. Syracuse QB Steve Angeli got sacked on the next play and Colton Hood scooped up the ball and was next seen in the end zone.
End of 1st Quarter
Score: Tennessee 17 Syracuse 0
Syracuse responded with a 75-yard drive of their own to pull within10 points of the Vols.
The Vols then came back with one of the greatest responses seen in many a day. Joey Aguilar dropped an absolute 73-yard DIME to Braylon Staley for the score.
After an exchange of punts, Syracuse was in business on the Tennessee 49 and drove down for another touchdown.
Tennessee returned the favor with DeSean Bishop blasting in from the 1.
End of 2nd Quarter
Score: Tennessee 31 Syracuse 14
The 'Cuse's first possession didn't last long when Jalen MacMurray batted an Angeli pass up and Jeremiah Telander hauled it in. Aguilar capped the ensuing drive by rifling a pass to Star Thomas (and is that not one of the greatest football names EVER?) in the end zone.
Syracuse then scored again but their 2-point conversion try failed.
The rest of the quarter devolved into a punting duel and the quarter ended with Syracuse driving.
End of 3rd Quarter
Score: Tennessee 38 Syracuse 20
The 'Cuse did, indeed, score on that drive but again failed on the 2-point try.
After an exchange of punts, the Vols were in business.
In the middle of this drive Disney/ESPN/ABC (Arrgh! Gag! Puke!) cut away for the Bammer game against FSU. Apparently the benighted Tide couldn't be kept waiting.
As cursing and swearing Vol faithful wore out their remotes trying to find where The Mouse had hidden the game. Joey Aguilar found Miles Kintzelman in the end zone to cap the Vols' scoring for the day.
Syracuse then drove to the Vol 4 but failed on 4th down and that, as they say, was that.
Yes, Smokey, the Mouse people do hate us.
Final Score
Tennessee 45 Syracuse 26
*******
a/n: Today, 2 September 2025, is the 80th anniversary of the surrender of Imperial Japan onboard USS Missouri.
“These Proceedings are now Closed.”
To fall into the hands of the Japanese during World War II was to enter a world of biblical horrors. One of the first to escape and tell his tale was a Col. William Dyess who survived the Bataan Death March. His story of the Bataan Death March and life in Japanese POW camps horrified subscribers to the Reader’s Digest in 1944.
On Chichi Jima, captured American airmen were beheaded AND EATEN. Navy flyboy Lt. George H. W. Bush narrowly escaped this fate when he was rescued by an American submarine literally under the guns of the Japanese.
Among many of those who survived such horrors there was no question as to the use of the atomic bomb.
They questioned why it was stopped.
The casualties expected from an invasion of Japan were so large that the War and Navy Departments stockpiled so many Purple Heart medals that DoD only recently had to order new ones.
On 15 August 1945, Emperor Hirohito made an unprecedented radio address to the Japanese people telling them without telling them that the war was over. In his message to the Japanese people, the Emperor put the lie to all those revisionists of late who maintain that the use of the atomic bomb was not the deciding factor in Japan’s surrender and that it was employed more to cow the Russians than the Japanese. According to Hirohito: “ …the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan’s advantage, while the general trends of the world have turned against her interest. Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is incalculable( emphasis added), taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, it would not only result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but it would also lead to the total extinction of human civilization.”
The formal Japanese acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration was broadcast shortly after the Emperor's broadcast. It was nearly noon on August 15.
Shortly thereafter a lone Japanese A6M2 Zero fighter approached the 3rd Fleet. It was pounced on by F6F Hellcats of Task Force 38 and was shot from the sky. It would be the last of over 5,000 Japanese planes to fall to the big Grumman fighter.
A war involving millions of men spread over thousands of square miles doesn’t just stop immediately. Indeed, Emperor Hirohito was so concerned his Army would resist surrender that he sent members of his family to individual commands to ensure their compliance. The 5,000 planes hidden throughout the home islands for use as kamikazes would no longer be needed.
Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki, having brought Japan to this point, could go no farther. He resigned and Hirohito named an uncle-in-law, Prince Higahikuni. to be Prime Minister and Mamoru Shigemetsu as Foreign Minister. Shigemetsu had been an early advocate of peace and was considered a traitor by General Umezu, the Army Chief of Staff.
President Truman named General Douglas MacArthur as Supreme Allied Commander for the purposes of overseeing the surrender and subsequent occupation of Japan. MacArthur quickly broadcast a message to the Japanese directing that hostilities cease immediately and that a delegation meet with him in Manila to work out the details of the surrender. On 19 August, two boldly neutral “Betty” bombers, painted white with green crosses in place of the familiar “meatballs” landed on Ie Shima island, off Okinawa. From there the Japanese delegation was flown on an AmericanC-54 to Manila. They were given a (unsigned) copy of the Instrument of Surrender and told that American troops would begin landing on August 23. The Japanese pleaded that they needed time to establish full control of the military and asked for more time. This was granted and the first American soldiers from the 11th Airborne Division were now scheduled to arrive on August 26. Weather intervened and the landings actually took place on the 28th.
As the 11th Airborne troopers climbed out of their transports they were greeted by a banner erected by a young Navy pilot who had claimed engine trouble the day before and made an “emergency” landing at Atsugi Airfield. “Welcome to the U. S. Army from the Third Fleet.”
