How big of an upset would this be?

[OrangeInKy]

I am 35 and this would be biggest one I could remember. My favorite wins(upsets) I can remember are 86 Sugar Bowl, 91 Notre Dame, 2001 Florida. Because of the past few years of our program and what this win would mean, coupled with the dominance of Alabama, I think this would be the biggest upset in my lifetime.

 

[OrangeInKy]

And he's a class act that is great for Nashville & ESPN. I think he does a great job.

agree, I have always liked him and think he has been more than fair when discussing UT. He sounded like a Vol fan in 99.

 

[tennrich1]

Bigger than this!

Goliath was only favored by 19.

I'll just say Amen here....I would LOVE for the Vols to beat Bama but it will take a David effort to do so...not saying it cant be done...I believe with all my heart, intellect, and history that David thumped Goliath (literally) so I believe we can beat Bama....but not very likely...

 

[tennrich1]

Kirk Herbstreit Puts Alabama On Upset Alert Against The Vols

Now why in this world would Kirk do that....Thanks for nothing Kirk...we had planned on sneaking up on them...that's off the table now!!!!:detective:

 

[D.C. Vol]

Brentwood

I was a part of the first senior class at Ravenwood High School. Kirbs just earned some cool points in my book.

 

[JohnnyBall]

Stanford USC 2007 I think was a bigger line

 

[johnboyhunter]

For an upset to be possible these things must happen

1. Turnovers. We have to get some breaks and win the turnover margin. 2+ Turnover margin

2. QB Pressure on CJ McCarron. Think this is very possible. I expect 3 sacks this game.

3. Establish the Run. O-Line must prove they are the best in the SEC.

4. Special Teams Play - No giving up return yards (kills me Palardy cannot make every kickoff a touchback), and win the field position game.

5. Stretch the Field: Believe that Worley is gaining confidence but still does not understand if you have the better athlete throw it in the vicinity of them and give them the chance to make a play. He did that on the catch to Marquez that ultimately led to the win. Can't wait til guys are wide open. We have to take our shots downfield or else they are going to stack the box and not respect any vertical threat.

6. Spread the ball around. We need plays from Slot, wideouts, TE, screens, RB screen plays, etc... spread the ball out = a defense that must respect every possibility and does not 'sniff' out the play.

I honestly do not think this will be any type of blow out. CBJ will have a plan for this game. We get off to a good defensive effort and slow them down 1st qtr, then we gain confidence.

 

[pharmDvol11]

Kirk Herbstreit Puts Alabama On Upset Alert Against The Vols

I think Herbstreit has always "liked" Tennessee bc he would always pick us when we were good back in the late 90s early 2000s....

 

[1974Vol]

Florida 1998? No, that sprang us to the national title but we were ranked.

Miami 1985? Maybe, but again, we were SEC champions, ranked and in the Sugar bowl, so no again.

Bammer 1982? Well, now the parallels are there. Bammer was no. 1 in the country. It was Bear Bryant's last year (though that wasn't known at the time, I think). We were coming off a long down period, even longer than today. Bammer had won 11 in a row on us vs. the current streak of 6.

For the record Bama was ranked 2nd and the game was in Knoxville.

On the other hand, in 1982, bammer was 3 years removed from back to back championships, vs having won 3 of the last 4. So while we might have been beat down a bit more in 1982, or have been down a longer time (and I'm not even sure about that?) bammer was a bit more removed from it's championship run of the late 70s.

OTOH, since bammer is going for an unprecedented 3-peat in national championships, this could well be a bigger upset than 1982.

It's very close!

Not saying we WILL upset them at all...just saying that if we do, it might be the biggest since our original upset of them in 1926 first put us on the map. :rock:

Some incentive, maybe.....

The 1985 clobbering of No. 1 Auburn with the Heisman winner Bo Jackson was pretty huge.

The 1959 goal line stand with Billy Majors stopping Heisman winner Billy Cannon to beat No. 1 ranked LSU was big too.

But both those were in Knoxville.

Maybe the biggest Vol upset on the road was the win at Miami in 2003.

 

[UTProf]

Not sour grapes at all. I've felt that way for about 6 months. And thanks, I know.

Your comments beg posters to ask what's up whether so what's up? A few message board clowns have you changing your mind about being a 'dual fan?' I don't understand that at all. I've been around quite a few SEC message boards and this one is by far the politest and least trollish. If you want to find folks who hate Aggy, JFF, and will make you question humanity itself checkout the rant and TexAgs isn't exactly a bastion of sanity either - though it is pro-A&M.

At any rate, don't know what's cause you to rethink things but even so why announce it and unless you really do want to extrapolate further? I won't beat behind the bush and most posters that know my posting history are aware that I'm pretty polite and fair so lay it on me. I'd like to know and I'm sure others would as well.

 

[UTProf]

I'm loathe to use this comparison because I think there's too much Butch = Neyland stuff going on right now. Butch has a long way to go to earn that but the following example fits.

It would be like our 1928 win which was incidentally the very first time the "Third Saturday in October" and the origin of our rivalry's name. Then Major Robert Neyland challenged Alabama coach Wallace Wade to the meeting and Wallace accepted. Despite our record of 19-1-1 we weren't to stand a chance although various media had picked up on the fact that Knoxville was absolutely convinced -- terms like frenzy and hysterical were thrown around -- that Neyland was the one who'd lead us to greatness.

Bama was the big dawg then and they loomed so large that it's rumored that Neyland worked out at a deal with Wallace to shorten the 2nd half of the game IF things got out of control. There was a wealthy gambler there offering to take bets that Bama would score more TDs than UT could make 1st downs and he offered the obscene sum of $2,000 on the wager.

Then a funny thing happened on the way to a guaranteed Bama victory, UT won 15-13. It was Neyland's most important win to date. As sportswriter Tom Siler would write afterwards, "Never again would Tennessee be taken lightly."

THAT is the kind of boost a win could have. Not in terms of establishing a great program but in terms of relaunching us back to our rightful place. Fortunately, the lack of pressure means things will be fine no matter what.

 

[chattavol420]

Would be the biggest upset I've seen in my life as a vol fan. I've been a fan since I moved to chattanooga at age 13...So in the past 21 years.