Still Six Games Left…

First, let me say that this post won’t be the most positive of posts. Not that I’m a Debbie Downer or anything like that, it’s just that it’s the nature of my thoughts of Tennessee football right now, and it’s a general feeling throughout the fanbase more than likely.

But to prove that I do have plenty of positive-ness in me, I’ll post Eric Berry’s awesomeness from the Georgia game, that still make me a little happy despite the rough year. His pick and near 100+ yard TD return – how Matt Stafford tackles him I’ll never know – and the crushing hit on that punk Knowshon Moreno. Knowshon sure didn’t pop up after that run like he normally does…

About that UGA game, my positive and negative selves were at war during the waning moments of Saturday’s loss. On the positive side, Nick Stephens played pretty well and the Vols weren’t completely embarrassed as I had feared, losing by just 12 points (indication of how sad things have gotten). However – and this was intensified when I saw the box score – my negative self pointed out how fortunate Tennessee was to even be that close.

You’ve seen the stats by now. Giving up nearly 500 yards on offense. Letting Stafford set his career passing yardage record. Letting Moreno go over 100 yards. The two most glaring, however, to me are the ONE rushing yard and the two-to-one ratio in TOP. When you don’t have the ball, you can’t score. Obviously. The Vols are just plain horrible on third downs on both sides of the ball. I learned yesterday (via the Sports Animal) that Tennessee’s defense has stopped opponents exactly once out of 14 times on third-and-short (less than two).

This drive, capped by the TD catch by Massaquoi, killed any momentum Tennessee had going into halftime

I would argue how competitive the Vols were Saturday. I won’t question the effort because it was there and Tennessee was in the game late in the third quarter, but it looked much less worse than it really was – and that’s the sad truth. Sadder still, our two SEC East rivals have seemingly disposed of the once-mighty Vols in a seemingly ho-hum manner on their ways to bigger and better seasons. The UGA fans didn’t even seem overly thrilled to be avenging two years of getting blown away. If that’s not an indication that change is necessary, I don’t know what is…

Now, Tennessee is in total salvage mode. When you’re 2-4 and your offense is hard to watch it’s so pathetic, you think it can’t get much worse, right? Looking at the schedule a couple months ago, the assumption was that the hardest part is over and done with. Now, and as much as it kills me to admit this and I’ll probably get blasted for this, going winless in the SEC isn’t out of the realm of possibility here. Lawvol mentioned it yesterday, that 3-9 isn’t out of the equation.

The best news is that outside of Alabama, the remainder of Tennessee’s opponents are nearly as offensively-changed as the Vols are, which means, if nothing else, that those of us going down with this ship are going to witness some ugly football games.

The total offense ranks for each of the last six Tennessee opponents: Mississippi State is 103rd, Alabama is 52nd, South Carolina is 74th, turnover-friendly (try 27 of them) Wyoming is 116th, Vanderbilt is 117th, and Kentucky is 96th.

Am I saying our defense will dominate? Nope. I’m saying that if pain is still apart of you’re being a Tennessee fan – and no matter how much you’ve told yourself you’re “apathetic” and “don’t care,” there’s still ZERo fun in watching Tennessee lose – then the potential for more of it these next three months.

Is Tennessee next?

Mississippi State (HT to Curveball For Jesus for the pic), an assumed win for me even this time last week, is a toss-up. The Bulldogs have played LSU at LSU tough and beaten Vanderbilt their last two games. They have a stout defense that will frustrate our awful offense. The yearly wins over Vandy and UK are the same way – not givens. Both of those would be much worse than losing even to Mississippi State. As bad as we are, I would at least hope beating these three teams wouldn’t be too impossible, but it’s not what it used to be.

As much as I’ve hated on South Carolina here recently, the Chickens are playing well, despite an ever-changing QB situation. How does Tennessee score on Carolina in Columbia? I have no idea. All Vol fans hate losing to Steve Spurrier.

All of these pale in comparison with what may occur in Neyland Stadium next Saturday when Alabama visits. The Tide – with a win over Ole Miss at home this week and a Texas loss at home to Missouri – could come in with a #1 ranking. I’m probably going to have nightmares about the potential result next week. The Tide ran over Clemson absolutely pushed Georgia around in their meeting – and Georgia just ran another toss sweep for six yards on Tennessee…

With no running game and iffy pass protection, Nick Stephens has actually played pretty well

The point is, as bad as the first month-and-a-half have been for us Tennessee fans, it could still get much much worse. It always does before it gets better. This seems terribly obvious, doesn’t it? For me at least, I’m bracing for a even rougher final month-and-a-half.

Even any win outside of Alabama – ruining their dream season would be wonderful – and perhaps South Carolina wouldn’t even be that much to get fired up about. So now the question for us fans arises, what’s the point?

I’ll be at the home games and I might even make the trip to Columbia. I’ve said it plenty and I’ll say it again, if this ship is going down, I’m gonna be there with it. It’s part of being a true fan. Some will even pull secretly for Tennessee to lose so a change can be made. That’s just awful. It’s also foolish to expect a Clemson to happen, as if any change is gonna happen it won’t happen until after the season.

I just hope Tennessee makes it to a bowl. The players deserve as much for their work. For that to happen, there will absolutely have to be improvement, and I don’t even know if that’s possible – I don’t have much faith left (if any at all) in the coaching staff. I can only hope it is…

Even at 2-4 with nothing more to play for than pride and the avoiding of embarrassment…GO VOLS!

Images Courtesy of: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images (Daylife) • Tami Chappell / Reuters Pictures (Daylife)

About the Author:  I'm from Memphis but I'm now entering my third year at the University of Tennessee here in Knoxville. I am majoring in Journalism/Electronic Media and hope to go into sports broadcasting/writing/something like that. I'm a huge Vol fan and have been going to games for as long as I can remember. I started my on blog called "The View From The Hill" but moved here to Gate 21 for bigger and better things. In addition to my passion for Tennessee football and basketball, I enjoy watching the NFL and the NBA as well. Basically, sports are a big part of my life. >> Read more from this author

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