Meanwhile Admiral Halsey brought 258 ships of his Third Fleet into Tokyo Bay and anchored them there. In deference to President Truman, USS Missouri, named for his home state, was chosen to host the actual surrender ceremony. The ceremony would take place on the deck next to #2 turret. On a bulkhead overlooking the deck was the 31-star flag Admiral Perry had flown when he had anchored in Tokyo Bay some 92 years previous.
Sunday, September 2, was set for the signing ceremony. An ordinary table was brought up out of the enlisted mess and covered with a green baize cloth. Microphones were set up and all was ready. MacArthur arrived at 0843 and was received by Admirals Nimitz and Halsey. The rest of the invited representatives of the various allied nations also came on board and awaited the Japanese delegation led by Foreign Minister Shigimetsu and General Umezu. Umezu had resisted the very idea of surrender to the end and threatened suicide until a message was given him bearing a personal order from his Emperor to sign the document.
Shigemitsu had difficulty mounting the steps to the deck of the Missouri owing to an artificial leg, the result of an assassination attempt in the 1930s. Umezu, coming up behind him, refused to aid the old man.
Once in front of the table Toshikazu Kase, one of Shigemitsu’s, staff noted the frigid atmosphere. He also noted the numerous small Japanese flags painted over various gun positions. He later wrote he felt, “subjected to the torture of the pillory. A million eyes seemed to beat on us with the million shafts of a rattling storm of arrows barbed with fire.”
MacArthur made a short speech. Then, with Gen. Jonathan Wainwright, USA, who had surrendered the Phillipines and British General Sir Arthur Percival, who had surrendered at Singapore, flanking him, directed the Japanese to“sign at the places indicated.” Shigemitsu had problems figuring out where to sign. MacArthur told his Chief of Staff, “Sutherland, show them where to sign.” The pugnacious Admiral Bill Halsey chafed at the delay and thought to himself, “Sign, damn you! Sign!” Standing next to Halsey was Vice-Admiral John S. McCain who privately worried the Japanese would not live up to their end of the agreement. McCain, worn out from nearly four years of combat, would die of a heart attack four days later. His son would go on to be CINCPAC during the Vietnam War and his grandson was a POW in that war and later a Senator from Arizona.
By 9:25 all had signed and MacArthur ended the ceremony, “Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always. These proceedings are now closed.” At precisely that moment the clouds which had covered Tokyo Bay parted and the last act of the day could proceed.
Four hundred fifty Navy planes and several hundred Army Air Force planes now crossed Tokyo Bay in an immense show of force. The Japanese, as they departed, were given customary honors befitting their positions, a symbolic gesture that they were no longer enemies.
It was over.
As the sun set over Tokyo Bay that day,the ship’s band of HMS Duke of York, the British flagship,was joined by the massed bands from all the Royal Navy ships present and struck up a hymn as the flags of all the allied nations were lowered from the signal yards. The name of the hymn was “The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, is Ended.”
The music inspired the Navy’s official historian, Admiral Morison, on board Missouri, to pen this benediction to the American sailors, but also to all the American soldiers, airmen and Marines of the Second World War:
“Nothing could have been more appropriate to the occasion than this Sunday evening hymn to the“Author of peace and lover of concord.” The familiar words and music, which floated over the now calm waters of the Bay to the American bluejackets, touched the mystic chords of memory and sentiment, reminding all hands of the faith that had sustained them through travail and sacrifice. It brought sailors back to base and made them feel their Navy had achieved something more than a military victory.
They were right. If victory over Japan meant anything beyond a change in the balance of power, it meant the eternal values and immutable principles, which had come down to us from ancient Hellas, had been reaffirmed and re-established. Often these principles are broken, often these values are lost to sight when people are struggling for survival; but to them man must return, and does return, in order to enjoy his Creator’s greatest gift – life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Amen.
*******
So, how did the Vols do against The Maxims?
1. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.
Beyond the usual opening day jitters and mistakes the game really came down to those things uncoachable. Syracuse was in no way prepared for the Vols' speed. Note to the 'Cuse: you can play “Rocky Top” at deafening levels during practice but you really need to get some speed merchants to compete against elite programs. (And Lawdy, doesn't it feel good to say that about Tennessee again!)
2. Play for and make the breaks. When one comes your way … SCORE!
That “scoop and score” was a thing of beauty. The Gen'rul smiled.
3. If at first the game – or the breaks – go against you, don't let up… PUT ON MORE STEAM!
The Vols established themselves early on. Those two Syracuse scores late in the game seemed to owe more to the youngsters called on due to injury and so forth than any let-up.
4. Protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead and our ballgame.
Had he not rushed for 34 yards Aguilar's jersey wouldn't have needed washing. Kudos to the guys up front!
5. Ball! Oskie! Cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle … THIS IS THE WINNING EDGE.
FIVE sacks by the Vol defense! 246 yards rushing with Vol backs running with authority and elusiveness!
6. Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.
Gilbert hit every kick he attempted. Ross averaged 43 yards per punt and Turbyville buried every kickoff deep in the end zone. Well done, men, well done!
7, Carry the fight to Syracuse and keep it there for sixty minutes.
On the freaking dot! Effin' ESPN/ABC to the contrary.
Suggested Reading
Richard B. Frank, Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire.
Rear Adm. Samuel Eliot Morison, Victory in the Pacific: History of United States Naval Operation in World War II, Vol. 14
John Toland, The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1939-1945.
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur signs the Instrument of Surrender, as Supreme Allied Commander, on board USS Missouri (BB-63), 2 September 1945. (Naval History and Heritage Command #USA C-4627)
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