Bump. Credit where it is due. If you will notice, this post was made when we were 1-4, after UGa and Florida beat us by a combined 211-4, and the team looked like a special needs class against Ga St and BYU.
I was actually searching for your post when I came across bostonvol's. He had the good fortune to use the words I was going to put into search. But nice prediction.
I predicted 9-3 to start the season. 2-10 after the debacle start. Average those out and you have 6-6 (if you round one up and one down and squint your eyes). I want some props!
I would have comfortably bet big money on at least 7 losses, without giving it a moment’s thought. 0% chance of a bowl game after BYU.
The most satisfying part of the entire run is their ability to close tightly contested one-possession games on the road. Vols teams of recent memory would have faltered. This feels like a program that’s firmly establishing itself as respectable again. Not necessarily top 25 yet, but out of the basement of the conference for good. Even when we were 5-0 heading to A&M under Butch, you could look at the roster and you know we wouldn’t sustain the success following the departures of Dobbs, Kamara, Malone, Hurd, etc. This doesn’t feel that way. Will suck to lose Jennings, but best is yet to come.
Something clicked against Georgia. I wouldn't expect outsiders to notice that haven't watched us closely, but something clicked. And it was obvious to people who have watched the program closely.
It's just culture change imo. People follow where they are led. When your leader needs depends underwear, you tend to piss away opportunities. In retrospect, kicking the field goal against Dooley's team back in the day (much less the one against Oklahoma) is all we really needed to know about how Butch's teams would close games. It takes time to change culture when its roots are deep.
like merry Christmas, this has been said many times and many ways. and also like merry Christmas, it's always nice to hear, because it's the bare truth.
