by Griffin H.

“You can’t always get what you want,” said head coach Derek Dooley after yesterday’s loss to Kentucky, “But sometimes you get what you deserve.”

The News-Sentinel phrased it as “LOST’ in big bold letters. You could also call it pitiful, terrible, embarrassing, awful, or any other adjective similar. And all of them would be true.

Kentucky quarterback Matt Roark was a wide receiver, until both of their quarterbacks got hurt. He had played quarterback in high school but got his first collegiate start as a QB yesterday in Lexington, KY.

He led Kentucky to a grind-it-out  10-7 win with his 124 yards rushing. Kentucky’s attack was mainly on the ground, as they only had 15 passing yards, but what they did on the ground was enough it seems.

The Vols didn’t get anything going on the ground again with only a net of 61 yards. Tyler Bray in his second start back from his thumb injury passed for 215 yards but was only 15-of-38. He threw one touchdown, and two interceptions.

It was a very very sad performance from the Vols. Derek Dooley was right when he said we got what we deserved. The way we played, we didn’t deserve to go to a bowl game. There isn’t a way that Kentucky should have beat Tennessee yesterday, but they did.

There isn’t a whole lot to say about the loss, it was a BAD ending to a BAD season. But Derek Dooley is still building his program and sometimes you have to step back in order to move forward again.

Now we can focus on basketball season, maybe we can win more than five games.

Factoid of the Day: My dad was 20 when Kentucky last beat Tennessee. That really put a face on the streak for me. And hopefully UK will have to wait 26 more years to do it again.

by Griffin H.

Enjoying Maui

The record of the Tennessee Volunteers at the EA Sports Maui Invitational sits at 1-2, but that isn’t a worthy record of how they played.

Game 1, Quarterfinals, Duke:

A Monday challenge against #6 Duke was a great opportunity for the Vols. And they played tough. They took it to Duke and gave them all they could. It wasn’t quite enough however, and they lost by 10, 77-67.

Everybody seemed proud of the way our guys played against Duke. “The guys did a great job competing. I was proud of the effort. The next step is doing the little things consistently to win those type of games,” said coach Cuonzo Martin, ”This is a great lesson for our guys against a great program.”

Jerrone Maymon had a double-double leading the team in scoring with 14 points, and also had 12 boards. Trae Golden had 13 points but was limited due to early fouls. Jordan McRae had 11, and Cameron Tatum had 10. It was the first game in 461 games that Tennessee didn’t hit a 3.

Game 2, Memphis:

Again, Tennessee fought hard against in-state rival Memphis. But again, an agonizing finish left the Vols winless in the Maui. After climbing back from 16 down, the Vols took it to overtime on the shoulders of Jerrone Maymon, the player of the game without question. I call him “The Big Hoss” a nickname he certainly deserved after Tuesday’s performance. After taking it to double overtime, Memphis escaped 99-97 handing Tennessee another close loss.

The Big Hoss had a career-high 32 points, and a Maui Invitational record 20 rebounds. He was just a complete monster down low, and will continue to be a force in the SEC this year. Trae Golden had 14 points, and Kenny Hall had 11.

Game 3, 7th Place Game, Chaminade:

Tennessee played Chaminade, the host school, for the seventh place game in the Maui. The Vols bounced back against the Division II Silverswords 86-60. The Vols hit 15 from three-point land, looking solid as they did earlier in the season.

Jordan McRae had 25 points, Trae Golden had 17, while Tatum had 12, Renaldo Woolridge with 11, and Skylar McBee put up 10. Maymon was limited due to a sore Achilles, but is expected to be fine for the Vols game against Oakland.

The Vols played three good respectful games in Hawaii this week. And they seemed to have learned a lot. I’m extremely proud of our team, and they seem to be much better than most people thought. It’s a good squad, and I’m exited about the rest of the season.

In Other News:

• Four football reverses are suspended indefinitley

Factoid of the Day: Jerrone Maymon is the first Vol to go 30-20 since Steve Hamer against Alabama in the SEC tournament.

by Griffin H.

“It’s gonna be overturned! Eric Gordon’s knees never touched the ground. Tennessee’s gonna take this one in overtime!” This time, we were on the other side. It was a controversial call at the end of the game that fell Tennessee’s way. We know how it feels to be on the losing side of those kind of calls, thanks to LSU and North Carolina. But in my opinion it was the right call, and not the wrong call.

