OneManGang
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Tennessee vs The Maxims vs Alabama
DATE: 15 October 2022
PLACE: Neyland Stadium
ATTENDANCE: 101915
FINAL SCORE: Tennessee 52 Alabama 49
This one was for you, my Brother ...
Way back in March, your Humble Scribe posted a retrospective look at the 1990 tilt between Our Beloved Vols and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. In it I stated that, “To this day, it remains the greatest college football game I have ever personally witnessed.”
No more.
As I stood (nobody sat much throughout the game) in the North stands with those two fine young men I am proud to call my sons, I realized that 1990 game was being eclipsed. During the 3rd canto, I turned to Elder Son&Heir and said, “Win, lose, or draw, this is the greatest college football game I have ever attended.”
If the atmosphere for the Florida game was electric, the vibe in Neyland Stadium Saturday was thermonuclear.
Neyland Stadium was a sea of Orange. The AD had proposed an “Orange Out” and the fans responded. There were a few splotches of crimson here and there and the visitors' section and that was it, The Orange faithful were ready to add their voices to the efforts of the defense – and it worked. Many of Bama's 17 penalties were procedural calls caused by their inability to hear the snap count, the play call or much of anything. Texas A&M claims they had a “12th Man.” The fans at Neyland WERE the 12th Man! And maybe a 13th or possibly a 14th!
We fans certainly got our money's worth. We were treated to five lead changes, a combined 1300+ yards of offense and 101 total points. As the game developed into a “track meet” Younger Son&Heir remarked that this was one of those games where whoever had the ball last would like win,
As prognostications go, that one wasn't too bad!
The Tide took the opening kickoff and ended up punting. Hooker then led the Vols on a seven play 56-yard drive capped by a 1-yard Jabari Small touchdown plunge.
Alabama responded with an 8-play, 71-yard TD drive.
And the track meet was ON!
The Vols scored on their next two possessions but the Tide was on the Tennessee 3 as the quarter ended.
End of 1st Quarter
Score: Tennessee 21 Alabama 7
The second quarter opened with the Vol defense holding the Tide to a field goal.
The Vols then took advantage of a muffed punt to score on a Princeton Fant 2-yard TD rush.
Bama responded with an 81-yard TD drive and then another field goal. Joe Milton came in for the Vols to launch a “Hail Mary” throw into the end zone that bounced off two Vols before falling incomplete just as the half ended.
End of 2nd Quarter
Score: Tennessee 28 Alabama 20
The Vols took the 2nd half kickoff bit came up a yard short on a 4th down play at the Bama 41.
The Tide then scored on a 26-yard run.
Hooker hit Jalin Hyatt for a 60-yard TD on their next possession. It was his 3rd TD catch on the day. But then the usually reliable Chase McGrath sliced the PAT attempt.
… And the Tide answered with yet another touchdown.
End of 3rd Quarter
Score: Tennessee 34 Alabama 35
The action didn't let up.
The Vols opened the 4 th quarter with a 78-yard touchdown pass to Hyatt – his fourth.
The tide then scored – again.
And then what seemed to be a catastrophe struck when Hooker and Small mishandled a handoff and Bama scored on an 11-yard “scoop-and-score.”
But the fans then learned to fear not as Hooker found Hyatt yet again for his 5th touchdown and tied the score at 49.
The tide drove down to the UT 32 and Will Reichard, who had been outstanding all day lined up for a 40-yard attempt with 23 seconds left. Vols faithful held their breath and I'm convinced The Gen'rul made an appearance as the kick went up from the east hash mark – dead straight and 5 yards off to the right. There were 15 seconds left.
The faithful were preparing for over time. Hooker had other ideas and hit two passes in 13 seconds to put the ball on the Bama 32. Enter Chase McGrath.
For the first time that evening, Neyland went absolutely silent. You could hear them split atoms in Oak Ridge. I think I heard his foot hit the ball. A Bama player got a finger on the ball, enough to turn it into a knuckle ball that seemed to take forever until it wandered over the crossbar as the clock went to zero and … to paraphrase John Ward … Pandemonium Reigned!
