Vols 7, Gators 16
Ouch. After three consecutive victories, I’d almost forgotten what it was like to lose to Florida. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so quick to release 30% of my hatred for the Gators…
To say that the Tennessee offense was unimpressive would be a gross understatement. Between our receivers’ inability to catch, and our punter’s inability to pass punt, Randy Sanders’ offense gave an already tough Florida defense all it needed to win. The only shining spot was the consistently tough play of the Vol defense, without which the score would have been much worse.
Yes, we’re behind Vanderbilt in the SEC East. V-A-N-D-E-R-B-I-L-T. Enough said. Next week, it’s LSU at LSU, where a downtrodden Louisiana will be looking for a hero. I hope coach Fulmer will be looking for an offense. . .
That game really could have gone either way – I was biting my nails until halfway through the fourth quarter.
Either you guys have an out of this world defense or we need to find an offense – it’s probably a little of both.
As to offense, I think you guys may have one but your coaches don’t know where to locate it. Still, I was proud of our defense. I got a knot in my stomach when Ray MacDonald went down but our boys hung in there.
And of course the mental breakdowns on special teams killed you guys too.
Anyway, great game, and today’s a day when it’s great to be a Florida Gator!
David: I guess I’ll have to begrudgingly offer my congratulations, and thanks for the pre-game trash-talk banter — it was great fun.
As much as I hate the Gators, I do hate to see players go down, no matter what the team. I hope MacDonald and Caldwell recover well.
Here’s to different results at Neyland next year!
Jared… I am just curious who you think should be the quarterback for UT.
Scott: That’s a tough call. From what I’ve seen of them this year, and from the reports from practice, they’re about dead-even, with a slight edge to Clausen due to experience.
Ainge showed signs of maturity last night (e.g., falling on the flubbed snap rather than trying to throw it…), but real problem lies with our receivers, who just can’t catch good passes from either quarterback.
So, to answer your question, I’d have gone with more Clausen against Florida, and I would especially start Clausen against LSU, given the significance and irony involved.
Looks like it’s Ainge for UT. I guess any choice is better than no choice but it’s hard to understand what Clausen hasn’t done to get the nod.
On the Gator injuries, looks like Caldwell is done for the year. Some folks are talking about him getting a medical redshirt but it may be too far into the season for him to get one. Don’t know if you’ve seen the pic of your guy hitting him, but the UT guy is fortunate he doesn’t have a broken neck. I don’t think he was trying to spear him, but his head came right on Caldwell’s thigh – I’ve seen lighter hits than that paralyze a guy. That had to be some hit though, he broke his femur, the hardest bone in the body.
The Gator boards are saying that McDonald has a partial tear, not as bad as originally feared – he may be back in 4-6 weeks.