SB Nation User Blog: bobo_the_vol

Of ESPN and Pat Forde

bobo_the_vol — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:42:09 -0000

That was ESPN's College Football frontpage as of Wednesday 11:40 am, a picture highlighting Pat Forde's weekly "40-yard dash" feature on College Football. First and foremost, this: Florida is number 1 in the BCS, AP, and Coaches poll. Alabama and LSU are gearing up for a massive battle on Saturday. And yet it's Tennessee on the front page. Actually, it's not even just Tennessee's uni's being on the front cover, it's the text accompanying it:

Mess With Your Uniform Month featured some misses. Urban Meyer just plain missed. But November has some games not to miss. The Dash passes judgment on it all.

Hold up, say it ain't so. ESPN thrashing Urban Meyer? The Golden Boy, Boy Wonder? Yep. Which all leads me to point at one thing: Lane Kiffin is winning at the SEC Football season, and that spells wonderful things for Tennessee's program. The link to the article can be found here, and I'd just like to comment a bit more on it.

First off, Florida Bashing: as flimsy as it might be, it somewhat excites me to see this approach taken on the Gators, for no other reason than the brutal dog-eat-dog world of the SEC. Bad publicity for Florida -- and enough people pay attention to ESPN to make this very big -- is a good thing for Tennessee. And Pat Forde didn't bother easing into the issue:

Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football (discounted suspensions -- half off! -- sold separately at Florida [1]):

Everyone who has seen the video of Gators linebacker Brandon "The Gouger" Spikes (2) going after the eyes of Georgia running back Washaun Ealey recognizes the truth. It was an appalling cheap shot, one of the worst things a football player can do to an opponent.

Look, I've said it a thousand times: I don't think that Brandon Spikes is a bad kid. I think that what he did was retaliation for something that happened before, and in football you are somewhat expected to play dirty if the other team is playing dirty and trying to hurt your boys. I'm not saying it's okay, I'm just saying I think Brandon Spikes is a football player, plain and simple. But still, as a UT fan who wants Florida to stumble so that Tennessee can catch up, this makes me happy. Yes, I'm a homer and a moron in some respects, but still ... I am glad that most of the ire of Forde was directed at Meyer, as you can see here:

Gators coach Urban Meyer (4) reviewed the video and used it as a teaching moment. The lesson Meyer delivered: Nothing, not even thuggish behavior, will be allowed to substantively interfere with our pursuit of a repeat national title. That was the unmistakable message sent by Meyer's semisuspension of Spikes, which will keep him off the field for roughly 30 first-half snaps against mighty Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Which, really, is the message a lot of people will get out of this, which is why I believed that Urban Meyer should have punished Brandon Spikes for the entire Vanderbilt game: saying "it always happens" suggests that you are allowing the behavior to happen. Saying "it always happens but that doesn't mean we're going to do it" says that you acknowledge what your player did was bad -- which it was, alright? Stop acting like eye-gouging is anything but bad, please, everyone -- but not that bad but still bad enough that he'll regret it more than, oh noes, a half off against Vanderbilt.

Spikes' action reminded The Dash of a moment from the 2006 Colonial Athletic Association basketball tournament. Namely, when George Mason guard Tony Skinn groin-punched Hofstra's Loren Stokes.

Going after a guy's eyes is more serious because of the potential damage. But the two acts are similarly classless.

Eleventh-seeded George Mason bit the bullet, did the right thing and suspended Skinn for its first game of the NCAA tournament against No. 6 seed Michigan State. The Patriots wound up going to the Final Four.

Florida suspended Spikes for half a game against the worst team in the Southeastern Conference. In a word: weak.

Florida fans will say a half-game suspension is fine. Some of them are saying that the action wasn't even bad, such as this guy on TSK who links a Georgia article from the RB who said

"I had my eyes closed," Ealey said. "He really didn’t gouge my eyes. …I was just trying to get up as fast as I can."

Apparently, Mr. Falcontom is mistaking intent with result: apparently because Spikes didn't cause harm that makes the event okay. Like I posted in the comment: What was he trying to do, if not damage him? I mean, just because he "didn’t reach my eyes" doesn’t mean the intent wasn’t there. That’d be like saying "Oh, he shot me, but the bullet missed so we’re cool." I think it’s more that football players in general do dirty stuff like this; it’s commonplace rather than the exception. But that doesn’t make it "okay" in my book. To quote the beginning of that fanpost:

I'm guessing I won't be receiving an apology any time soon from everyone who immediately assumed that Spikes was trying to permanently blind somebody out on the field. Keep on hating though, the Gators need the motivation to make it down the final stretch.

