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When you lose a game like Tennessee lost Saturday night, there’s nothing mysterious about what your response should be: “All our goals are still in front of us.”
That’s true – unless one of your goals was to win every game. But more reasonable goals are still in play.
The Vols can make the College Football Playoff. They can win the national championship – as unlikely as that might have seemed watching them lose to Arkansas 19-14 Saturday night at Reynolds Razorbacks Stadium in Fayetteville.
On a day of upsets – some of which were more stunning than Tennessee’s defeat – we were reminded how drastically college football can change from one Saturday to the next. Five top-10 teams lost.
Alabama, which was ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press poll, lost to Vanderbilt. How is that even possible? But it happened.
Tide fans took over Vanderbilt Stadium as so many opposing fans do. But in a bizarre plot twist, Vanderbilt took over the game. There was nothing flukish about the Commodores’ 40-35 victory. They were better coached and better prepared. They outexecuted Alabama.
I was as surprised as anyone by how the game unfolded. I was just as surprised at what happened to Tennessee.
Maybe, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Never mind that three of Tennessee’s dominant victories had been achieved against decidedly inferior teams – Chattanooga, overrated NC State, and Kent State. Or that Oklahoma’s offense had been decimated by injuries in the offensive line and receiving corps. I was convinced the Vols were the real deal.
Perhaps, they are – and the Arkansas game was an aberration. But I’m now just as convinced of Tennessee’s shortcomings as I was its strengths in the first month of the season.
Arkansas had played back-to-back tough games against Auburn and Texas A&M. Tennessee had two weeks to prepare…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/tumble-playoff-hopeful-tennessee-vols-090425867.html
Author : Knox News | The Knoxville News-Sentinel
Publish date : 2024-10-06 09:04:25
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