Beep, Beep, Beep. First, let’s back up a little. With the news that Bray would start the future looked hopeful. And he did start, and he led the Vols down the field after getting the ball from Vanderbilt for their first drive. But Tauren Poole capped it off with a one yard hurdle into the end zone for the Vols first score of the day (7-0 UT). Vandy tied it up, and Tyler Bray led the vols to a 14-7 halftime lead with a 17 yard pass caught one-handed by Da’Rick Rogers. Then, Archibald Barnes picked off Bray and ran it back 99 yards for a touchdown. Then, Vanderbilt took the lead (21-14) leaving Tennessee with time to tie it up. Tauren Poole carried the main load on the drive and Tyler Bray threw a pass that was caught absolutely beautifully by Da’Rick Rogers on 4th and Goal to tie the game. In overtime, Vanderbilt was on offense first. Jordan Rogers was picked off by Eric Gordon and ran 90 yards for the game winning touchdown. But, oh no, there was a whistle.

Someone on the field tried to blow the play dead and mark Gordon down because he thought his knee was down. However after review, his knee was NOT down. The play would stand. However, the SEC says it wasn’t the right call.

The SEC says that there was an inadvertent whistle that his knee was down, therefore the play should not have counted. But none of the players heard it, and nobody stopped. It was a controversial call, but it was the right one.

James Franklin was not a happy camper after the game. He cussed out the student section after the game, and refused to shake hands with Darin Hinshaw, the Quarterback’s Coach.

My brother says it was “sad”, my dad said it was “pitiful”, some may say it was ugly. And it was, but it is still a W. It doesn’t matter how we got it, as long as we get it. At 5-6, a win at Kentucky would send us to a bowl game.

And In Other News:

• The Lady Vols basketball lost to Virginia in OT
• Tennessee plays Duke in Maui tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.
• LSU, Alabama, and Arkansas are 1-2-3 respectively in the freshly released BCS standings.

Griffin can be reached at teens4tn@gmail.com, or leave a comment. Enjoying teens4tn.com? Subscribe in the sidebar.

by Griffin H.

For most Tennessee fans, and players too I’m sure, a Monday matchup with Duke (5:30, ESPN2) seems more daunting than a Louisiana-Monroe team, who doesn’t even have their biggest man (he was taking a test). So, when the Warhawks came out for the first half, they surprised us with their resilience and kept with us for much of the game. The score at halftime was 33-33. The Vols took an early lead of 9-0, and then later by 10. Then they took the foot off the pedal, and Louisiana Monroe came soaring back, leading by as much as 7 in the second half. The Vols began to pull away later in the game, and finished the game respectively, 85-62.

The Vols leading scorer was Trae Golden, who had 17 points and 11 assists giving him his first double-double of the season. Jeronne Maymon also had a double -double with 11 points and 11 boards. Skylar McBee was five-of-nine from behind the arc giving him 15 points. Cameron Tatum had 13 and Josh Richardson had 11.

It was a good win, it will give us confidence and momentum heading into our tangle with Duke (ranked 6th nationally) in Hawaii on Monday for the Maui Invitational. depending on how the game goes, we’ll either end up playing Michigan, or Memphis for the second game. It should be fun, and we should learn a lot over there. I’m looking forward to it.

Some other basketball news to know:

• The 3rd ranked Lady Vols beat 7th ranked Miami Tuesday and will play Virginia on Sunday.
• On November 27th, when the Lady Vols host #1 ranked Baylor, all fans are encouraged to buy and wear We Back Pat T-shirts coinciding with National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. I have one, and I encourage you to get one even if you aren’t going to the game. It’s a great way to show our support.
• The Men’s team will also have a We Back Pat game, which will be January 21st when they host  the defending national champs, the UConn Huskies.

Griffin can be reached at teens4tn@gmail.com, or leave a comment. Enjoying teens4tn.com? Subscribe in the sidebar

by Griffin H.

It was another tough day for the Tennessee Vols yesterday. The Vols had an opening drive that ended with an unsucessful fake field goal. Arkansas quickly went up by 14, and then 21 before Rajon Neal scored on an end-around (21-7 ARK). Tennessee had another promising drive that ended with a goal line interception. In the second half, Arkansas scored four times, to Tennessee’s none. Final score: Hogs 49, Vols 7.

The Vols dropped to 0-6 in conference play, the first time in the history of the conference that Tennessee has done it, and 4-6 on the year. Meanwhile, the Vanderbilt Commodores beat up Kentucky 38-8. Watch out, these Commodores mean business. And Tennessee is still struggling, so when Vandy rolls into Neyland Stadium next Saturday bowl hopes for the Vols are on the line, and possibly for Vanderbilt (5-5, 2-5) as well. It should be quite an exiting game.

