This is one of the most basic tenets of my fandom as a Tidefan, and I feel it's one many of us share. We like to pick apart the things that could've been better in not all but many wins instead of looking at any victorious scoreboard and clapping like a show monkey regardless the way a mass of some of our rivals do.
Case in point: To be brief, I wouldn't hate Auburn NEARLY as much as I do now if in our last couple losses they'd simply been able to outgain Alabama by 100-200 yards, have had more legitimate scoring drives and pulled away for a 10+ point win for the first time since 1969 (yeah, let that sink in) in a 3 to 3 1/2 quarter game, but that's another story for another day.
Today, we get the privileged opportunity to whip our other rival on their turf, and the fact is even in their best times save for a couple exceptions, the Vols simply couldn't do the same to the Tide.
I was a witness to the 2001 game in which the unstoppable force that was Jason Witten was Tennessee's only reason for their win in the direct wake of the Dubose era. I was a witness to what I still consider a bogus holding call in the waning minutes of regulation in 2003 on what would've been a Shaud Williams' first down run; instead it brought about a punt and just enough time for a tying score. That was before 4th and 25 ever happened; I was completely hoarse and on the brink of tears in the student section five overtimes later. Completely depleted, we were as close to "out of business" as we would get at that time.
I watched on TV our right tackle miss a blocking assignment right out of the gate in 2004, which reduced a strong side toss sweep to a loose football in our backfield with a bow wrapped around it - the absolute difference in a four-point game. And in the last taste of defeat in this series, I remember our coach at the time (whom I have a higher opinion of that many) threw up on his shoes at the prospect of a top-10 road win with regards to 4th-quarter playcalling (our uneven ability to disguise a blitz at the time played a part as well) only to fall by three.
The point is when Tennessee was so BIG and BAD, and when we were at our lowest in what I consider the "post-Means" era to present day, the manner of success isn't even comparable (literally a red apple to orange conversation, if you will). In the last 14 meetings, UT has one five times by an average of 7.2 points. Alabama has won eight (even if you don't count the vacated win in 2005 depending on how valuable you deem various collegiate textbooks to be) and has done so in going away, dominant fashion save for the 2009 anomally by an average of 24.25.
I see no reason to hold back now. If we take the home crowd show on the road up there, and if their starting QB is unstable and we are thoroughly dominating the stat line, yet still see Ardarius Stewart or Cameron Sims streaking down a seam in the waning minutes to another score, I wouldn't necessarily give a good gosh darn if we hit them.
I wouldn't take that extra punch for granted, and I wouldn't take another beating for granted during a schedule where it is sandwiched in between several bigger games (provided we win, of course). In a season where there are several larger dragons to slay, I can't just look past tonight as a ho-hum event the way we've been lulled into with the Vols. There's a past me from 11 years ago sitting in Bryant Denny Stadium completely bereft of spirit who refuses to.
ROLL TIDE
Case in point: To be brief, I wouldn't hate Auburn NEARLY as much as I do now if in our last couple losses they'd simply been able to outgain Alabama by 100-200 yards, have had more legitimate scoring drives and pulled away for a 10+ point win for the first time since 1969 (yeah, let that sink in) in a 3 to 3 1/2 quarter game, but that's another story for another day.
Today, we get the privileged opportunity to whip our other rival on their turf, and the fact is even in their best times save for a couple exceptions, the Vols simply couldn't do the same to the Tide.
I was a witness to the 2001 game in which the unstoppable force that was Jason Witten was Tennessee's only reason for their win in the direct wake of the Dubose era. I was a witness to what I still consider a bogus holding call in the waning minutes of regulation in 2003 on what would've been a Shaud Williams' first down run; instead it brought about a punt and just enough time for a tying score. That was before 4th and 25 ever happened; I was completely hoarse and on the brink of tears in the student section five overtimes later. Completely depleted, we were as close to "out of business" as we would get at that time.
I watched on TV our right tackle miss a blocking assignment right out of the gate in 2004, which reduced a strong side toss sweep to a loose football in our backfield with a bow wrapped around it - the absolute difference in a four-point game. And in the last taste of defeat in this series, I remember our coach at the time (whom I have a higher opinion of that many) threw up on his shoes at the prospect of a top-10 road win with regards to 4th-quarter playcalling (our uneven ability to disguise a blitz at the time played a part as well) only to fall by three.
The point is when Tennessee was so BIG and BAD, and when we were at our lowest in what I consider the "post-Means" era to present day, the manner of success isn't even comparable (literally a red apple to orange conversation, if you will). In the last 14 meetings, UT has one five times by an average of 7.2 points. Alabama has won eight (even if you don't count the vacated win in 2005 depending on how valuable you deem various collegiate textbooks to be) and has done so in going away, dominant fashion save for the 2009 anomally by an average of 24.25.
I see no reason to hold back now. If we take the home crowd show on the road up there, and if their starting QB is unstable and we are thoroughly dominating the stat line, yet still see Ardarius Stewart or Cameron Sims streaking down a seam in the waning minutes to another score, I wouldn't necessarily give a good gosh darn if we hit them.
I wouldn't take that extra punch for granted, and I wouldn't take another beating for granted during a schedule where it is sandwiched in between several bigger games (provided we win, of course). In a season where there are several larger dragons to slay, I can't just look past tonight as a ho-hum event the way we've been lulled into with the Vols. There's a past me from 11 years ago sitting in Bryant Denny Stadium completely bereft of spirit who refuses to.
ROLL TIDE
