Armchair Quarterback: How do you lose to turtles?
I hate to re-open old wounds, but this is my first column since the Peach Bowl debacle which saw the Volunteers play arguably their worst game since the woeful 31-0 home loss to the Gators in Peyton’s freshman year.
I’ve been a long-time Volunteer fan, through thick and through thin, hanging in there through countless 6-5 seasons where they could only compete with the culls of the SEC and eak into the now defunct Garden State Bowl. Back then, until the twighlight of the Johnny Majors era, beating Alabama, Florida, Georgia or LSU was just a pipe dream. Instead, the Volunteer faithful had to dine on a dose of Vandy, Kentucky and maybe one of the Mississippis along with whatever second-rate at-large team they could bring into Neyland.
I even stayed faithful following the humiliating 1982 loss to Vanderbilt and even the monstrosity at Memphis when they lost 21-17 to the Tigers during the Peyton era. And yes, I also wore my orange all those years Alabama handed us our hats and the years Spurrier held dominance on the hill. Most recently, I still bled orange when the Vols choked against LSU in the championship game last year, one step away from a national championship birth.
However, what I saw this New Year’s Eve was one of the most pathetic performances I’ve ever seen from the Big Orange. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Hey, I could live with a narrow loss to Georgia without our starting quarterback or a loss in the rain to the Gators or even ‘Bama who had a good team because they cheated and were on probation from the NCAA. And hey, the Hurricanes were just too good. (But obviously not as good as Ohio State)
But getting humiliated by a mediocre Maryland team was just too much. Come on, 30-3? They couldn’t even score on the second string. Back in the 1970s and 1980s I could kind of understand, but in a year where the Vols come in rated fourth in the nation to begin the year with all their talent, this is an obvious case of dramatic underachievement.
The whole problem is the team never found an identity. From the get-go, they had no idea who their main running back would be, shuttling them in and out like passengers in a Tokyo subway. None of them really got a chance to get their groove on in the backfield.
Then there was the receiving corps, minus Daunte Stallworth. Once Kelly (The Future) Washington went down for the year, it was over. What followed was an endless array of unknown receivers. I couldn’t name three of them even if I tried and had cheat notes.
And then there’s the classic underachiever, Casey (If I’d been playing we would have beat Georgia) Clausen. Instead of worrying about the games he didn’t play in, perhaps he should have worried more about winning the games he did play in. In a year where I figured he’d be mentioned for the Heisman, he fizzled like a cheap bottlerocket. Let’s hope his senior year isn’t a repeat.
Given the fact the Vols are losing some key defensive starters, the only part of the team which was halfway decent this year, I’d suggest the folks on the hill decide on an identity real quick since most of the big games (Florida, Alabama, Arkansas) are on the road this year. Pick a runningback, pick your receivers and go with them. Don’t put every walk-on who can wear an orange jersey on the field. This ain’t tryouts, it’s the season.
I may still be wearing orange but my face is crimson tide red from embarrassment this year. If the best the orange can do is 30-3 against Maryland, next year, stay at home for new years.