Yeah, you won't be, because despite Brandon's motives behind the act, despite the result -- or lack thereof -- of the act, it was still something Brandon Spikes appeared to be doing to hurt someone else. I can guarantee he wasn't trying to pinch Mr. Ealey's nose and whisper "Aww you're so cute in those black hats!" to him.

Edit: because I realized I wasn't done with my rant of this situation.

Look, saying that "everyone does it" isn't any excuse to be doing it. And honestly, saying that "the entire game was 'chippy'" isn't an excuse either, as far as I'm concerned. For the millionth time: I don't think Brandon Spikes is some current-generation ear-biter or anything; I think that this type of play is just something that goes by without notice. That doesn't mean that it's okay, you could severely hurt someone doing it. Is that what it's going to take for the NCAA to crack down stuff like this? Someone getting severely hurt? Can't they, you know, take the initiative on stuff like this? For that matter, isn't that what the NCAA was founded for? To protect student atheletes playing football? While I doubt anyone is going to die playing the sport, someone might very well get blinded if punishing this practice is whiffed on just because "everyone does it." Someone, anyone, needs to take a hard stance on this, because no football game is worth losing an eye over.

Also, in the "pointing fingers" mantra that this debate has turned into, Meyer is now in on the action.

"That should have been a penalty, in my opinion," Meyer said. "Obviously, it should have been. You've got to protect quarterbacks. That's the whole purpose. It's right in front of the referee. I'm not sure how they're going to handle that, but ... that was one of the plays we did send in."

Meyer didn't mention the play until asked about it Wednesday, possibly trying to avoid drawing punishment from the league. He also prefaced his comments by saying he has "great respect" for SEC officials and the way the league handles complaints.

Ah .. there's something stuck in my throat .. I think I need to cough .. yes .. *coughcoughcoughSUCKUPcoughHYPOCRITEcoughcoughcough* ... hmm .. sorry about that. But really, is Meyer going to be punished at all for that? That's pretty straightforwards: that's a public criticism of the refs? "Oh, but it wasn't public criticism of the refs!" I can hear some Florida fans moaning about now. Or "Well, he sent in the play too!" that one seems more likely, as anyone reading that quote should pretty well understand that he was calling out a ref. Does this sound familiar?

SEC Bylaw 10.5.4 clearly states that coaches, players and support personnel shall refrain from all public criticism of officials

It will be interesting to see how Slive doesn't punish Meyer for these statements, won't it?

End Edit.

But, there was more than just Florida-bashing in this article. Forde has this to say about Tennessee's jerseys:

And Saturday night, Tennessee (10) strutted some black jerseys with orange numbers against South Carolina. Dash reaction: Not quite as hideous as anticipated, but not exactly a look that evokes memories of Gen. Neyland, Johnny Majors, Reggie White and Peyton Manning. If the decidedly nontraditional Lane Kiffin thinks it would help him sign a recruit, the Volunteers would come running out through a cursive "T" before their next home game.

And really, that's it about Tennessee. That, apparently, justifies a nice and fancy front-page image, which I'm totally alright with. All that trash-talking of Lane Kiffin seems to be a long, long time ago in a galaxy far far away. Generally, public perception has favored Lane this season, beginning with the quirky and undeniably funny jabs at Urban Meyer and his flu; Lane's promise that UT won't lose to Georgia anymore -- right before his team went out and thrashed the Bulldogs; his comments and protests after the Alabama game (Slive: don't want coaches talking about officiating? Fix the problem, then!) and even his insistence in sticking up for JC. That move looks brilliant now, a month and more into the decision, doesn't it?

Trick or Treat: What Do We Make of the New Jonathan Crompton?

bobo_the_vol — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:41:39 -0000

Trick or Treat: What Do We Make of the New Jonathan Crompton?

Cocknfire has a good review of Tennessee's improvement from this year to the last. I can't help but believe that he set out to try to prove that Crompton wasn't that much better, but he does a good job showing that Crompton is an above average QB.

SEC Red Zone Comparisons & Projections

bobo_the_vol — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:44:04 -0000

So, I took it upon myself to go ahead and check out some of the red zone stats for SEC teams and compare their performances from last year / this year and just see what happens. This all started from checking out Alabama's red zone statistics. First off, Tennessee:

Obviously the most shocking statistic is that we are on pace to score Eighty Eight (88!) more points in the red zone this year that last year. The green outline means that everything is better for the Volunteers in red zone scoring. Absolutely everything, which is somewhat amazing. On the defensive side, things are just a little bit worse, with the heavy increase in scoring % mostly mitigated by the lower Touchdown numbers. Both this year and last year, teams have had to settle for field goals against us. The other awesome thing about this chart is that no offense has scored a touchdown on us from outside the red zone.

