Vols 14, Tigers 24
It’s a bitter time to write, but I had best get it over with. The Vols did a great job tonight of embarassing themselves and their constituency against an OK Clemson team in the Peach Bowl. What started with a “show of discipline” in Phillip Fulmer’s benching of James Banks for breaking team rules ended in an out of control, out of focus team. The loss of focus ultimately resulted in a loss of game. Yes, there were some questionable calls by the officials, but that didn’t make or break the game.
Coach Fulmer never has been known as a disciplinarian, but his feeble attempts tonight showed that he was too late in getting a hold on the team’s emotions. The Vols finish the year 10-3, but those of us who follow them know that if not for gutsy playing by the team, the number of losses could have been bigger. I’m not necessarily calling for Coach Fulmer’s head, but I do think that much more than “evaluation and soul-searching” needs to be done by the coaching staff this year.
I go to work on Monday to sit across from a Clemson grad. Pray for me, brother. 🙁
Personally I was more disappointed in the lack of composure/temper that several players on the team exhibited than the loss. All teams falter at one time or another. We never would have seen the lack of composure/temper from a team coached by General Neyland, Bear Bryant, or Bud Wilkerson that we saw from the Vols at the Peach Bowl. Coach Fulmer will have a job at UT until 2010 and we hope that he learns something along the way about teaching character as well as winning games.