UT Lays The Big Orange Smackdown on Cal, 35-18

All I can say is WOW! I didn't even recognize the Volunteer team that stepped onto the field in Knoxville tonight. They corrected almost all the things that made them so horrible last year and so mediocre in years prior to this one (both before and since the '98 national title season). Special teams were solid, they didn't give up any huge plays after the first long pass in the first quarter, and they didn't kill themselves with stupid penalties and letting the other team convert on third and long.

Even more than that, two HUGE things: 1.) QB Erik Ainge looked great, and that's a lot easier when you actually pass the ball on first and second down sometimes to keep the other team guessing (and when you have big, fast receivers for whom the light finally seems to have gone on), when you convert third downs, and when you have several big plays on offense. 2.) The defense TACKLED WELL and in gangs! This is such a huge deal b/c my Dad and I have long said the Vols have been the sorriest tackling team in the SEC for over a decade, but not tonight. Marshawn Lynch (Cal's stud RB) is huge, fast, shifty, and very scary because he's a home run threat every time he touches the ball. That said, he (and everyone else on Cal's offfense) went nowhere because the D swarmed to the ball, applied pressure, and when they got to the ball, they wrapped up, took them down, and didn't let them fall or be thrown forward for more yards.

Literally, this is the best game against a good team I have seen UT play in about 6-8 years, and if they keep playing like this, an SEC East crown (and/or more) is not out of reach. : )