Rest of the SEC after the jump...

Next up, in no particular order, are the rest of the SEC. We'll begin with Alabama, since they are the team I originally went to cfbstats.com for.

This sheet shows something somewhat startling: Alabama's red zone scoring appears almost completely up, however in one major area this goes down, supporting what everyone has been saying about the Crimson Tide: they are having to settle for a ton of field goals. Scoring 14% fewer Touchdowns per trip is offsetting the fact that they are getting into the red zone more often. They are on pace to score 18 more points but at almost a half point less per trip. (A half point might seem like not a lot, but it is definitely noticeable.) On the defensive side, Alabama can take a lot of glee; they weren't bad last year but have been stellar this year. As Will said on the original post: defensive wins championships.

So, onto the other great defensive in the SEC: The Florida Gators.

Yikes. Uhh.. how much do the Gators miss Percy Harvin? A lot, as in "94 points this year" a lot. Their ridiculous TD% from last year has come back down to earth, but lucky for the Gators they are average on offense, still. They are slated to get into the Red Zone 72 times this year, a definate plus, and they still have a better TD % than Alabama. Their defense is scary good,as if you needed to know that, but they are only giving up .1 fewer points per trip than the Crimson Tide. Florida's ~~better~~ amazing Defesive TD% is offset by the high amount of Field Goals they are giving up, but let's face it: once they get in the Red Zone, holding them to 3 points is practically a victory.

Now, for the #3 team in the SEC by most accounts: the LSU Tigers.

Again, yikes. This LSU offensive is strugglin' a mighty lot in the Red Zone, a mighty mighty lot! Their 4.2 points per trip is Floridaesque (Man, it feels nice being able to say something Florida is doing is bad!) and is way down from last year when they were also, surprisingly, Floridaesque (easy come, easy go) in the Red Zone. Luckilly, their defensive numbers are way up too, carrying over Chavis's usual awesomeness onto the Tiger side of life.

Future opponent South Carolina is up next.

South Carolina seems to be doing very "meh" as far as offensive improvement goes, settling for a clone of Alabama, but on a smaller scale: increased trips to the red zone are offset by fewer touchdowns, but they are still on pace to score more points inside the 20 than their opponents. Defensively, they are pretty much the same as last year, though they are better in several key fields, including attempts, TD%, and projected scoring.

Now we'll look at Auburn, the early-offensive-juggernaut-turn-kitty:

Woah! Look at that offense! Offense Offense Offense Gus Malzahanchizik ftw! Those are some really impressive offensive improvements, with a 70% TD scoring ratio inside the 20 yard line. What? How many times have we gotten inside the red zone the past two games? None of that now, look at the green! Defensively... well, who cares about defense, right? Offensive Offense Offense!

Let's see who's offense is worse, Auburn's or next-up Arkansas..

Wow. Why is this a stat we haven't heard brought up a whole lot yet: Arkansas is 100% in the red zone offensively, and defensively has some fairly gaudy stats as well, as far as %ages go. Offensively they are very impressive, scoring TDs on 2/3rds of their red-zone trips, and defensively they are holding opposing offenses to TDs just 33% of the time, and field goals 33% of the time. However, don't let that fool you too much, they have given up a ton of trips into the Red Zone, and that is a bad thing. Also, Arkansas gives up a lot of big, big plays, so that has to be considered. Still, this defense is improved virtually across the board in the red zone, so that is nice.

So, now for the proverbial whipping-dog Georgia:

I wouldn't suggest letting any of those green sections up top fool you, because the first one is bad. They are on pace to get to the red zone 17 fewer times than last year, and they weren't amazing last year. So far into this, every other team has scored more than 100 points in the red zone, Georgia is at 84, and if they get their average against Florida, they'll only be at 96. That's pathetic in so many ways. Not only are they not getting to the Red Zone as much (by a lot) they are settling for a lot more field goals than touchdowns compared to last year. Defensively they are a bit better, doing a much better job holding people to field goals instead of touchdowns, but they still are hardly impressive. They are on pace to be outscored in the redzone by 60 points. Ouch.

Now, another future opponent in Kentucky:

Despite the fact that Kentucky is getting into the red zone less, their very good TD% makes up for it quite a bit to give that 40 point projected swing. They are averaging quite a few more points per trip, too, but one has to worry about the number of trips they are going to get. Defensively, their numbers are way down, and they are on pace to give up 48 more points in the red zone this year; don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that this is bad.

Now let's laugh at Ole Miss's struggles.

