November 30, 2014
Vandy’s Law of Gravity
While Newton could of easily predicted this one, of course, he probably didn’t anticipate its force in college football. 2011 issued in Head Coach James Franklin to Vanderbilt where he wasn’t shy in putting Tennessee on notice that they were no longer the state’s premier football program. Easy to do when Tennessee has continued in its 7 year decline in the SEC and college football.
Franklin quickly made good on his promises by drubbing Tennessee and head coach Derek Dooley in 2012 by 41-18 and again in 2013 by a lesser margin of 14-10.
Tennessee fans not only were exhausted by the state of our football program, we were now being beat by an in-state team who made Tennessee appear as a pathetic, worn down, old program on life support and destined for the NCAA morgue.
Granted Franklin turned attention to the Commodores and quickly showed his success as a football coach, it began to attract the attention of other colleges in search of a new head coach with enough moxy to improve their program.
Meanwhile Tennessee had hired its third coach since showing Phillip Fulmer the door. Butch Jones quickly let Volunteer fans know that, not only were we going to be relevant again in the SEC, we were going to start by taking back the state of Tennessee.
Fortunately for Butch Jones, the coaching circle was in full force which snagged Franklin from Vandy to refill the opening at Penn State. His replacement, Derick Mason, started 2014 horribly as Vandy sunk back down to its former place in the SEC.
Even though the year hasn’t been stellar, it showed promise as Butch Jones and Tennessee won games against Kentucky and Vanderbilt, the two teams Vol fans refuse to lose to in college football.
Is Tennessee back on track? 2014 has shown improvement but we are still a long way from feeling comfortable, not only with Vanderbilt and Kentucky, but with our place as a SEC perennial. Thanks to the departure of Franklin, Tennessee was able to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2009. A step in the right direction? or just dumb luck that Kentucky and Vandy couldn’t get their programs together this year?
November 29, 2015
Commodores Derailed
The in state rivalry in College Football has probably been the most over rated week in recent years with most in state rivals not mounting real competition to the big brother of the state. Tennessee coming off two not so stellar performances against North Texas and Missouri still has left a bad taste in Vol fans mouthes. Having recent struggles against our in-state rival under former coach James Franklin combined with the woeful years of Derek Doobey and the first year of Butch Jones, the Vols had loss the past 2 out of 3 games against the Commodores.
Tennessee, struggling throughout the year in almost every game, faced Vanderbilt hoping to finish the season with a respectable 8-4 season. The Commodores have slid since the departure of James Franklin and look to be going no where fast under the inept Derek Mason as head coach. However, Vanderbilt did possess a defense that couldn’t be ignored which was the main concern given Tennessee’s inability to get any consistent offense going.
But tonight was going to be different! One step closer to being a contender in the SEC and a few steps away from being back in the National conversation. Tennessee started the year ranked in the top 25 but quickly lost that spot just as quick as they earned it. Staring down a potential 8-4 season, something not seen since 2007, the Vols were determined to put and exclamation point on this season.
What Tennessee fans got was finally the team we’d been looking for all season. While it took a little time for the defense to warm up, Tennessee easily became dominant on both sides of the ball and putting the Commodores off the tracks early and easily. The game even came with a surprise 4th attempt for the endzone. The attempt failed but it showed me Butch Jones is ready to step on the gas! You live by the sword, you die by the sword. With over 500 yards of offense and a 53-28 drubbing of Vanderbilt has set the tone that this team is improving just the way Jones wants it to. More outstanding recruiting classes and growing current freshman and sophomore players means Tennessee is no longer a team to overlook.
Too bad your team can’t learn football!
By The LakeVol Botch No comments Tags: Big Orange, Butch Jones, Checker Neyland, College Football, Commodores, Derek Dooley, Derek Mason, Jalen Hurd, James Franklin, Josh Dobbs, SEC, SEC Football, Tennessee, Tennessee Football, Tennessee Volunteers, Vanderbilt, Vols, Volunteers