Positives, Negatives, and Questions:

• Negative: Pressure. The Vols are now pressured, as they were last year, to win out in order to get to a bowl game. No room for error the rest of the season.
• Negative: Ground Game. The Vols netted just 138 yards on the ground last night off 42 carries by 6 backs as well as Justin Worley’s rushes and sacks. There is still room for improvement here.
• Positive and Negative: Justin Worley. He is looking much more comfortable in the pocket, and seems to have matured in only three games as a starter. However, he is still young, and still needs to work on his decision-making. His 208 yards were decent, but he did throw an interception on the goal line.
• Positive: Cast Away Bray. Tyler Bray had his cast removed this past week, and was throwing before the game. Which brings up an interesting question.
• Question: Will Tyler Bray start against Vanderbilt? We sure could use it, but he still has a little ways to go before he’s back to full health. expect this story to develop more as the week moves on.
• Negative: SEC Standings. Tennessee has a chance to finish behind Vanderbilt in the SEC East. They are currently behind Vanderbilt (#4) and Kentucky (#5). At 0-6, Tennessee is last in the SEC East. They are only ahead of Ole Miss (2-8, 0-6) in the SEC standings as a whole.

by Griffin H.

The BCS Top 10:

1. LSU (9-0)
2. Oklahoma State (9-0)
3. Alabama (8-1)
4. Stanford (9-0)
5. Boise State (8-0)
6. Oklahoma (8-1)
7. Oregon (8-1)
8. Arkansas (8-1)
9. Clemson (8-1)
10. Virginia Tech (8-1)

I was relatively surprised to see Alabama fall only one spot. The tough loss to LSU didn’t seem to affect the computers too much. However, there is a slight drop off in points following Oklahoma State. The computers still need to see more of Stanford and Boise before they consider them ahead of Alabama. It is surprising that Alabama was so cushioned as most thought it would be a long way down to fall from grace.

Stanford still has a few tough games left, and so does Oklahoma State, Alabama, and LSU as well. Boise State seems to be the only team in my mind I would tell you will win out without competition or question. And they play in the Mountain West. The exact reason they get no respect for going undefeated.

So with Alabama well ahead of the one-loss teams, many people seem to think that a rematch of “The Game of the Century” is in the works. So, this post will mainly be about how I think the rest of the season could shape the Top-10, and what it woul take to get a rematch of Alabama-LSU.

Consider this for the final BCS Standings after the regular season and championship weekend ends:

1. LSU (13-0): The Tigers face a tough Arkansas team, as well as Georgia/South Carolina in the SEC Championship. Two tough games, but they manage to win.

2. Stanford (13-0): Stanford wins a tough game against the Oregon Ducks, and take home the Pac-12 Championship getting respect from the computers and filling in at number two.

3. Alabama (11-1): The Crimson Tide play strong and win out, but the loss to LSU keeps them from getting over the hurdle.

4. Boise State (12-0): Kellen Moore leads the Broncos to another spotless season, but playing in the Mountain West means they won’t get a shot at the championship this year.

5. Oklahoma (12-1): Oklahoma tackles Oklahoma State, and takes the Big-12. While this is impressive, I still feel that an undefeated Boise State keeps an edge over the Sooners.

6. Oklahoma State (11-1): As their rivals, the Sooners, blemished their perfect season the Cowboys had to sit out of the Big-12 title game and finish 11-1.

7.  Clemson (12-1): These Tigers will lay claim to the ACC. They will be able to jump a couple of spots, but won’t be given an advantage over Oklahoma State.

8. Houston (12-0): Houston doesn’t face much of a threat in Conference USA. The Cougars will stay undefeated, but won’t be able to climb very far.

9. Oregon (10-2): The ducks lose to Stanford, but still finish respectably and don’t fall from the Top-10.

10.  Penn State (12-1): These Lions may not be from detroit, but they are able to play well enough this season to make the Top-10. They also win the Big-10.

So, quite a rearrangement, huh? I do think that a matchup of Andrew Luck against the LSU defense would make a great national championship game. But take a look at this Top-10 that I just created. Don’t you think that any one of these teams could beat any other on a given day? And on that note, let me show you by this example why college football needs a playoff. Boise can show it has what it takes to beat big-name teams. One-loss teams like Alabama and Oklahoma get a chance at redemption. It’s better for everyone, especially the fans.

Now, what would it take for Alabama and LSU to play again? Stanford needs to lose, Oklahoma State needs to lose, and it would be good if Oklahoma and Boise both lost for good measure. It isn’t out of the question in any way. A few mistakes by some of these Top-10 teams, and there you go: Alabama and LSU. I can hear them now. They’ll call it “The Rematch.” We will have to wait to find out though.

Also, on a side note, I managed to talk some of my parents long-time friends, who are Alabama fans to check out the website (Success!) Even if it is a Vols blog and the orange might make you sick (which is crazy) I hope you continue to check it out. Thanks a lot.

Griffin can be reached at teens4tn@gmail.com, or leave a comment. Enjoying teens4tn.com? Subscribe in the sidebar.

by Griffin H.

Let’s face it. I’m pretty sure it happened to all of us. We tuned into the UT-MTSU game for about the first quarter or so, and then the draw to watch the most hyped-up game I have seen that had been talked about for two weeks over on CBS. The “Game of the Century” seemed more appealing to most fans than the homecoming game for the Vols against a non-conference Sun Belt opponent.