Struggles indeed! They are getting to the red zone much fewer times, and are allowing people into the red zone many times. Of course, they have a brilliant Red Zone success %age, scoring touchdowns most often and only missing scoring once. Their defense is quite a bit improved once they get down there, but unfortunately as much as people are getting down there this doesn't show up quite as nicely. Their offense's inability to move has put their defense in a tough place, is my guess.

Let's stay in Mississippi State for the Bulldogs now! Whee!

While the improvements under Dan Mullen are nice, the bulldogs have a long way to go. Through 8 games only Georgia and LSU are on pace to have fewer red zone points (though Vanderbilt will probably make babies cry here in a moment) and their defense is practically the exact same one as last year as far as these numbers go. Giving up touchdowns more than half the trips into the red zone is very, very bad.

Vanderbilt time.

Yeah, this is kind of what I expected, except the defensive part. They are doing much, much better at keeping people out of the redzone this year, so far, which is somewhat of a surprise to me. However, those offensive problems are bad, but not really as bad as I would have guessed. The biggest problem is their TD%, at only 37% that's bad in and of itself, but they are also only scoring 2/3rds of the time they do get down there.

Superlatives time!

OFFENSE:

Most Projected Improvement (points wise):

Auburn
Tennessee
Arkansas

Most Projected Suckage (points wise):

Georgia
Florida
LSU

DEFENSE:

Most Projected Improvement (points wise):

Arkansas
Florida
LSU

Most Projected Suckage (points wise):

Auburn. By a lot.
Kentucky
Tennessee (giving up just 8 more points over the entire season. 40 fewer than Kentucky, 110 fewer than Auburn.)

Iowa State @ Nebraska: Because Some Things Deserve To Be Remembered.

bobo_the_vol — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:50:14 -0000

Iowa State @ Nebraska: Because Some Things Deserve To Be Remembered.

Poll: New Nickname for Alabama

bobo_the_vol — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:30:25 -0000

For the duration of this week, I propose that we, the community of Rocky Top Talk, change the name of Alabama Athletic Teams -- currently the Crimson Tide -- to one of the following, based on their proud sense of tradition: (please note, that with the ending of the poll tomorrow morning, there is only so long you have! This is big time official stuff.

If you have a different suggestion you would like to make, feel free to post it in the comments.

Poll

What should we rename Alabama's nickname to?

SRV's - Serial Repeat Violators

12 votes

Cheaters - Straight to the Point

4 votes

Other.

9 votes

25 votes | Poll has closed

SEC Sports: Tennessee Florida 2001

bobo_the_vol — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:37:05 -0000

SEC Sports: Tennessee Florida 2001

SEC Sports has the entire Tennessee Florida game from 2001 up online. Check. It. Out!

RE: Year 2 -- We're Better Than You Think!

bobo_the_vol — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:27:13 -0000

This is in response to a statistical oversight by Team Speed Kills' Year2, in his recent investigation of How Much Is Tennessee's Offense Improving? He points out that Tennessee just ran up a lot of yards against WKU -- horrible competition, in every right, and adjusts Tennessee's offensive output accordingly, coming up with the number that Tennessee is only about 38 yards better on offense than they were last year, as opposed to about 110 yards.

However, I think there's a big flaw in his data collection, because it fails to accommodate for the one game that Tennessee piled up yardage last year: the UAB game. In that game, Tennessee had 548 yards of offense, by far it's best of the season. So, I took out that game from the 2008-2009 season, to see how the stats would compare when the best performances were taken out of the equation.

2008 ADJUSTED STATS (NO UAB)
	YARDS	ATT	AVG/PLAY	AVG/GAME
RUSH	1209	368	3.3	110
PASS	1468	276	5.3	133
TOTAL	2677	644	4.2	243
2009 ADJUSTED STATS (NO WKU)					CHANGE
RUSH	560	144	3.9	140	30
PASS	667	123	5.4	167	33
TOTAL	1227	267	4.6	307	64

As is expected, without the UAB game from last year Tennessee's offense is much better than it was last year, as far as yards-per-game. 64 is a pretty significant difference, if not the difference of 108 yards per game that it was before we took out these performances.However, the lack of difference in YPP did jump out at me: not only are we getting more yardage per play, but we're also getting more plays. Another venture into stats (this time not adjusted for the weakest opponent so far) reveals this:

PLAYS PER GAME:
2008	409	309	718	60
	444	322	766	64
2009	188	155	343	69
	175	145	320	64

That last column is really the only important one: it shows average plays/game for Tennessee & opponents. We're getting 9 more plays per game than last year, so that's pretty awesome. That's reflected in the T.O.P, which is improved from last year thus far, and the cause of it is, not surprisingly, 3rd down conversions.

