Tennessee Vols have an incredible Saturday thanks to very different help from their two biggest rivals
Tuesday night was one that left fans of the Tennessee Vols miffed and frustrated. Oh what a difference four days can make. Despite defeating UTEP 56-0 in a lopsided non-conference affair, the Vols ended up gaining perhaps the most on Saturday after a day of absolute chaos took place across the country. From noon until […]
Tuesday night was one that left fans of the Tennessee Vols miffed and frustrated. Oh what a difference four days can make.
Despite defeating UTEP 56-0 in a lopsided non-conference affair, the Vols ended up gaining perhaps the most on Saturday after a day of absolute chaos took place across the country. From noon until well after 11:00 ET, game after game resulted in a wild finish or total upset, and the Vols saw those they were looking up at (or potentially getting undermined by from below) suffer crippling losses.
However, ironically, the biggest help came in two different ways from two of their most hated rivals in the Alabama Crimson Tide and Florida Gators.
The #7 Tide, 13.5-point favorites at Oklahoma, laid the biggest egg of the day, losing 24-3 at Oklahoma. That was, according to Oklahoma, the first time since 2011 that Alabama hadn't scored a touchdown in a game.
Yes, those same Sooners the Vols defeated 25-15 and largely dominated for most of the game back on September 28. The same ones who entered Saturday night against the red-hot Tide at 5-5. They looked anything but that team struggling for bowl eligibility against Alabama. Now, the head-to-head argument that Tennessee fans were making against the Tide is moot, as Alabama will surely drop like a stone after a lopsided and dreadful third loss of the season.
The Gators did Tennessee an early solid on Saturday not by losing, but rather by knocking off Ole Miss (who sat two places above Tennessee in the CFP rankings) 24-17 and sending Neyland Stadium into a very unique celebration.
Ole Miss was another team that had frustrated Vol fans being above them with two losses worse than those that the Vols had – to 4-7 Kentucky at home and at 7-4 LSU.
However, a fourth quarter touchdown from Florida's Montrell Johnson put the Gators in the driver's seat, and their defense picked off Ole Miss's supposed Heisman contender Jaxson Dart twice on the Rebels' last two drives (three times if you count one that was overturned as incomplete on the final drive) to effectively drive the nail into Lane Kiffin's playoff hopes.
That all being said, despite the path being cleared, there's still plenty of work for Tennessee to do on their end to end up in the field. The Vols still have to go win on Saturday at Vanderbilt. That's no easy task – just ask Bama and Texas. Clark Lea has turned the Commodores around this year, who are going to a bowl and playing well with Diego Pavia under center.
But it will undoubtedly be a packed house of loud Tennessee fans in Nashville with a whole lot at stake for the Big Orange. If Tennessee comes out and plays its game, it should reach win #10 for the second time in three seasons.
And thanks to a little help from their friends, er, rivals, the payoff would almost certainly be massive.
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