It just occurred to me this morning that that was the biggest postseason win for Tennessee since the 1999 Fiesta Bowl, both in terms of bowl prestige and quality of opponent. Second place would be the 2002 Citrus Bowl following the 01 season, but the Citrus isn't the Orange and that Michigan teams wasn't this Clemson team.
My thoughts on the game:
-Someone posted a couple of weeks ago that an Orange Bowl win that results from Joe Milton playing well would provide the most optimism going into next year. I replied that an Orange Bowl win because the defense played well would make me even more optimistic for next year. We got both. That defense bent, but didn't break. They applied tremendous pressure. There are still back end concerns, but they're much better than last year and I think they'll be even better next season. Also...Banks called a really good game, based on down, distance, and game situation.
-Milton wasn't elite, but he was pretty darn good. The worst throw he made (IMO) was the 3rd down slant-in to an open Keyton that nosedived. And he had a few batted down, but other than that, he was spot on. Loved seeing him accurate on deep throws. Even the incomplete deep ball to Keyton was accurate and he gave his WR a chance. Remember, Hooker had some accuracy issues at the beginning of this year and I think Milton was actually more accurate last night than early-season (pre-Florida) Hooker. On top of that, he was doing it against one of the 3-4 best defenses Tennessee played all year (from a sheer personnel standpoint, I'd put them 2nd only to UGA) and he was doing it with the worst OLine protection this year, other than the Georgia game. That Clemson front is elite and they were really making life hell for our Oline.
-Not only did Milton do what he did with enormous pressure from the Clemson front, he did it without Hyatt and Tillman. That's impressive.
-Jaylen Wright looked like he took it to another level last night. I think he's decidedly better than Small now, especially since he's stopped fumbling. Wright runs with speed and power and he gets to the 2nd level quickly. He had a short run (maybe 4 yards) on which he got the edge, but when the play began, I thought it was a loss. Clemson had it defended to be a loss and his speed made something out of nothing.
-What else can you say about Aaron Beasley? He's gone from a subpar LB to a star. The most encouraging thing is, he's now playing pass defense well. He's always been a see-ball/find-ball missile, but he's rounding his game now. I think we're seeing that BJM is a very good LB coach, given the improvement of Beasley, Banks, and even Herring's growth this year.
-Kamal Hadden needs to be on the sidelines. He's not only a total liability in coverage, but his mouth and stupidity are also a liability. His selfish actions last night cost UT a point. It didn't end up mattering, but if the offense hadn't responded, Clemson would have gotten the ball down 7 with a chance to tie with just a TD and PAT in the 4th quarter. I also hope McCollough is not a starter next year, unless he can improve. He wasn't good last night. I'm not sure Tennessee beats Alabama if he hadn't been suspended.
-On the other hand, I really like Doneiko Slaughter. He struggled in Athens, but he's been really solid otherwise. I'm not sure what position he should play in the secondary, but he plays the ball, he seems to have more awareness than other DBs, and he'll knock the snot out of people. With another year, he might be a good CB. I know some question if he has the hips, but the same concern exists for Ringo at UGA and he's pretty darn good. If not, he could be a good Star or S, but I think he needs to be on the field. Wesley Walker looks much better at S than Flowers did. He'll be good back there next year. He did misread the WR on a deep ball that should've been picked, though.
-Those refs sucked. I really think there is an anti-SEC bias from other conference refs. Too many examples of refs from other conferences screwing SEC teams in bowls.
-Fitting that Chase McGrath sealed it. He beat Bama with the winning FG, then sealed the win over Clemson. Speaking of which, I can only think of one team (2019 LSU) that has beaten Saban and Dabo in the same season besides 2022 Tennessee. Not only that, we beat Saban, Kelly, and Dabo in the same year. Those are probably the 3 most disliked coaches in America. We should be America's Team.
-Byron Young showed out. Hope that bumps his draft stock because he's a great kid with a great story. Tyler Baron also played really well, but he should stay for another year. He stands to really improve his stock in 2023 with a 2nd year at SDE, his more natural position. I also noticed Bryson Eason involved a lot. That's encouraging to see. Those DTs (Thomas, Terry, Eason, and Simmons) will be among the best DT group in the SEC in 2023.
Looking forward:
-Joe Milton has a spring practice, summer, and fall practice to build off of that performance. He'll build more chemistry with his WRs and get more and more reps. He should be a very solid QB in 2023. The WR corps should also be very good, in spite of the losses of Tillman and Hyatt. For starters, Tillman really didn't play much this year, so we're not losing much there. Keyton got a lot of experience and played pretty well. Bru is Bru. Squirrel got some great experience (especially last night) and seems to have a real connection with Milton. Also, I think we get Thornton and Webb/Nimrod look like great prospects, by all accounts. I do hope that Keyton can improve on catching contested deep balls. He has struggled in that regard, and did so on one deep ball last night.
-I think the 2023 offense will rely more on the run than the 2022 one did and I think that's largely because they'll be better at it. Wright should be the #1 RB in 2023. Not that the 2022 rushing offense was bad. I believe it was top 15 in America. But Wright and Sampson will take it to another level in 2023. That will only make Milton's job easier.
-Beasley and Pili will make the starting LB corps a strength. Which is crazy to think about, given where we've been at that position. An improved Herring, Perry, and the freshmen will provide quality depth. The DLine should be good again. We'll have to see what happens on the back end, but I would expect them to be better next year. If nothing else, a year of experience and health (they were all hurt during spring practice and didn't develop) will make them better. Turnage and Slaughter can be good. Maybe Charles too. Adding the freshmen will help too. I like Walker at one Safety, but we need to improve over McCollough at the other.
-The biggest reason for optimism isn't personnel and depth charts, though. It's that this program has a winning culture now. We saw that last night. They win in different ways. They beat Pitt and Clemson in different ways than they beat Bama and Florida, which was different than the way they beat LSU and Kentucky. This program has a belief now and expects to win. It doesn't matter how or who the heroes are. That's what great program culture looks like.
-I think this team can go 10-2 again. In fact, I expect 10 wins. But, call me crazy, I think this team can do better than 10-2. I expect to beat every team not named Alabama and Georgia. I think everyone in this program does too. But we also have a great chance against both of those teams. Alabama without Young and Anderson? Is their culture slipping? Heupel seems to have that defense figured out, that's for sure. Is Jalen Milroe going to beat Tennessee? Ty Simpson? Georgia loses Bennett, Carter, etc. and comes to Knoxville. Yes, both teams have talent waiting in the wings and will reload. Maybe they still beat Tennessee. But it's not a given. Regardless, those are the two swing games. It's nice to say that now, because 2 years ago, our swing games were Kentucky, Missouri, and South Carolina. I can't wait to avenge SC next year, kick Florida's butt in the swamp, and beat Jimbo in Knoxville. Because we will do all three of those things. Book it.
What a fun season. This wasn't a championship year. But I've been following Tennessee since 1985 and this is my favorite non-championship team. This is the team that set the stage for future championships. They got the Florida monkey of our backs. They beat Pitt in a fashion in which Tennessee always lost games before, evidencing a culture shift. They dominated LSU like no one else did this season. The offense was electric. They broke the Bama streak and gave me (us) the most enjoyable sporting event (and post-event) I've attended in my life. And they topped it off with Tennessee's best bowl win this century. They did it all in just Heupel's 2nd season after the program was burnt to the ground. If you can't be happy and optimistic right now, then fanhood just isn't for you.
More to come, ladies and gentlemen...more to come...
