rwemyss
Formerly MODest
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This is a pretty amusing look at the game from an outsider's perspective... I don't think I've ever seen a 'journalist' use bad-ass in an article before! Very nice.
With less than a minute remaining in the first half in Williams-Brice Stadium, the South Carolina Gamecocks had an eight-point lead over the Tennessee Volunteers, but no momentum. As Tennessee faced a 3rd and 18 deep in its own territory, it seemed that the home folks--while having only a one-possession lead to show for 29 minutes of total domination--would at least enter the locker room with an advantage. But it took only one play to change all of that, and the rest, just like the Gamecocks SEC East title hopes, was history.
Erik Ainge has been Tennessees big-play passer for most of the 2004 season, but on Saturday, Phil Fulmer and Randy Sanders--with a funky, irregular quarterback rotation that paid big dividends--got a huge long ball from Brent Schaeffer, who rolled left on that 3rd-and-a-bus-ride play and hit C.J. Fayton with a beautiful bomb against single coverage. While most of the Gamecock secondary got burned watching Schaeffer scramble, the Vols--seemingly resigned to take an eight-point deficit into the locker room just a few plays earlier--caught lightning in a bottle and used one play to turn the game on a dime.
That one long ball led to a Volunteer touchdown and two-point conversion that tied the game at 8 heading into the break. After 30 minutes, 29 of them dominated by USC, the Gamecocks had absolutely nothing to show for it, and the second half--in which the Vols exploded for 35 points and coasted to victory--was utterly predictable.
Unless youve been living under a rock over the past five years, you know that Tennessee finishes games strong, while South Carolina has flour tortilla syndrome: the tendency to fold when the going gets tough. The fast-starting Gamecocks can never seem to close the deal in a big SEC game, while the Vols have escaped deaths grip a trillion times in the Phil Fulmer era, often needing big doses of luck but constantly showing the heart, poise and championship mettle that are needed to take advantage of each break that comes their way.
Not all college football teams are created equal: some teams are opportunistic, while countless others cant stand prosperity. Tennessee has been nothing if not opportunistic over the years, absolutely murdering teams who dare give them one slight opening. It took just one play for Tennessee to gain confidence, and the magic that is Volunteer Football lies in the fact that whenever the Vols do gain momentum, they never let it go. Fulmers Tennessee teams often start slow, but if they manage to find just one little spark, they turn it into a raging bonfire of bad-ass boldness that quickly overwhelms the opposition. Such was the case on Saturday in Columbia, when one long ball created yet another long afternoon for a disappointed Lou Holtz and a Gamecock program that cant manage to turn the corner.
With less than a minute remaining in the first half in Williams-Brice Stadium, the South Carolina Gamecocks had an eight-point lead over the Tennessee Volunteers, but no momentum. As Tennessee faced a 3rd and 18 deep in its own territory, it seemed that the home folks--while having only a one-possession lead to show for 29 minutes of total domination--would at least enter the locker room with an advantage. But it took only one play to change all of that, and the rest, just like the Gamecocks SEC East title hopes, was history.
Erik Ainge has been Tennessees big-play passer for most of the 2004 season, but on Saturday, Phil Fulmer and Randy Sanders--with a funky, irregular quarterback rotation that paid big dividends--got a huge long ball from Brent Schaeffer, who rolled left on that 3rd-and-a-bus-ride play and hit C.J. Fayton with a beautiful bomb against single coverage. While most of the Gamecock secondary got burned watching Schaeffer scramble, the Vols--seemingly resigned to take an eight-point deficit into the locker room just a few plays earlier--caught lightning in a bottle and used one play to turn the game on a dime.
That one long ball led to a Volunteer touchdown and two-point conversion that tied the game at 8 heading into the break. After 30 minutes, 29 of them dominated by USC, the Gamecocks had absolutely nothing to show for it, and the second half--in which the Vols exploded for 35 points and coasted to victory--was utterly predictable.
Unless youve been living under a rock over the past five years, you know that Tennessee finishes games strong, while South Carolina has flour tortilla syndrome: the tendency to fold when the going gets tough. The fast-starting Gamecocks can never seem to close the deal in a big SEC game, while the Vols have escaped deaths grip a trillion times in the Phil Fulmer era, often needing big doses of luck but constantly showing the heart, poise and championship mettle that are needed to take advantage of each break that comes their way.
Not all college football teams are created equal: some teams are opportunistic, while countless others cant stand prosperity. Tennessee has been nothing if not opportunistic over the years, absolutely murdering teams who dare give them one slight opening. It took just one play for Tennessee to gain confidence, and the magic that is Volunteer Football lies in the fact that whenever the Vols do gain momentum, they never let it go. Fulmers Tennessee teams often start slow, but if they manage to find just one little spark, they turn it into a raging bonfire of bad-ass boldness that quickly overwhelms the opposition. Such was the case on Saturday in Columbia, when one long ball created yet another long afternoon for a disappointed Lou Holtz and a Gamecock program that cant manage to turn the corner.
h34r: but sweet post! :rocks: