Dirty Tennessee Volunteer Secrets: Is It Time for Orange Underwear?

Tennessee's loss to UCLA Monday night might be the single most frustrating Big Orange game I have ever seen.  That is a big statement from a Tennessee fan, because during the Phil Fulmer era, there have been many of those.

But as Mom used to say, this one takes the cake.

Here, in no particular order, are some of the hidden things that I believe cost us the ballgame.

Orange Pants

Why?  Why in the world would we bring back these symbols of mediocrity?  The last game of any significance won in orange pants was the 1991 Notre Dame game, where we came back from a 31-7 deficit to win in South Bend.

In 1992, when Phil was the interim head coach, we wore the white pants and won a memorable September thriller in Athens.  Not long afterwards, Phil was the head coach and Tennessee was a team to be feared in the SEC. 

Orange Pants = Johnny Majors, OK teams, OK players with occasional stars, hoping to beat Alabama, the Sun Bowl, the Peach Bowl, the Garden State Bowl, and hoping we will stay in the top 20 (before there even was a 25).  In other words, MEDIOCRITY. 

White Pants = great teams, great athletes with a few miscreants, great success, great bowl games and great exposure nationally.  I don't have to recap it.  You were there to see it for yourselves.

Last two games before this game in orange pants? 

• The 1999 Memphis game in Knoxville, where Tennessee was lucky to win 17-16. 
• Last year's SEC Championship game, where Eric Ainge was installed as president of the Les Miles Fan Club.

If we go to Auburn and break out the orange pants, we might as well just forfeit the game.

If they want to wear orange, let them wear orange underwear.  

If white pants were good enough for the 1998 National Champions, they should damn well be good enough now. 

I rest my case.

Failure to Pound the Rock

In the last few years, Tennessee's running game has been poor.  This year was supposed to be different.

All the hype before the game Monday was about the depth at tailback.  We knew all about Arian Foster.  We knew how tough and explosive Montario Hardesty could be when healthy.  We heard that Lennon Creer and Taurean Poole were going to be the real deal. 

During the game, we saw a lot of flashes in the running game.  30 carries, five yards per carry, good power with some explosiveness.  But the commitment wasn't there. 

Twice in the 4th quarter, with the lead, on possessions on their side of the 50, Tennessee went with:

• A 1st down run for more than 5 yards;
• Incomplete pass on second down;
• Incomplete pass on third down;
• Punt. 

When you are ahead, on the road, against an inferior opponent, with protection problems, and a new Offensive Coordinator, and a quarterback who hasn't started in two years, and you aren't completing passes and moving the chains, in the immortal words of John Ward, "WHY NOT RUN IT EVERY TIME?" 

Last year in the SEC title game, it was untimely turnovers and a lack of commitment to the run that cost Tennessee the game.  This was very similar.

Better to run it three times and at least keep the clock moving before punting than try to move the ball with the Mickey Mouse passing attack we showed.  It isn't named Cutcliffe Stadium.  It is named NEYLAND Stadium.  Tennessee's tradition of greatness is about running the ball, playing defense and winning the kicking game.

Phil used to talk a lot about pounding the rock and used to (occasionally) walk the talk.  Since Peyton Manning left UT, when you think about great Vol wins, you normally think about great runs.   Not so many great wins lately, not so many great runs lately.  That is not a coincidence. 

In 2001, a very good Tennessee team beat Florida in the Swamp for the first time in 20 years with 31 rushes, and 25 passes. 

In 2003, a pretty average Tennessee team stopped Miami's 26-game home winning streak in the Orange Bowl with the following stats: 40 rushes for 89 yards, 18 passes for 81 yards.  UT only scored 10 points, but Chavis & Co. took care of the rest.

Those are two of the best wins we have had since our national title.

Tennessee has proven it can lose by throwing it more than running it.  If we are going to lose, I would rather see it be because of too many runs than too many passes.

Wrong Tailback

I don't have a problem necessarily with the fumble inside the 10-yard line.  That's football, and it happens.  I do have problem with who fumbled it.

Arian Foster is at least the second-best tailback at UT.  He might be third- or fourth-best, we won't know until the other backs get their carries.

Hardesty is the best back on the team from what we can see.  Let him carry it until he needs a break. 

This reminds me of the Rick Clausen-Eric Ainge situation in 2005.  Put the better player in the game and take your shot.  Montario may be the new Rick Clausen. 

Don't forget, Foster's fumble cost us the Outback Bowl vs. Penn State a couple of years ago.  It's not like we haven't been warned.

Randy Sanders

Tennessee hasn't been the same team since he was named Offensive Coordinator.  Any kid with a copy of EA Sports' NCAA Football series could have beaten Florida State for the national title when they had Marcus Outzen at quarterback.  After that win, it was all downhill for Tennessee.

Phil stuck with Randy too long, for too many bad losses and not enough good wins, and now the program is running several steps behind where they worked so hard to get to in the 1990s. 

We needed Ole Miss' best Head Coach since Johnny Vaught running our offense just to get back from poor to respectable. 

Maybe Dave Clawson is the answer and maybe he isn't.  It will take some doing to get this program back to where it was on offense, though.

Better SEC Head Coaches

Phil hasn't gotten worse.  The rest of the league has gotten better.  Especially the SEC East. 

Steve Spurrier and Rich Brooks are proven D-1 commodities.  They can hold their own and defend their borders but maybe not contend for championships at their current schools. 

Bobby Johnson is a heckuva head coach.  Anybody who can give Vandy some swagger and confidence gets a vote in my book.  He deserves a lot more ink than he gets.

Mark Richt is a legitimate "great young coach".  Time will tell if he can take the next step.  Maybe Georgia's off-field troubles are a good sign?  Tennessee sure had a bunch of problem children on their great teams in the Nineties.  Georgia will have a good run under Richt. 

When Phil came into the league, the coaches at all those schools were chumps.  Now they are all very good coaches. Having Richt and Spurrier recruiting against you makes it tough when you need to pull good talent out of Georgia and South Carolina.  A lot of Tennessee's best players in the Phil Fulmer era have hailed from those states. 

When Urban Meyer wins a championship with his talent, then we can start talking about him.  Interesting offense, great quarterback, suspect defense and no real running threat other than Tebow last year.  He remains to be seen this year; he's definitely better than Fulmer, although that is not really saying much these days in the SEC.

Phil would be about the third-or fourth-best coach in the West.  In my mind, he is the fifth-best coach in the East. He's definitely in the bottom half of SEC coaches right now.

In Closing...

This isn't a complete list, but I hope it's a little off the beaten path and a little more passionate than some of the stories out there. 

Hopefully Tennessee will bounce back. But who knows with this bunch?

It may be a long year for the Vol Nation.