3RD + 4TH DOWN CONVERSIONS
2008	63	181	35%
	76	200	38%
2009	31	78	40%
	26	76	34%

Our 3rd & 4th down offense is much improved, while our 3rd & 4th down defense is better as well. Count the delta together, and that's a 9% shift in converting the chains. Really, I don't care how you dissect the numbers, the fact is that our offense is playing so, so much better than last year, through these first five games. Now let's prove it by beating Georgia.

Go Vols!

Johnathon Crompton For Heisman??!!

bobo_the_vol — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 23:16:31 -0000

Just bear with me. The Heisman is supposed to go to the best player in the NCAA, right? Well, I'm not saying that Crompton is anything close to the best player on Tennessee's roster. He's definately not. But what does Crompton have that Heisman winners Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford, and guys like Colt McCoy and Jahvid Best don't have? What other player in Major College Football will be the best player on twelve teams this year? My friends, I give you: Johnathon Crompton.

NCAA Football 10: Tennessee @ Florida

bobo_the_vol — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:02:13 -0000

NCAA Football 10: Tennessee @ Florida

Obviously, this is nothing like I expect the game to play out tomorrow, but wondering if ya'll want a good laugh before stomping on our faces. Okay, well, I think we've got a shot in Hell, but hey. I'll still be rooting on my team and thinking we'll win! ;-) Oh! And this link has a video I'm sure you'll just _love!_

NCAA Football 10: Tennessee @ Florida

bobo_the_vol — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:08:50 -0000

Clear skies, the shadow of the stadium falling on the field, and a house full of that ugly not-real-Orange Orange was the greeting for the 2-0 Vols' first road game. Florida would win the toss and, surprise surprise, pick to go on offense first ;-)

The opening kick went to the goal line, and was returned to the 24. Tim Tebow would come out with Jeffery Demps in the backfield, with 3 receivers and his fullback lined up in the TE spot. Williams came up the middle on the drop-back, pressuring Tebow to try throwing it out wide to his FB, who was well covered by Reviez, and the pass was batted away, Nick had the best shot at it. Next play, the Gators came out in a split shotgun set, and the Florida O-Line picked up the Volunteer blitz well, giving Tebow time to find Riley Cooper over the middle for an 11 yard gain and a first down. An option play to the week side was busted up by Rico McCoy, netting the Gators only two yards. On second down, a playaction pass was thrown perfectly to Cooper, but Anthony Anderson came in and knocked the ball loose, ruled an incompletion. On third down Monte only rushed three, giving Tebow plenty of time to find David Nelson downfield for a big 21 yard gain up to the UT 42 yard line. Nelson caught another pass over the middle, picking up 14 next play. Nelson would catch the next pass as well, beating Marsalous Johnson in zone for a big 26 yard gain to the UT 2 yard line! Tebow lined up with 4 wide and a Tight End on First and goal, but the Vols defended beautifully and the pass was incomplete. On second Tebow came out in his power rush formation, and rolled right, looking for a pass, but Berry got right in his face, laying a smack to Tebow as he threw a pass for Carl Moore. Anderson was the only one to get two hands on the ball, but Moore managed to play good enough defense to break up the sure interception. 3rd down! Tebow would hand the ball of to Deonte Thompson on a sweep, but the UT Defense managed to hold him to a gain of just 1. 4th down from the UT 1 yard line, Urban Meyer decided to go for it. Tebow tried an option to the left side, and he made a great cut and walked in -- or not. Rico McCoy came up and "ain't no TD here!!" Tebow was stopped at the inch line and the Vols would get the ball!

Rico McCoy & co. stop Tim Tebow on a 4th down and goal from the 1 in the 1st Quarter.

So on trotter Crompton, inside his own 1 yard line, with 3:10 left to go in the quarter. The Vols lined up in a goalline set, and oh my goodness I can't believe it even as I type it. Montario Hardesty look the ball and went up the middle, slightly to the left, and it looked like Terron Sanders, a Florida DT, might be able to get him in the endzone, but Cody Sullens managed to block him to the side. Vladamir Richard took out Dustin Doe, ROLB, Chris Scott neutralized Janoris Jenkins, and all of a sudden Hardesty was in the clear. A lot of clear. 99 yards type of clear. Actually, it would go down as a 100 yard run. First play, and just like that it was 7-0 Tennessee with 2:57 left in the first.

The offensive line opens up a hole for Hardesty to race 100 yards through.

The ensuing kickoff would be downed in the endzone. A quick out to Moore would gain 6 yards on first down. On second down, a late blitz by Mike Edwards hit Tebow as he threw the ball, but Demps managed to catch the ball for a gain of 6. Next play went over the middle to Aaron Hernandez, who saw signs of Berry and dropped the pass. On second down Demps came out of the backfield, caught the pass, made Nick Reviez miss and was up to midfield, tackled by Eric Berry. Nelson would go for 9 yards over the middle, and I'd like to make a point that if Florida has this much time to throw, and the receivers run this good of routes, Tennessee is going to have a long, long day. On second down Tebow would hand off to Cooper, who found an opening on the right sight en route to a big 16 yard gain. A similiar play on the ensuing first down to Moore found nothing, as Eric Berry read the play and came across the field to make the stop. Demps went up the middle for 7 next play, which brought up a 3rd down and 3 from the UT 18. An option to the left gave 7 to Demps. From the 11, Tebow threw into the endzone to Cooper, but Berry was there to hit him as he tried to make the catch, incomplete. Florida would try .. something .. next play. I'm not sure what it was. Tebow looked to hand off to Cooper coming around the left side at snap, but kept the ball, and then got blown up by Dan Williams for a loss of 3. Stat page confirms that it is not a sack. 3rd down and 13 from the 14 yard line. Riley Cooper caught the ball, but Tennessee, playing a conservative zone, came up to stop him well short of endzone at the 7. Florida came out to kick a Field Goal. Jonathon Phillips was right down the middle from 25 yards out, and it was Tennessee 7 Florida 3 with 22 seconds left in the first.

Richardson returned the ball up to the 27 yard line, where Crompton would take over. Florida showed blitz, and Crompton checked down into a quick pass to the Kevin Cooper, who picked up 13 up to the 40 yard line. Hardesty would gain 6 on a run to the left next play, bringing up a 2nd down and 4 going into the 2nd quarter. The Vols lined up in an I formation, and Crompton found Bryce Brown over the middle on a quick route for a nice gain of 9 yards to the Florida 46. Next play, Brown went power-running to the right and found a nice hole for an 11 yard run to the 35. Hardesty went a bit of Iso up the middle for a gain of 8, and the Tennessee O-line was really winning the battle in the trenches. On second down, the Orange came out with 3 wide in an I-formation, and Crompton found Jones on a not-Cromptonesque pass over the Strong Safety, in front of the free safety, and actually on target more than 10 yards downfield to the Florida 8 yard line. First and goal, and a stretch play by Brown found a ton of room and he would get into the endzone. 14-3 Vols, 3:58 to go, and get this: Tennessee had 5 rushes for 133 yards, 4 for 33 if you're taking out the 100 yard scamper by Hardesty.

Bryce Brown goes in from 8 yards out to give the Vols a 14-3 lead in the second quarter.

The kickoff was returned up to the 25 yard line, where Tebow came out with 2 TEs but threw to .. nobody. Moore gained 4 over the middle quickly next play, and it would be 3rd down and 6. Next play, Superman found Moore over the middle, splitting the cover-2 for a big gain up to midfield. Demps gained 3 up the middle next play. On second down the Vols brought pressure, but Tebow found Thompson beating the man coverage over the middle on a beautiful pass. If Berry didn't get back on defense (his assignment was to cover the HB) this would have gone for a touchdown. As it was, it took the Gators up to the 23. A screen pass to Demps gained 2, Berry coming up to make the tacle at the 20. Next play, the Gators sent 5 receivers out, but great defense forced Tebow to keep the ball in his hands. He knows what to do with it, too: he started running, but in full Tebow form forgot the art of sliding, and Nick Reviez and Berry came up to pop him, and the ball came out, bouncing right to Gerald Williams at the 18 yard line! UT ball with 2:32 left.

Nick Reviez comes up to jar the ball loose from Tebow. The Vols would recover at their own 18 yard line.

A stretch play by Hardesty gained only 2 to the right side, followed by Crompton dropping to pass (gulp) and throwing a bad pass over the middle that the real Brandon Spikes probably would have intercepted. As it was, only an incompletion but it brought up 3rd down and 8. The Vols came out in shotgun, and Crompton looked to find Quinton Hancock over the middle, up at the UF 35 yard line, but the pass went, uh, through his _shoulder_ and into the arms of #21 Major Wright, who caught the ball and returned it up to the 16 yard line, where Tebow would take over with 2:01 left in the half.

Crompton's pass ninja'd through Hancock into the arms of Major Wright.

It would not take long for Tebow to take advantage. Cooper, left side of the end-zone, touchdown. 14-10 tennessee with 1:57 left in the half.

Tim Tebow hooks up with Cooper the first play after the pick for a 16 yard score.

