Tis the season

Vols 31, Golden Bears 45

It’s football time in Tennessee. And even though I live in Virginia, that sentiment is expressed around this blog in the form of University of Tennessee football game recaps. Like ’em or not, they’re back.

Tonight’s game saw the Vols lose the opener with California. The Golden Bears, complete with tree-huggers encamped in protest atop the trees surrounding the Berkeley stadium, executed a stunning display of offense against the Vols that left them playing catch-up the whole night.

This game was surprising in a couple of ways. The Vols’ ability to mount such an explosive, fast-acting offense was a welcome trait that I didn’t expect (Erik Ainge had 270 yards). This will be a valuable asset in Gainesville a couple of weeks from now. Likewise surprising was the ability of Cal to walk right through the Vol defense. I haven’t seen a Tennessee defensive line exploited this much in years. The Cal offense was indeed tough, but Tennessee stopping power was noticeably AWOL.

Southern Mississippi is on the menu for next week, let’s hope that the Vol defense doesn’t go further south than that.