Dougherty's Diatribe 10/17/2007

Two weeks ago the Tennessee football program appeared to be at a crossroads. The Vols were 2-2 and had been far from impressive. To many Tennessee fans, it was not simply that the Vols were 2-2 it was the way in which they had amassed that 2-2 record.

You could argue that the losses to California and Florida were to two great teams which is true. However, Cal and Florida have lost a combined three games since. And, you could argue that Tennessee was in both games relatively late.

However, the reality of the situation is that late in the fourth quarter of both of those games Tennessee’s fate had already been sealed with both teams simply playing out the string. Well, except in Florida’s case as the Gators scored and then scored and then scored some more. It looked personal, which is the way it should be. It’s not the Gators fault for running up the score. It is Tennessee’s fault for not stopping them. Everyone agrees to play sixty minutes going in, right?

Many Tennessee fans grew concerned with the state of their program. They expressed themselves in greater and greater numbers on my talk show and others, on the web in forums such as this one on volnation.com and with e-mails to administrators. In addition to those things games were not being sold out and the Mississippi St. game was set for no television coverage. That was to be the first time Tennessee did not appear on television of any kind in more than a decade. Plus, you have a basketball coach threatening to turn Tennessee into a basketball school.

The Tennessee football program was at a crossroads heading into a match-up with Georgia. The Bulldogs had won five out of seven in the series, three straight in Knoxville and Bulldog Coach Mark Richt had never lost as a head coach in Neyland Stadium. Tennessee could not run the football consistently and defensively looked disjointed to say the least. How would the Vols react with their collective backs against the wall? Would they stand up and fight or simply bow down to the challenge? Could this group of players buy into playing “Tennessee Football?”

Two weeks and two groups of Bulldogs later Tennessee appears to have answered those questions and done so with a vengeance. Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer and his staff deserve credit for turning this around. These guys have obviously sold the “us against the world” mantra and the kids have bought in. And, they are playing Tennessee football.

Tennessee’s offensive line is the best in America in terms of protecting the quarterback. Erik Ainge was sacked in the first offensive series of the year against Cal and has not been sacked since. Ainge has put the ball up 221 times and has hit the ground with the ball just once. Yet, with that amazing ability to protect number ten, the men up front still had trouble putting their hands on the ground and exploding off the ball, moving the line of scrimmage down field. The coaching staff said before the Georgia game that the run game was there but they had not given it a chance. Two weeks later, they appear to be correct.

Against Georgia and Mississippi St., Arian Foster is running with passion, exploding through holes with confidence and providing Tennessee with a physical style of offense that wears down defenses. Montario Hardesty has jumped into the mix and looks like a fresh running back, which is exactly what he is. Hardesty had but eleven carries through four games. During the last two weeks, Hardesty had 30 carries for 151 yards. In fact, Arian Foster and Montario Hardesty have combined for almost 400 yards and five touchdowns. They have also averaged 5.8 yards per carry.

The emergence of consistent run game success presents problems for defenses that will try to game plan the Vols. Alabama, for example, will have to game plan to stop the run, but will have to be extremely aware of an extremely efficient quarterback who could take over any game at any time.

Now, the question; can Tennessee keep this up? Can the Vols run the table? The answer will reveal itself as the SEC schedule plays out, but it appears far more likely today than it did two weeks ago.

And now it is Bama week with the Tide currently favored by one point. It appears as if the match-ups favor Tennessee. But, you never know what will happen in this series. Running the football effectively is the key for the Vols. If Tennessee can churn up yardage on the ground that will set up the play action passing game with Erik Ainge and it will keep the defense well rested.

Vols by ten.

Picks:

Arkansas 27
Ole Miss 20

Vanderbilt 20
South Carolina 24

Auburn 17
LSU 20

Florida 38
Kentucky 34

Tennessee 34
Alabama 24

Thanks again for reading. Be sure to check out the show at wlac.com keyword PTS. And, I am looking for Tennessee Bama memories to share on the show. Please give me a shout with yours. Pics are great too. I can get them up on our web-site.

E-mail me at brentd@wlac.com

Thanks again. -Brent Dougherty

News Radio 1510 WLAC – Nashville