OneManGang
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Tennessee vs The Maxims vs UT Martin
DATE: 22 October 2022
PLACE: Neyland Stadium
ATTENDANCE: 101,215 (your results may vary, looked more like 95-96k or so.)
FINAL SCORE: Tennessee 65 UTM 24
Homecoming ...
For too many years recently, the Vol fanbase has sweated the second half of the season. Could the Vols reach that elusive 6-win floor and become bowl eligible? If so, would they actually get invited? If one set of questions defined Battered Vol Syndrome, these were the ones.
At this point in the 2022 campaign, the Vol Faithful are really in a sort of mass shock. Before the season we said, “I just want to see improvement.” or, “I think 8-5 would be a good year.” or, “Maybe we can beat one of the Big Three (Florida, Bama, UGA) and wouldn't that be great!”
Holy Crap!
HeadVol Josh Heupel has taken a collection of raw recruits, some reasonably good but oft injured veterans, and castoffs from the Beldar Pruitt regime and forged a freaking juggernaut. The Vols are 7-0, seven and zero, SEVEN wins in row! The Vols have disposed of Florida AND Bama! AND Tennessee sits in the #3 spot in the polls! Vol fans are deliriously happy and mightily confused at the same time. Used to plumbing the depths of mediocrity since 2008, the sudden transition to the current reality is disconcerting.
The scary part is the thought that if our HeadVol can do this with that, how good will Tennessee be when he gets his own players in?
That SEC Shorts video about retraining the Tennessee fan is spot on. Indeed, listening to some of the fans around me in the north end zone, I was looking for the cattle prod! What is wrong with you people? So what if Joe Milton has the delicate touch of a Ukrainian ditch-digger on short passes? Yes, the refs blew a couple of calls – big deal. Gentle Jesus, the Vols scored FIFTY-TWO points in the first half! Enjoy it!
Also, to my mouthy friends north of Jellico, you DID notice that last?
Finally, let me just state that the response of the Vol Nation to the plight of that kid from UT Martin has just been OUTSTANDING! Bravo Zulu!
Tennessee scored on their first possession with a Jabari small plunge from the one. Then, to the surprise of all, including the UT Martin faithful, the Skyhawks scored a touchdown to tie it up at 7-7.
The Vols thence went on a tear scoring 45 unanswered points over the balance of the first quarter and all the way to half.
Preston Fant scored from his full,back slot and then Ramel Keyton snagged a 8-yard pass from Hooker on an untimed (due to a penalty against the Skyhawks) down at the end of the quarter.
End of 1st Quarter
Score: Tennessee 21 UTM 7
Tennessee took their opening possession of the 2nd quarter down to the Martin 22 but stalled and Chase McGrath nailed a 40-yarder at the 10:55 mark.
Martin fumbled on the first play of their drive and the Vols were in business on the Skyhawk 31. Hooker tossed a pass to Small for 9 and then hit a streaking Jalen Hyatt for a 22-yard TD at the 10:13 mark. Two scores by the Vols in 42 seconds. Good Lord …
Tennessee's next possession was much longer. On this one it took all of 54 seconds for Hooker to find Ramel Keyton again for a 17-yard touchdown pass.
Tennessee's third time with the ball in the quarter resulted in an 11-yard sprint by
Tennessee's last drive of the half featured Jalen Hyatt with a juggling catch for a 66-yard touchdown from Princeton Fant on a nifty half-back pass.
THIRTY ONE points in one quarter! Most teams in the SEC would have a hard time doing that against air.
End of 2nd Quarter
Score: Tennessee 52 UTM 7
Tennessee took the 2nd half kickoff and Joe Milton engineered a five play 75-yard drive capped by a one-yard run by freshman running back Dylan Sampson into the end zone. However senior kicker Toby Wilson pulled his PAT attempt left.
Tennessee's next possession, despite a 45-yard dash by Dylan Sampson, stalled and McGrath missed on a 46-yard attempt.
Martin then scored on their ensuing possession,
Paxton Brooks shanked his punt and Martin had the ball as the quarter ended.
End of 3rd Quarter
Score: Tennessee 58 UTM 14
The Skyhawks drove down and scored on a 31-yard pass play that Tennessee challenged but lost.
All Joe Milton did next was to heave a 64-yard strike to Squirrel (one of the greatest names in Vol history) White who was next seen in the checkerboards.
Martin eventually added a meaningless field goal and that, as they say, was that.
Final Score
Score: Tennessee 65 UTM 24
********
5 June 1944, Newbury, EnglandThe Boss was restless. The great decision had been made and his subordinates were scattered carrying out their assigned duties. The invasion of Europe was ON. He had given the order a few hours before and now really didn't have much to do.