Final Score
Tennessee 52 Alabama 49
********
23 March 1862, Near Newtown, Southwest of Winchester, Virginia
The former mathematics instructor at VMI sensed an opportunity. He had been ordered by Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston to prevent the 30,000 Yankees under Gen. Nathaniel Banks from moving from Winchester toward Washington, D.C. and threatening Johnston's flank as he moved to cover Richmond.
Banks was moving as part of a master plan by “Little Mac,” General George McClellan, to take Richmond and end the Confederacy and its rebellion in one mighty blow. His plan for Banks was to not just cover Washington but in so doing move against the Confederate rear. In this he would be joined by yet another 30,000 Union troops under John C. Fremont.
While these two forces moved, McClellan would take the bulk of the Army of the Potomac, some 125,000 men, and ship them to Fort Monroe which was still in Federal hands on the tip of the York Peninsula. It would be the largest amphibious operation undertaken by the US Army prior to D-Day in 1944.
The story of the Peninsula Campaign is beyond the scope of this work. Suffice to say that McClellan, who could always find excellent military reasons to not launch an attack, would square off against Johnston, who could always cite excellent military reasons for doing nothing and then retreating. This odd dance of the careful and cautious took nearly two months to reach the outskirts of Richmond whence Johnston was wounded and replaced by a relatively unknown commander named Robert Edward Lee.
That former VMI prof watching Banks was, of course, Gen. Thomas Jonathan Jackson. Jackson had already earned praise for his handling of his brigade at First Manassass (Bull Run) where he had earned the nickname “Stonewall.” His brigade became the famous “Stonewall Brigade.” That brigade was the centerpiece of his 4500-man “Army.”
Jackson knew his opponents. Banks was torpid and sedentary and Fremont was far away. In these circumstances, even a small force could have impacts far beyond its nominal strength. In modern parlance, he was going to punch way above his weight.
Jackson had retreated – slowly – along the west bank of the North Fork of the Shenendoah River . However he sent his cavalry under Turner Ashby to find out what the Yankees were up to, Ashby spotted a small force of a couple of regiments operating around the small town of Newtown and the even smaller town called Kernstown. Thus isolated, they presented Jackson with an opportunity to smite the foe and force him to change plans.
“Old Blue Light,” so named for his striking blue eyes that his soldiers swore would glow in the heat of battle, turned his army around and marched back toward Winchester. His “Valley Army,” such as it was, was not the battle-hardened force it would become and over 1,000 of them fell out on the march. Jackson judged that the remainder would be sufficient.
What Ashby missed was that far from just a few isolated Union troops, an entire 9,000-man division under Gen. James Shields was concealed nearby. Shields had been wounded on the 22nd and command would fall to Col. Nathan Kimball.
Jackson determined to deploy his forces with the Stonewall Brigade, now under Brig. Gen Richard Garnett, in the center. Jackson had made no personal reconnaissance of the Union position and so had no clue what he was facing. He sent one wing against the Union center to pin them down and then another along a ridge to envelope the Union right.
Kimball rapidly deployed his division to meet the threat. At 4pm on the 23rd, he attacked the two brigades on his right. The fighting was furious. Then he moved against the Confederates on his left. Jackson sent up his reserve brigade but it wasn't enough. The brigades to the right and left of Garnett began to waver and then broke for the rear just as the the reserves came up. The Stonewall Brigade ran out of ammo and Garnett saw no other option but to retreat, Unfortunately for him, he failed to inform Jackson of his actions or the reasoning behind them.
Jackson was incensed. He had Garnett arrested and held for court-martial. Later, as he set out on what became his invasion of Maryland, Lee ordered the charges dropped. Garnett would die in Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, still smarting from what he considered an insult by Jackson.
Jackson would go on to command what became known as the Valley Campaign where he outmaneuvered, out thought, and out fought massive Federal forces in the Shenendoah Valley. His troops became known as “Jackson's Foot Cavalry” for their speed of movement. The Valley Campaign is still studied in military academies around the world as an example of how to use audacity and aggressive movements to fight outnumbered and win.
“Stonewall” Jackson would be shot and wounded by “friendly fire” during the Battle of Chancellorsville on 2 May 1863 while doing a recon between the lines after dusk. His left arm was amputated but he died of complications on 10 May. Lee mourned, “General Jackson has lost his left arm, but I feel I have lost my right.”
While Kernstown was a tactical defeat for the Confederates, (Shields, despite the fact he was not on the field, claimed to be the only Union general to defeat Stonewall Jackson for years afterward) it turned into a strategic win for the South. Lincoln decided that Jackson would not dared to have attacked unless he was to be massively reinforced and ordered the movements of Banks and Fremont canceled and McClellan to leave an extra division behind to strengthen the Washington defenses.
For his part, McClellan had closed on Richmond when the new Confederate commander, Lee, launched an offensive which became known as the Seven Days Campaign because that is how long it took him to put the Blue Bellied host to fly.
********
So, how did the Vols do against The Maxims?
1. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.
I've been watching the Vols play for over 50 years and I have never – not once – seen Alabama held to the same standard by the officials as every one else. It was kind of like seeing refs calling fouls against Kentucky in basketball- it just doesn't happen. After seeing that the Tide had 17 total penalties for 130 yards I asked my guys, “Did someone in Tuscaloosa miss a payment? Or has Danny White figured out how the system works?” Either way, those penalties on more than one occasion saved the Vols' proverbial bacon.
2. Play for and make the breaks. When one comes your way … SCORE!
To quote from that SEC Shorts video released last week, “We have a quarterback! Who completes passes! TO HIS OWN RECEIVERS!!!” Seriously, I view Hooker with the same feeling as watching Warren, or Holloway, or Robinson, or Manning, or Dobbs. He's something special and we should just enjoy watching genius in action.
3. If at first the game – or the breaks – go against you, don't let up … PUT ON MORE STEAM!
When the Bammers got that 11-yard scoop-and-score with just under eight minutes left in the game to go up 49-42 Battered Vol Syndrome began to make itself felt. Previous iterations of the Vols would have wilted, surrendering to the Might of the Crimson Integral and we fans would be left saying, “Well, we gave them something to think about.”
Not so HeadVol Heupel and his charges. I sensed this and told my guys,, “The thing is, UT can score from anywhere on the field.” Hendon Hooker then led a long (for the Vols) 11 play, eight-plus minute, 75-yard drive that ended in a 13-yard dart to Jalen Hyatt for his FIFTH TD of the day and McGrath's PAT tied it up.
A missed Tide field goal and a made Vol field goal settled the issue.
4. Protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead and our ballgame.
Bama claimed an unstoppable force on their D-line named Will Anderson. The Vol O-line kept him to one solo tackle and two assists. That's it, that's all. They also opened holes for the Vols to out gain the Bammers on the ground for 182 yards and two touchdowns. Just outstanding.
5. Ball! Oskie! Cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle … THIS IS THE WINNING EDGE.
Despite playing with virtually no respite for long periods against a reigning Heisman Trophy winner and a bevy of talented receivers and running backs, the defense maintained its enthusiasm for the entire game. The Tide's time of possession was FIFTEEN MINUTES – equal to one entire quarter – longer than the Vols. I'm not sure who was responsible for the defense's conditioning program, but dayum!
6. Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.
Paxton Brooks did an good job of burying most of his kickoffs in the end zone. The coverage troops kept those that didn't from causing too much mischief. Against the Tide and their tribe of speed merchants that is quite the accomplishment. Then there was his only punt of the evening in the 2nd quarter. He mis-hit the thing and it only covered about 30 yards to the Bama 37. The ball was bouncing around and every Bammer with a lick of sense ran far away from it. Everyone except Quandarrius Robinson who decided for whatever reason to try and pick it up. He failed, fumbled and Tennesse recovered. A 2-yard run by Princeton Fant put the Vols up 28-10.
Then there was McGrath's moment of redemption.
7. Carry the fight to Alabama and keep it there for sixty minutes,
McGrath's field goal wobbled over the crossbar with 00:00 on the clock.
The Gen'rul lit a cigar.
Suggested Reading:
Shelby Foote, The Civil War: A Narrative, Vol. 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville
Lt. Col. G.F.R. Henderson, Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War
Frank E. Vandiver, Mighty Stonewall
Lt. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson, CSA, 1862. (National Archives)
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