Richardson took the kickoff from the 7, and had a nice return up to the 35 yard line of Tennessee. Brown would immediately run for 10 yards off the left side. Hardesty gained 5 next play, to midfield. On second down Crompton tried to throw, but got hit as he threw and the pass sailed on him, over Florida too (thankfully!). On third down, Tennessee tried a screen, but Florida was all over it, tackling Hardesty for a loss of 4. Chad Cunningham came out to punt, and it was a doozey, angled great towards the sideline, and Brandon James didn't even try to return it. It bounced out at the 4 yard line, where Florida took over with 1:11 left.

Thompson took a sweep handoff for a gain of just 3 yards. The next play, a screen, looked to be a great call -- if Dan Williams didn't exist. But, he does, and Tebow's pass to Demps went for a loss of 3, bringing up 3rd down and 10. Tennessee used a timeout. Florida would line up in the Tebow Dive formation, but changed to a pass, picking up the Berry Blitz wonderfully. Tebow found a wide open Chris Rainey on the left side -- but the pass took him out of bounds for a gain of 9! Florida would have to punt, and the Vols would come after 'em. While they didn't get close to blocking the punt, they did force Florida to not send anyone to challenge Richardson immediately, and he took the ball up to the Florida 38 yard line, with 37 seconds left.

Brown would gain 3 on a run to the right, and Hardesty would pick up just 2 on a run to the left, bringing up a 3rd and 5 with 17 seconds left, when Tennessee used their second timeout. Hardesty was given the handoff up the middle, and he had a nice gain up to the Florida 21 yard line. Lincoln hit a 38 yard field goal at the end of the half, giving Tennessee a 17-10 lead.. with 8 seconds left in the half.

James took the ensuing kickoff up to the Florida 31, with 3 seconds left. Tebow heaved the ball downfield, and it was picked off by Mike Edwards with a neglible return. Halftime!!

Play of the Half: a no brainer, Hardesty's 100 yard run on the first play set the tone of the Half. A close second would be McCoy's stop on 4th and goal from the one on Tebow immediately preceeding that.

Stat comparisson: Tennessee's rushing had 11 carries for 167 yards and 2 touchdowns, Florida's passing was 16 of 24 for 192 yards and 1 Touchdown.

Oku would open up the second half with a return up to the 29 yard line. Hardesty would go for 13 on the next play, a toss to the left side up to the Tennessee 42 yard line. Crompton tried to throw next play, and showed why he wasn't; the ball should have been intercepted by Doe. So, the running game kept going for Tennessee: on second down Brown took a handoff to the right side for a huge gain, up to the Florida 40 yard line. Hardesty gained 4 up the middle on the next play, repeating the gain on the next play to bring up a 3rd and 2. Brown would gain a hard 3 yards up the middle to move the chains, then gained 2 off the right side. Hardesty came back in and picked up 6 yards on the next play, and another 3rd and 2 came up from the Florida 20, and Montario gained 4 on the play. The Vols kept the power running game _rolling,_ Hardesty broke free on the next play for a big gain to the 2 yard line. Crompton again tried to throw, swinging the ball out to Brown for a loss of 2. Brown picked up 3 on second down, bringing the ball to 3rd down and goal from the 1. Tennessee decided to burn a timeout to give Hardesty in, and it would pay off, Hardesty went in untouched off the left side. This drive was epic, 3:16 (almost a third of the second half), for 71 yards and the score. 24-10 Vols with 1:44 left in the third quarter.

Montario Hardesty would walk into the endzone to give the Vols a 24-10 lead in the 3rd.

Florida would down the kickoff, and the Gators took over from their own 20. Demps tried to take the ball on first down, but McCoy made a great tackle for no gain. A pass to Moore would gain 6 yards, bringing up a 3rd down and 6. Florida tried to run, and it went for nothing. forcing Florida to punt. Richardson took the ball to his own 41, where the Vols would take over with 55 seconds left in the quarter.

Stoker gained 3 on an underneath pass on first down, and the Vols lined up in a split-back shotgun next play, handing the ball to Hardesty up the middle for a gain of 6 on that play to bring up a 3rd down and 1. It was obviously a rushing down, and Bryce Brown came in to handle it, taking the ball to the left side. Florida couldn't stop it. Doe missed a tackle, as did Jenkins, before he was tackled at the Florida 28 to end the third quarter. A stretch play to start up the third quarter had huge results: Brown went untouched off the right side, into the endzone, for the 28 yard score. 31-10 Vols, 4:55 left in the game.

Bryce Brown outruns Florida DB Major Wright en route to his second score of the day in the 4th Quarter.

The Gators, now _really_ in a bit of a spot, would take over from their own 25 yard line. Tebow quickly went to work, finding Thompson over the middle for a big gain to the Tennessee 47. Next play, Tebow delivered a blow to Lamarus Thompson before pitching the ball to Demps. A lot of dancing went for only 2 yards. 2nd down and 8. A screen play was blown up by a blitz to that side, and the pass went incomplete. 3rd down. Great coverage sent Tebow to try to run for it, and he gained the first down. Demps again would take a sweep play, gaining only 2 yards before he was tackled. Demps was thrown to next, gaining 7 yards to bring up a 3rd down and 1 from the UT 29 yard line. Florida would try a quick toss, but the Tennessee rush defense continued to shut it down, Berry and Anderson came up to stuff the play for a loss of 1, bringing up 4th and 2. Tebow would do his FB impression, but Chris Walker would do his Eric Berry impression, knocking the crap out of Tebow, forcing the ball out (short of the first down) and Rico McCoy would pick it up at the 30 yard line. He then went on 70 yards to give the Vols a Touchdown, and I think the 5th defensive/special teams Touchdown in 3 games. 37-10 Vols with 3:05 left in the game.

Chris Walker forces Tebow to imitate Superman flying, and Tebow is found lacking. 70 yards later, McCoy is given a nod from the Gods of Football.

The kick went into the endzone, where it would stay, and the Vols would stuff Demps on first down for a gain of just 1. Nelson would have a nice gain up to the 35. Demps had a gain of 6 up the middle next play, bringing up a second and 4. Cooper would take a handoff to the right side for a loss of one, and given how much Florida is running the ball I guess Urban Meyer has resigned himself to hearing Rocky Top all night long. A handoff to Demps provided evidence of that. No gain, 4th down, and the Gators would punt. Tennessee took over with 1:55 left in the game, up 4 touchdowns (28 point spread, anyone?) from their own 30.

Brown would gain 15 yards up the middle, up to the 45 yard line. Hardesty gained 12 off the right side next play, then 15 off the left side next play. Suffice it to say, Florida defenders have given up in this game. They'd give up another big play to Hardesty again, allowing him to go 28 yards untouched into the end zone. 45-10 Vols, 69 seconds left.

Hardesty follows a good block by Cooper into the endzone late in the 4th.

Florida took over from the 20 yard line, and on first down Tebow lofted a pass over the middle that was pretty bad towards Hernandez. An incompletion was his best hope, and that's what he got. Next play, Dan Williams sacked Tebow as he tried to escape the pocket, bringing up a 3rd down and 14. Tebow would convert, though, to Cooper over the middle for a gain of about 16. Cooper would then gain 4 yards up the middle. Berry would come up the middle on a blitz untouched next play, and Tebow got hammered for a biiig loss on an attempted screen play, and that would do it for the game.

Bobo's Play of the Game: Still the first one for the Vols, the 100 yard scamper by Hardesty. Hardesty was a giant in this game, taking 19 carried for 243 yards, with a 12.7 YPC average and 3 touchdowns. Yeah, he's the player of the game too.

Crompton was 6 of 10 for just 39 yards and 1 interception, though that INT was definately not his fault, as it _went through someone's shoulder!!_ Adding to Hardesty's numbers, Brown had 10 carries for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns. On defense, Berry had 14 tackles, 3 for a loss, and the 1 late sack. Rico McCoy added 12 tackles and returned that Tebow fumble 70 yards. Chris Walker and Nick Reviez were creditted with forced fumbles.

For Florida, Tebow had a very bad game, for him. 21 of 31 for 262 yards seems great, but he only had 1 touchdown and the last-second interception to end the first half. He also ended with -4 yards rushing on 7 attempts with 2 fumbles. Demps had only 29 yards on 12 carries (2.4average) and Cooper had 3 runs for 19 yards. david Nelson had 5 catches for 84 yards, Demps had 5 for 30, and Cooper had 4 for 50 and Florida's only touchdown. Major Wright led Florida with 8 tackles and the interception. Carlos Dunlap and Brandon Spikes had only 4 tackles apiece, none for a loss.

Final Stats - Tennessee - Florida
Score - 45 - 10
First Downs - 15 - 14
Total Offense - 402 - 310
Rushing Yards (attemps) - 363(29) - 48(25)
Passing Yards (Comp/Att) - 39(6/10) - 262(21/31)
3rd Downs - 5/7 - 5/11
4th Downs - 0/0 - 0/2
Turnovers(Fumbles) - 1 - 3(2)
T.O.P. - 8:48 - 11:12

To prove it happened, by the way: