OneManGang
Senior Member
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2004
- Messages
- 2,004
- Likes
- 9,494
Tennessee vs The Maxims vs Virginia
DATE: 2 September 2023
PLACE: Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN
ATTENDANCE: 69,507
FINAL SCORE: Tennessee 49 Virginia 13
I woke Saturday to news that Jimmy Buffett had slipped his moorings. I have been a Parrothead since 1975 and this was not the way I would have wanted to start the day.
I like to think that Jimmy, his Dad, and Captain Buffett are out sailing on the old Chickamauga heading for that beach house on the moon. And with one hand on the starboard rail, he's waving back at us.
The 6th Century Chinese philosopher general Sun Tzu wrote, “All warfare is based on deception.”
I don't know if HeadVol Heupel ever read The Art of War,but he sure as heck knows how to implement Master Sun's maxim.
The entire college football world thinks of Heupel's offensive scheme as a pass-happy “gimmick” strategy.
It is anything but. And therein lies Heupel's genius.
Tennessee is a running team. I realize that may bring a few of you up short after the gaudy passing yards put up by Hendon Hooker last year. But once the Vols got their running game sorted especially against Vandy, Clemson and now Virginia, we saw how Bazooka Joe is a threat that opponents have to respect and that threat opens up the running game. Sell out to stop the run and Milton will eat you alive. Sell out to stop the pass and Small, Wright and Sampson will run roughshod.
The Genrul smiles.
Hendon Hooker was a generational talent at UT. His prowess places him among the heady company of names like Warren, Holloway and Manning. It was a pleasure to watch him ply his trade.
However, the Vol running game was not quite up to snuff and it can be argued that Tennessee's two losses last year were to teams that sold out to stop Hooker and dared the Vols to beat them running. The emergence of guys like Sampson and Wright filled that gap as we saw in Orlando and now twice in Nashville.
The Vols took the opening kickoff and marched down the field meeting no significant resistance and scored on a 9-yard swing pass to Dylan Sampson.
After a 3-and-out by Virginia, disaster very nearly visited the Vols. For whatever reason, Heupel tried to run the ball on 4th-and-one at the Vol 29. Jabari Small was stopped and Virginia took over.
The Vol defense stepped up and stopped the Yayhoos on the Vol 11. They tried a field goal that went wide right.
End of 1st Quarter
Score: Tennessee 7 Virginia 0
The teams traded punts, with UVA definitely getting the better of the punting duel. Tennessee's second possession of the quarter began on their own 10. Big Joe looked at the expanse of greensward and seemed to say, “We got this.” And so they did. The ensuing 90-yard drive was capped by a second Sampson touchdown on a three-yard run.
Tennessee kickoff man Josh Turbyville has an absolute cannon for a leg. For whatever reason it was decided to get him to do directional kicks.
Umm, no.
After the kick, the Yayhoos took over on their own 35 and marched down to the Vol 13 where they stalled but got the field goal.
The Vols got the ball with 1:42 left and the TV guys were talking about halftime. One minute and thirty-six seconds of game time later, Milton scored on a quarterback sneak.
End of 2nd Quarter
Score: Tennessee 21 Virginia 3
Tennessee kicked off to start the half and it was another of those directional experiments. Fortunately the Cavaliers did nothing and punted.
The Vols then put together a 77-yard drive with Milton scoring on a 1-yard run around right end.
Turbyville was turned loose and buried that kickoff – and the three that followed it - 8 or 9 yards deep in the end zone.
Virginia answered with a 75-yard touchdown drive of their own.
After a UT punt, UVA took over and ended up facing a 4th-and-1 at their own 34. They tried a quarterback draw that Wesley Walker blew up behind the line,
The ensuing drive was the Jabari Small Show. He rushed five times for 28 yards but was gassed and Sampson did the honors from 2 yards out.
End of 3rd Quarter
Score: Tennessee 35 Virginia 10
Tennessee was driving as the 4th quarter began. Eventually, Bazooka Joe found a wide-open Jacob Warren in the back of the end zone.
Touted freshman Nico Iamaleava came in for the Vols' next series and picked up where Milton left off. The drive was capped by Sampson's FOURTH touchdown of the day on a 3-yard plunge.
The Cavaliers added a meaningless field goal and that was that.
Final Score
Score: Tennessee 49 Virginia 13
*******
There is some considerable evidence that the American Civil War should have ended in the late spring of 1862. A vast Federal host under Gen .George McClellan had landed at Ft. Monroe on the end of York Peninsula beginning on 17 March. Their objective was the capture of the Confederate capital of Richmond and the defeat of the Rebel army defending it. Unfortunately for the Union cause, McClellan was a cautious worry-wart of a commander who never missed an opportunity to take council of his fears and miss an opportunity. What should have been a relentless, slashing advance instead was a plodding movement with numerous stops whenever the Confederates dug in and McClellan decided he was facing a more numerous foe.