He decided to tour some of the many bases in southeast England and visit with some of the men who would carry out the largest amphibious operation in history. He traveled in secret, though. The flags on his car which designated his rank and position were covered and escorts kept to an absolute minimum.
And so he eventually came to an airfield near Newbury. From it the paratroopers of the 502nd Parachute Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, would soon take off to make a drop that night in landing zones behind UTAH Beach to seize key bridges across the Merderet River and other road junctions to pave the way for the 4th Infantry Division which would hit the beach at dawn on 6 June.
Despite the efforts at secrecy the men of the 502nd soon knew who was there. “It's Ike! Pass the word!”
Ike got out of his car and approached a group of troopers. They were from Company E of the 502nd. Her spoke to the men asking their home towns and making small talk. A tall trooper from Michigan with a number “23” hanging around his neck caught his attention. “1st Lt. Wallace Strobel, Sir,” the young man introduced himself. Ike then proceeded to tell the young officer that he enjoyed fishing in Michigan and recounted a couple of fish stories. Lt. Wallace would be the first American officer to land in Normandy.
The photogs and reporters there later captioned the famous photo of that conversation as Ike urging his men to victory or some other such drivel. A fish story just didn't seem to jibe with the momentous events that would follow.
Ike talks to the men of E Company 502nd PIR, 5 June 1944 (NARA)
Ike stayed and grimly watched as the troopers boarded the C-47s which would carry then across the English Channel. His air commander, Air Vice Marshal Leigh-Mallory of the RAF, had calculated the 101st and the 82nd Airborne Division which would be dropping in the same area, would suffer 70% casualties. In the grim calculus of war it would be worth it if they could seize and hold those bridges and get the 4th Division and the follow-on divisions off the beach and on their way across France.
SHAEF Headquarters, Southwick House, Hampshire, England, the night of 4 June 1944
The rain was coming down in sheets. A late-spring storm was roaring in from the North Atlantic and the Force-5 winds shook the windows of the country manor house. Inside, a group of men sat pondering a great decision. All but one of them sat around a table mounded with plans, documents and various other things marked SECRET. The other man paced back and forth, his arms folded behind his back and his chin on his chest. Occasionally, his head would come up and he would fix his gaze on one of the men at table, ask a question, consider the reply, and then resume pacing.
It was a scene never to be repeated. On 4 June 1944 one man held the future of western democracy in his hands. He was officially known as Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces headquartered at Southwick House in the English countryside. To the US Army, he was General Dwight David Eisenhower a graduate of West Point (1915) and a career soldier who had never, until 1942, actually commanded a combat operation. To his friends - and most of all to his troops - he was “Ike.”
The decision he faced this wind-swept night was whether to launch the largest amphibious operation in history - an operation involving thousands of ships and aircraft and well over 100,000 combat troops – in weather that can best be described as “marginal.” Timing was everything. There was a brief window, from June 4 to June 6 when the tides would be at their lowest and there would be no moon at night to silhouette paratroopers as they dropped behind the invasion beaches. The lower tides would allow the Allied troops to avoid most of the German beach obstacles which ended at the normal low-tide line. The next such combination of moon and tides would not be for two more weeks.
Already the weather had forced the postponement of OVERLORD (the code-name for the invasion) from June 5 even as transports and landing craft were leaving their harbors and forming immense convoys in the English Channel. The ships and boats had to put about and return to harbor or simply orbit at sea, awaiting further orders. Any delay of more than twenty-four hours meant that some ships would run out of fuel.
Still the rain pounded and the wind blew.
SHAEF’s chief weatherman was a Scot, Group Captain J. M. Stagg. Stagg reported that he expected the storm to abate on the 5th. He said there would be scattered clouds on the night of June 5-6 but that the air forces should be able to deal with it.
The Tactical Air Commander, Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory wanted clear skies and nothing less. He urged further postponement.
Eisenhower’s subordinates were almost equally divided. His ground commander, British Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery was ready, “I would say – GO!”
Eisenhower stopped and shot a question to his Chief of Staff General Walter Bedell Smith who bore the obvious nickname “Beetle.” “Beetle, what do you think?”
Smith replied, “It’s a helluva gamble but it’s the best possible gamble.”
Ike summed up the situation, “The question is just how long can you hang this operation on the end of a limb and let it hang there.”
At 2145 (9:45 PM), Eisenhower gave his decision, “I am quite positive the order must be given.”
There was one more chance to stop the thing. A pre-dawn meeting was called and Group Captain Stagg would give his latest estimate and the final decision made. Eisenhower went to his quarters and tried to get some sleep. He was back up at 0330.
Years later he recalled, “The weather was terrible. Southwick House was shaking. Oh it was really storming.”
Stagg showed up smiling. He was confident the storm would break and there would be at least 36 hours of good weather. Still, that was hard to believe given the fury beating on the windows.
Opinion was still divided. The final call was Eisenhower’s and his alone. Ike’s thoughts were with his men on the ships and airfields who would carry out his orders.
It is worth noting that those two notorious meddlers, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin Roosevelt, left Ike alone during this time. They trusted their commander to make the right decision.
In a 1964 interview, Eisenhower said this, “Goodness knows, those fellows meant a lot to me. But these are decisions that have to be made when you’re in a war. You say to yourself, I’m going to do something that will be to my country’s advantage for the least cost. You can’t say without any cost. You know you’re going to lose some of them, and it’s very, very difficult.”
Finally, Eisenhower stopped and faced his commanders, “OK, let’s go.”
The room emptied in less than thirty seconds. Eisenhower immediately went from the most powerful man in the Western Alliance to superfluous. He could now no more stop OVERLORD than King Canute could stop the tide.
However, there was nothing guaranteed about the D-Day landings. Many, many things could go wrong. Little did those paratroopers know that Ike had a hand-written note in pencil in his wallet. It was a message to be sent if the landings were a disaster:
“Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air, and the navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.”
6 June 1944, Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, France
Ike's boys didn't let him down. Despite the two airborne divisions being scattered from hell to breakfast they formed ad hoc units containing whatever Americans they could find. They took most of their objectives and held them. Casualties among the troopers were much less than Leigh-Mallory's grim prediction, roughly 2500 killed, wounded and missing combined for both divisions out of 17,000 paratroopers and glider infantry who landed that night.
The landing craft carrying the 4th Division were swept about a mile from their assigned beaches, but, fortuitously, the beaches where they landed were less heavily defended. The landings at UTAH went fairly smoothly.
A few miles up the coast, though, the landings at OMAHA Beach were a bloodbath. However, once again Ike's boys took the initiative and instead of using the designated exits they went up the bluffs to silence the German pillboxes and machine gun nests.
A few more miles further up the coast the British and Canadian forces secured their positions at GOLD, JUNO and SWORD beaches.
By nightfall on the 6th of June nearly 100,000 American, British, Canadian and Free French troops were ashore in France and they weren't going to be thrown back.
On 7 May 1945 Ike sent a telegram to London and Washington:
"The mission of this Allied Force was fulfilled at 0241, local time, May 7th, 1945."
/signed/ Eisenhower
********
So, how did the Vols do against The Maxims?
1. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.
This was another of those games where UT Martin's fatal error was allowing the ink to dry on the contract to play the game. Credit to the Skyhawk players who kept plugging away long after the issue was settled. Sometimes these things remind me of an incident toward the end of the 19th Century when an Ethiopian king sent his troops, barefoot and armed with spears and leather shields, up against British regulars armed with bolt-action rifles, Maxim machine guns and artillery because he wanted to see what modern war looked like.
2. Play for and make the breaks. When one comes your way … SCORE!
The Vols scored nearly every time they had the ball. What else needs to be said?
3. If at first the game – or the breaks – go against you, don't let up … PUT ON MORE STEAM!
Apart from that 1st quarter Skyhawk touchdown that tied the score at 7, virtually everything went Tennessee's way.
4. Protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead and our ballgame.
Once again the Big Eaters in Orange PMS #151 earned their pay. The Vols piled up nearly 700 yards of total offense. As was stated above, most teams would be challenged to do that against air.
5. Ball! Oskie! Cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle … THIS IS THE WINNING EDGE.
HeadVol Heupel is as aggressive as they come and his attitude now permeates his team on both sides of the ball.
6. Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.
Simply put, Paxton Brooks needs to eat his “Wheaties.” He punted twice for an average (you may have seen this on the nightly accident report) of 31 yards. That is in no way good enough to prevail during the rest of the season.
The second half kickoff duo of Toby Wilson and Josh Turbeyville buried 3 of their 4 kicks in the end zone. Brooks only managed that on one of his seven.
7. Carry the fight to UT Martin and keep it there for sixty minutes,
The game was pretty much over after Tennessee's second touchdown. The rest of the game was a full speed scrimmage for the Vols.
Up next is Kentucky for a night game at Neyland. Gad, they are (and always have been) a mouthy bunch. Barring some unforeseen disaster, Hooker and Co. will nail a pelt to the dressing room wall.
Suggested Reading:
Stephen Ambrose, D-Day
Gordon A. Harrison, Cross Channel Attack
Cornelius Ryan, The Longest Day
The cost of D-Day: the Normandy American Cemetery (American Battle Monuments Commission)
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