Vol Fans Needed That Win As Well!
As important as it was to get the “W” for Butch Jones and the never say die football players, the Vol fans needed that win as well. It was mandatory for this team to win, and they “willed” their way to victory in a wild game on a wild day in South Carolina.
Tennessee piled up an unreal 645 yards against a porous South Carolina defense on the cold night. There were no Vol fans noticing the cold at the end of the night by the way! I predicted they would break the 400 yard mark in an article yesterday based on the running ability of Josh Dobbs. I was only wrong by 200 plus yards. I even had a Alabama fan comment that I was putting too much faith in one player as I said Dobbs would be the difference in leading this team. (From the first time I saw Dobbs play in his first Orange and White game, I reported that he was head and shoulders above the other quarterbacks. This success is not surprising to me one bit, but it is encouraging that we have Alabama fans reading about what is happening at Tennessee. Kind of telling, huh?)
Dobbs made a few costly mistakes. He made a terrible throw early in the game and missed a wide open Ryan Jenkins who could have backed into the end zone for a touchdown. This happened last week as well. He also threw a bad interception late in the fourth quarter with Tennessee driving effortlessly against a pitiful South Carolina defense. Tennessee needed to score to tie. He threw into double coverage and it looked as if the Vols were done. Especially when South Carolina running back Brandon Wilds ran 70 yards for a touchdown in front of the few remaining South Carolina fans that were in the stands with just over 4 minutes left in the game. Game over.
Not so fast my friend. Josh Dobbs led Tennessee on a 10 play 75 yard drive and scored on a 3 yard run to bring the Vols back within a score. Looked like too little too late though. South Carolina however inexplicably came out throwing the football on first down instead of running Davis or Wilds. These two had their way with the Tennessee defense all night long. Then again, the Gamecocks themselves had 625 yards total in the loss.
They went 3 and out and punted to Tennessee with 1:20 or so on the clock. So in comes the call. Ground Control to Major Dobbs. Dobbs led the team on a 85 yard 9 play drive and found wide receiver Jason Croom alone in the end zone with 11 seconds left. The Vol faithful in the stands went wild. Butch Jones, who had chewed out everything remotely looking like a human on the sideline during the game, had relief and resolve on his face. He said the Vol mantra of the week was whatever it takes. What came next was just that.
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Tennessee lost the coin toss of course. Spurrier elected to go on defense. After Tennessee failed to get in the end zone, freshman kicker Aaron Medley put one through the uprights for a three point lead. Game over for the Vols again. Surely Spurrier will score with ease as they had all game long. No sir. Curt Maggitt did whatever it took. He won his one on one battle and sacked South Carolina QB Dylan Thompson for a loss. Next play, Vol freshman defensive end Derek Barnett sacked Thompson again. Thompson had no where to go and threw it out of bounds on third down. Spurrier brought in Kicker Elliot Fry to try a long field goal and he chili dipped one that looked like one of my golf shots to end the game.
As my son, a Sophomore at the University of Tennessee said “Knoxville erupted”. As Butch Jones took time to just view the happiness of his players like a proud dad, the whole State of Tennessee celebrated. It has been too long. The entire State deserved this game. And to do it against Spurrier? You can’t say overtime loss without thinking of Spurrier. (instead of you can’t spell Citrus without UT) South Carolina is 1-3 in overtime games. All three losses have come to the Vols.
I can not thank these guys enough. What Jalen Hurd did was amazing. This guy is unbelievable. Late in the game he was a wrecking machine. On virtually every time a South Carolina player tackled Hurd they would walk off of the field injured. He ran over them and through them. The 4th down Screen pass he caught for a touchdown will become legendary. Dobbs was magnificent as predicted. Pig Howard had his best game as a Vol. Marlin Lane had some big plays. The entire team did whatever it took.
For Vol fans, it is easier to wake up this morning. We can actually watch Sports Center or read the Sunday Paper. We have a little pep in our step. We can look at the world and say “we won”. “We” did win. Vol fans put a lot of energy into their team. Yes, I believe more than most. Look at the stadium in Columbia last night. By the end of the game it was virtually empty of fans. Either they got cold or got complacent. At Tennessee, we get 100,000 fans in the stadium to watch a team that has not won more than 5 games per season the past 4 years. We pledge our support, live it and breath it all year long. “We” needed this one. “We” need two more out of the three left to get bowl eligible. It is going to be tough, but “we” need to do whatever it takes. For now “we” want you guys that played last night to accept a big Thank you for the morning we have to wake up to! Thank you to each of you on the team.