But I didn’t write this post to tell you all about how much better and more appealing the 1-2 matchup was. I wrote this, of course, to tell you about the Vols. Tauren Poole had a big day with two touchdowns and only 13 yards. Justin Worley got quite a bit of confidence with 291 yards through the air and a touchdown. A new name was doing the kicking. Walk-on Derrick Brodus from Alcoa chipped in a 21 yarder in the second-quarter (24-0 UT), hit three extra points and even did the kickoffs as a replacement for the injured Michael Palardy. All-in-all the shutout was a big confidence booster and helps the Vols in their quest for bowl-eligiblility.

Positives, Negatives, and Questions:

Sorry I did not get around to doing this last week.  It was two or three days late, and it didn’t cross my mind to do this.

• Positive: Justin Worley. He got 291 yards and his first career touchdown to get him confidence and respect from his teammates.
• Positive/Negative: Running Game. While Tauren Poole scored two TD’s, and a new face Jaron Toney got us 52 yards. Poole only had 13 yards, and the ground game ranks 119th overall, just ahead of Miami (Ohio). Not our greatest season on the ground.
• Positive: New Faces. Walk-ons Derrick Brodus and Jaron Toney offered a spark, and bright futures ahead for both young players.
• Negative: Second Half. Tennessee scored all 24 points in the first half. Against Alabama, LSU, and South Carolina we had no second-half points. Same with MTSU. We cannot afford that against Arkansas next week.
• Positive: W. One letter, w. It stands for win, and Derek Dooley can tally it as the fourth win of the season.
• Question: What happened to Palardy? I realize he was hurt. But I’m not sure how, or for how long.
• Question: Will Tyler Bray be Back? It might be early to be asking it, but after seeing him in a sweatshirt last night, and a positive game from Worley, would Bray start if he came back healed before the season was over? Iwould still think yes. If you had the option of Worley or Bray, you would probably take Bray, right?

And for those of you, who didn’t watch most of the game (cough, cough), here is the highlight reel.

As well as Brodus and Toney after the game:

Game of the Century?

I don’t know if it lived up to all the hype, but it lived up to being a great game. For those who don’t know, the top two teams in the country, #1 LSU and #2 Alabama, played last night. They were both undefeated and playing for control of the SEC West. It was defensive game that held each team to only 6 after regulation. With the game at 6-6, in overtime, Alabama’s kicker missed his third of the day (0-for-3) and LSU capitalized, winning 9-6.

Finally, the last bit of news I have is that it appears Missouri will announce it will leave the Big-12 for the SEC  this week and they will be in the East division.

Griffin can be reached at teens4tn@gmail.com, or leave a comment. enjoying teens4tn.com? Subscribe in the sidebar.

by Griffin H.

Saturday night in Neyland Stadium, a young quarterback got his first start, a defense showed signs of life but their counterpart seemed dead. The Vols lost 14-3, making it 11 quarters or 2.75 games since the Vols scored a touchdown. Tennessee had opportunity but on the two yard line, Justin Worley (the young quarterback mentioned earlier) threw an interception that South Carolina turned into a 98 yard drive. Palardy again proved his range with a long field goal, the Vols only points.

Now it is November, and I’m not sure how many “treats” the Vols got this Halloween except the gift of a lighter schedule. There is still worry. Particularly about one team: Vanderbilt. This is by no means an insult to Tennessee rather a complement to Vanderbilt. With James Franklin as their head coach, I feel like the game against the Commodores could be make-or-break as far as the post-season goes. However, November does not feel like a winless month. After MTSU, who I think they can beat, the Vols go on the road to Arkansas. Who knows how that game will go. The Vanderbilt game is extremely important. The Vols will most likely need it to be bowl eligible. Vanderbilt almost beat Arkansas Saturday, Arkansas got lucky. Vandy was unlucky. Then the Vols play Kentucky, who are not that great this year. Overall, I foresee the Vols going 3-1 in November, and making a bowl game.

Looking forward, I’m sure the Vols are having spooky thoughts. The “What Ifs” of the season are piling up. “What if our offense doesn’t score another touchdown?” “What if we don’t make a bowl game?” “What if Derek Dooley gets fired?” etc. By the way, on a side note, I stand firmly behind Derek Dooley and I DO NOT think he should even be talked about as being on the hot seat at this point in his tenure. But those thoughts aside, I think we have all been asking ourselves “What If?”

But, what if Tennessee goes bowling and wins, finishes 7-6, has a great recruiting class and has a great season next year? How about that for a what if. I suppose we should let things play out and see where it goes. And I hope it goes somewhere good.

Griffin can be reached at teens4tn@gmail.com, or leave a comment. Enjoying teens4tn.com? Subscribe in the sidebar.