Vols Beat Georgia in Athens, 51-33!

I can't believe what I just saw. I've been a Vol fan ever since I was little, and have endured many more heartbreaking defeats, etc. than I care to remember. Tennessee beat Georgia 51-33 just now in one of the most fun and entertaining games I've seen in quite a while, and I'm just about speechless, and yet full of questions at the same time. Georgia does have a QB coach and an O-Coordinator with a pulse...right? When do the pod people who took over the Vols tonight have to report back to their home planet? Does anyone even remember, much less miss, Randy Sanders?

I have to write about this...UT was down 24-7 in the second quarter when I left the house in disgust to go get some dinner, when one of my friends who is a huge UGA fan sent me a text message saying "Tennessee sucks!", to which I responded, "I know." In the back of my head though, I was thinking, "The football gods might not like this kind of taunting." Then UT scores a TD right before the half, then scores FIVE touchdowns and a FG on their six second half offensive possessions, not counting the blocked punt they recovered in the end zone for a TD.

The BAD: special teams gets a D- for the night...a missed PAT, an 86 yard punt return for a TD, and a 99 yard kickoff return for a TD will get you killed against better competition. The run defense got gashed repeatedly, 5, 8, ten yards a carry the way they allowed in the first half won't get it done.

The GOOD: the Vols showed great poise and kept their cool down three scores in a hostile road environment. When they saw the run game was getting clogged up, they weren't afraid to rely more on the passing game (which was working) instead. More than that, instead of playing not to lose they played to WIN...going for it and scoring on 4th and goal in the first half, passing on running downs and keeping the Dawgs off balance, and going for the kill immediately after the turnovers produced by their D and special teams.

Great win for the Big Orange, but they still have a tough game at LSU, another at Arkansas, and a grudge match coming up against Alabama where they're looking for revenge. Even with a loss at LSU, a BCS at-large bid isn't out of reach if they run the table otherwise. This is a very good Vols team, they just need to keep working and improving, and 2006 is a much better season to be a Vol fan than was 2005.