He wasn't.
His opponent was Gen Joseph E. Johnston, an equally cautious and passive man. Johnston never met a retrograde operation he didn't like. He knew full well he was outnumbered and endeavored fight a delaying action. His troops would dig in but when the Union troops closed he would then abandon those trenches and fall back. McClellan would then wait until Johnston had gotten clean away with plenty of time to dig in further back before moving into the abandoned positions.
And so the dance would resume … for over two months.
Both Generals wiled away the days bombarding their respective War Departments with missives asking for more men, more cannons, more this, more that. For their parts, the Secretaries of War wondered why their respective generals weren't bombarding the enemy with equal vigor.
Finally,at the end of May, Johnston was presented with an opportunity even he couldn't pass up. McClellan's army was divided by the Chickahominy River. He massed his forces south of the river and on 31 May he attacked. The ensuing Battle of Seven Pines (or Fair Oaks) was a bloody and inconclusive fight mostly because Johnston issued orders that were unclear and Stonewall Jackson was delayed in reaching the field. Late in the day, Johnston was severely wounded by shell fragments and forced to leave the field. The next day he was replaced in command by one Robert Edward Lee.
Lee's appointment to command of what would be named the Army of Northern Virginia may well have extended the Civil War by three years.
Johnston's attack fueled another bout of inaction and hesitancy on McClellan's part. Lee used that gift of time to organize his new army and to strengthen the fortifications around Richmond. The fan boys and armchair generals in the Richmond media derided his inaction and lamented that the “Flower of Southern Manhood” should be employed digging ditches instead of out in the field killing Yankees.
Lee ignored them and by the end of June he was ready. Richmond, with strong defenses, could be held by a minimal force thus freeing the bulk of the Confederate troops in the area for offensive action. On 25 June, he launched the first of a series of actions that came to be known as The Seven Days Campaign because that's how long it took him to chase McClellan and his host back to Ft. Monroe and out of Virginia.
On 29 June, Lee ordered an attack by Magruder's Division against a Federal rear guard located around Savage's Station, a crossroads roughly six miles from Richmond. To support Magruder the Confederates brought up a massive 32-pounder Brooke rifle mounted on a rail car. The gun was more powerful than anything the Yankees had with longer range. Magruder's attack was badly organized and descended into a stalemate. The gun was moderately successful but couldn't sway the battle by itself. After nightfall the Union troops withdrew leaving behind a vast stock of supplies and 2500 wounded in a field hospital.
As the campaign changed into a maneuver fight the gun was left behind, highlighting a weakness that would plague all of its descendants over the next half-century. They were restricted to existing rail lines and those didn't always go in the same direction as the army.
With the return of positional warfare during the early days of the siege of Petersburg in 1864, the Union deployed a massive 13-inch coastal defense mortar called “The Dictator” that fired a 325-pound shell about 2.5 miles. The mortar weighed in at nearly 10 tons and was therefore mounted on a rail car. The recoil of this beast was such that it dismantled its rail car the first time it was fired. The mount was strengthened and the mortar used until mid-September when it was pulled off the line and never fired again.
Fast forward fifty years. After the initial war of movement, by the fall of 1914, the Great War had degenerated into bloody and inconclusive trench warfare. Grant and Lee could have told them that infantry assaults against trenches were useless, but the Europeans ignored the lessons of the American Civil War as something from “the colonies.” Millions died in frontal assaults and for four years the lines moved not at all.
The stalemate proved to be the heyday of the railway guns, though. The British, French and Germans scoured seacoast forts and shipyards for redundant heavy guns to mount on railroad cars and point at the hated foe. They were the only method for what we now call “deep strike” to hit ammo dumps, rail yards and assembly areas deep behind enemy lines. Airplanes of the time were so fragile that even a 50lb bomb was too much for them to carry. These massive guns could fling shells weighing up to a ton 20 miles or so.
When America declared war in April, 1917, the Army's field artillery consisted of a few dozen M1902 3-in field guns. This was at a time when the armies in France were deploying literally thousands of guns. The only heavy artillery was sitting in fixed fortifications along the coasts.
The Navy saw an opportunity. While they would be busy with anti-sub work and convoy escort missions, and would send a battleship squadron to work with the Royal Navy, there was little there to generate headlines. The German fleet hadn't been seen since the battle of Jutland in 1916.
