OneManGang
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Tennessee vs The Maxims vs Texas A&M vs The Cotton Bowl
During Saturdays game against the Texas A&M, much of the Volunteer Nation sounded like the dialogue from the classic movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. From Memphis to Mountain City, orange-clad fans shook the New Years Eve cobwebs from their heads and asked each other, Who ARE those guys? Tennessee walked the dog on the Texas A&M, administering a 38-7 shellacking and leaving the pre-game favorite Aggies asking themselves the same question.
The Tennessee Volunteers played what was easily their most complete game of the season. Nowhere to be found were receivers frolicking in the Vols defensive backfield. Nowhere to be seen was the horizontal passing game Vol fans have come to know and love. Nowhere to be seen were the missed tackles, whiffed blocks and other assorted misdeeds that haunted Tennessee games from UNLV to the SEC Championship.
OK, who are those guys? More importantly, will they still be around for the 2005 kickoff now just 243 days hence?
So how did the team do compared to the Maxims?
1. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.
Texas A&M, a team that earned a reputation for protecting the ball during the Big 12 season, coughed up the ball five times Saturday. Which leads directly to:
2. Play for and make the breaks. When one comes your way SCORE!
Yea, verily. The Aggies had six possessions in the first half. Three of those possessions ended in fumbles which produced two touchdowns and missed field goal for the Volunteers.
3. If at first the game or the breaks go against you, dont let up PUT ON MORE STEAM!
Tennessee never trailed in the game. The Aggies were just hapless. They did manage to put together a respectable drive to open the second half only to see it fizzle when talented Aggie quarterback Reggie McNeal was stuffed on 4th and 1 at the UT 6. The Aggies did manage a late touchdown but the issue was no longer in doubt.
4. Protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead and our ballgame.
Yea, verily. THERE WERE NO LET-UPS! Who ARE those guys?
5. Ball! Oskie! Cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle THIS IS THE WINNING EDGE.
Yea, verily. BALL, DAMMIT! OSKIE, DAMMIT! PURSUE AND freakin GANG-TACKLE!!!! Who ARE those guys?
6. Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.
UT turned in an average day kicking. Colquitt was below his season average in punting yards, but most of those were kicks from the A&M side of the 50. Wilhoit missed the aforementioned field goal attempt but made one later. What was improved was coverage.
7. Carry the fight to Texas A&M and keep it there for sixty minutes.
From the opening gun right up to the end, the Vols never mailed it in.
The 2004 campaign is over. Tennessee turned in a 10-3 record, which is certainly nothing to be sneezed at in any year. There were disappointing losses to Auburn and the upset by Notre Dame. Balanced against those, though, are thrilling wins against Florida, Georgia and Alabama. If the Vols can be accused of mailing in performances against the likes of Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina, they still had enough firepower to win those games. The Volunteer fans can take heart from the Cotton Bowl win that 2005 will be even better.
On a personal note, this marks the end of my fourth season of these analyses. Fifty-one of these are in the book. I have endeavored to be fair, passing out praise and blame as deserved. There have been heartbreaking losses and exhilarating victories. Ive documented incredible performances and times when the Vols screwed the proverbial pooch. Such is the stuff of college football.
It may be time for me to pass on the torch. Be that as it may, the fire of General Neylands timeless football Maxims will point the way for future Volunteer teams and fans.
What torches kindled at that flame
Have passed from hand to hand?
What hearts cemented in that name
Bind land to stranger land?
-The University of Tennessee Alma Mater
MAXOMG
© 2005 One Man Gang
During Saturdays game against the Texas A&M, much of the Volunteer Nation sounded like the dialogue from the classic movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. From Memphis to Mountain City, orange-clad fans shook the New Years Eve cobwebs from their heads and asked each other, Who ARE those guys? Tennessee walked the dog on the Texas A&M, administering a 38-7 shellacking and leaving the pre-game favorite Aggies asking themselves the same question.
The Tennessee Volunteers played what was easily their most complete game of the season. Nowhere to be found were receivers frolicking in the Vols defensive backfield. Nowhere to be seen was the horizontal passing game Vol fans have come to know and love. Nowhere to be seen were the missed tackles, whiffed blocks and other assorted misdeeds that haunted Tennessee games from UNLV to the SEC Championship.
OK, who are those guys? More importantly, will they still be around for the 2005 kickoff now just 243 days hence?
So how did the team do compared to the Maxims?
1. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.
Texas A&M, a team that earned a reputation for protecting the ball during the Big 12 season, coughed up the ball five times Saturday. Which leads directly to:
2. Play for and make the breaks. When one comes your way SCORE!
Yea, verily. The Aggies had six possessions in the first half. Three of those possessions ended in fumbles which produced two touchdowns and missed field goal for the Volunteers.
3. If at first the game or the breaks go against you, dont let up PUT ON MORE STEAM!
Tennessee never trailed in the game. The Aggies were just hapless. They did manage to put together a respectable drive to open the second half only to see it fizzle when talented Aggie quarterback Reggie McNeal was stuffed on 4th and 1 at the UT 6. The Aggies did manage a late touchdown but the issue was no longer in doubt.
4. Protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead and our ballgame.
Yea, verily. THERE WERE NO LET-UPS! Who ARE those guys?
5. Ball! Oskie! Cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle THIS IS THE WINNING EDGE.
Yea, verily. BALL, DAMMIT! OSKIE, DAMMIT! PURSUE AND freakin GANG-TACKLE!!!! Who ARE those guys?
6. Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.
UT turned in an average day kicking. Colquitt was below his season average in punting yards, but most of those were kicks from the A&M side of the 50. Wilhoit missed the aforementioned field goal attempt but made one later. What was improved was coverage.
7. Carry the fight to Texas A&M and keep it there for sixty minutes.
From the opening gun right up to the end, the Vols never mailed it in.
The 2004 campaign is over. Tennessee turned in a 10-3 record, which is certainly nothing to be sneezed at in any year. There were disappointing losses to Auburn and the upset by Notre Dame. Balanced against those, though, are thrilling wins against Florida, Georgia and Alabama. If the Vols can be accused of mailing in performances against the likes of Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina, they still had enough firepower to win those games. The Volunteer fans can take heart from the Cotton Bowl win that 2005 will be even better.
On a personal note, this marks the end of my fourth season of these analyses. Fifty-one of these are in the book. I have endeavored to be fair, passing out praise and blame as deserved. There have been heartbreaking losses and exhilarating victories. Ive documented incredible performances and times when the Vols screwed the proverbial pooch. Such is the stuff of college football.
It may be time for me to pass on the torch. Be that as it may, the fire of General Neylands timeless football Maxims will point the way for future Volunteer teams and fans.
What torches kindled at that flame
Have passed from hand to hand?
What hearts cemented in that name
Bind land to stranger land?
-The University of Tennessee Alma Mater
MAXOMG
© 2005 One Man Gang