During the summer of 1917 the Navy's Bureau of Ordnance noted that the Germans were using long-range railroad guns and decided to get in on the game. The Navy had just commissioned the battleship USS New Mexico which mounted 12 14-inch/50 caliber Mark 4 guns. These guns were in mass production as they would be used by the three New Mexico ships and the two Tennessee battleships. The 14-inch/50s were nearly 60 feet long and were considered to be the most powerful battleship guns going. These beasts could fling a 1400lb shell 45,000 yards, or just over 25 miles.
BuOrd contracted with the Baldwin Locomotive Co. to provide suitable carriages for five of these guns along with the ammunition cars, machine shops, fire control centers and barracks cars for the 100-plus Swabs who would service these monsters. Unlike other railroad guns, the Navy wanted a roof over their heads and so a gun house was installed over the breeches that resembled a truncated battleship gun turret. On the side was a huge elevation wheel, the guns were so well balanced that they could be raised by hand.
After testing and construction the five batteries each with a single gun were shipped out and arrived at the port of St. Nazaire in France in the summer of 1918. As the first guns arrived it was realized with some degree of horror that they had left all the drawings and assembly instructions back in the USA. And you thought you had problems with the kids' tricycle. Fortunately, many of the gun crew members had been at Baldwin and kept detailed notes on how the guns were put together.
Another problem that arose was that the gun mounts weighed in at over 300,000 lbs. The carriage had six axles which yielded over 50,000 lbs per axle. The problem was that French railroads were only stressed for loads of about 30,000 lbs per axle. The railroads would have to be upgraded before the guns could move.
After assembly and testing, Batteries 1 and 2 were sent to the French sector and set up shop in the Forest of Compiégne just outside Paris. On 6 September, Gun 2 was elevated and the loading sequence began. When all was ready the firing circuit was closed and an enormous belch of smoke and incandescent gas erupted from the muzzle. Those quick of vision and sharp of eye could just make out the dark shape of the shell as it flew toward the rail center at Tergnier. There had been a German railroad gun there that had been harassing the French. The impact of the 1400 lb shell convinced the German gunners to clear out.
From then on the five Naval batteries were in action. In all, they fired some 782 rounds at German targets. These proved to be the only American-made shells to be fired at the Germans by American-made guns in the entire war.
On 11 November, at 10:57:30 AM, Battery 4 fired its last round timed to hit just before the Armistice took effect at 1100.
The Navy back hauled the guns to the US. They were dusted off for WWII but were restricted to coast defense duties.
You can still see one of these beasts, preserved on the grounds of the US Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington, DC.
********
So,how did the Vols do against The Maxims?
1. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.
Virginia had every reason to do well given that they were dedicating the game to three team mates killed in a tragic shooting, but couldn't get out of their own way against Tennessee's superior talent. Then too, they had swallowed that whole “pass happy” thing and tried to shut down Milton. In this they failed. Milton ended with 201 passing yards and the Vol runners lit them up for nearly 300 yards rushing. Heh.
2. Play for and make the breaks. When one comes your way … SCORE!
Keeping your opponent out of the end zone for most of the game creates opportunities. The Vols seven scoring drives were proof.
3. If at first the game – or the breaks – go against you, don't let up… PUT ON MORE STEAM!
The outcome was never really in doubt despite the Vols struggling in the first quarter.
4. Protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead and our ballgame.
Milton was sacked once and that was it. The big eaters on both sides of the line for the Vols certainly earned their pay. Jeez, I just realized we can now say that for real!
5. Ball! Oskie! Cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle … THIS IS THE WINNING EDGE.
The improvements to Tennessee's defense are night and day over last year. That said, the lack of any turnovers created is troubling.
6. Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.
The Cavs won the punting duel hands down. Tennessee's Aussie import struggled and takes way to long to get the ball off as do most rugby-style kickers. Also there was Dee Williams' fumble. The special teams boys have their work cut out this week.
7. Carry the fight to Virginia and keep it there for sixty minutes,
The game was never in doubt.
Past Tennessee teams have had a disturbing tendency to play at exactly the level of their opponents. HeadVol Heupel seems to have banished those ghosts.
Next up are the Austin Peay Governors. No offense @peaygolf, but the Vols could start Navy Shuler on Saturday and still win by 20.
Suggested Reading:
John Batchelor and Ian V. Hogg, Artillery. Scribners, 1972
Lt. Cdr. Edward Breck, USNR, United States Naval Railway Batteries in France. Dept. of the Navy, 1922
Lt. Cdr. L.B. Bye, USN, “U.S. Naval Railway Batteries,” U.S.Naval Institute Proceedings: June, 1919
Fire Mission! (US Navy)
Last edited:
