Every year, just before kick-off of the first game, I'm reminded of just how much I missed football during its eight month hiatus.
The same feeling swept over me Friday night as I watched the orange and white come out onto the field for the first time in 2012 at the Georgia Dome. In a crowd that was decided slanted toward the Vols (lots and lots of orange), the Vols came out and took care of business against NC State with a nice 35-21 victory. Much of the credit for the win goes to a dominating thirty seconds of game play in which the Vols scored 16 points--two long TDs and a safety.
As I said Friday to a fellow fan, "And to think we've got three more quarters to go."
I saw a lot of positives in the game and for the season, setting up what I think could be one of the biggest showdowns the Vols and Gators have had in years when they visit Knoxville a week from Saturday.
The first encouraging sign was two long, sustained drives to end the first half and during the third quarter. One particular drive saw the Vols methodically drive on NC State and saw the Wolfpack take a TD because our offense had them on the ropes. Watching Derek Dooley get visibly excited when NC State took the time out and celebrate and congratulate his offense was a nice moment and I hope that this team can provide him with a lot more of these moments as the season unfolds.
The second encouraging sign was that the offense didn't abandon the running game when it wasn't necessarily paying dividends early in the contest. Tennessee slowly wore down the NC State defense until by the end of the first half and much of the second, the Wolf Pack was giving up more and more yards on the ground.
Possibly the most encouraging sign was that it looked like the staff made adjustments at half-time and the team executed them on both sides of the ball. The defense came up with four picks on the day, one bigger than the fourth-and-short that sparked the thirty seconds of scoring fury to end the first quarter.
On the negative side, I still worry that the Vols were too dependent on the long play to spark the offense and set things up. We've got a lot of potential there, but better teams in the SEC will take away those long plays and I'll be interested to see how Tyler Bray and company respond to that.
I will also point out that we got the short end of the stick from the officiating crew. I have no clue which replay they saw, but the one in the Georgia Dome from ESPNU clearly showed Bray breaking the plane of the end zone and scoring a TD as the first half wound down.
I also still have questions at kicker. I was worried the missed extra point would come back to haunt us, but thankfully the defense bailed Palardi out. He did redeem himself as the game went along and maybe it was early season jitters. Let's hope those are out because his leg could be the difference between a win and a loss at some point this year.
All in all, a nice way to start the season. Let's hope the Vols build on it into game two and aren't looking ahead to the Gators visits on September 15.
Labels: tennessee, tennessee football, tennessee sports
posted by Michael Hickerson at 9/04/2012 09:40:00 AM |
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At long last, football season is upon us and with it, the return of my Haikus for each UT game. So, here we go....
Dooley needs strong start
Begin season with a win
Wolfpack could be tough
Early season test
Will new schemes work for Vols?
Fear the orange pants!Labels: tennessee, tennessee football
posted by Michael Hickerson at 8/27/2012 11:54:00 AM |
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There will be a lot of sports stories today--the Stanley Cup playoffs, NBA teams making a final push to the playoffs, baseball scores, etc.--but none of them will have the lasting significance that the news coming out of Knoxville today did.
After thirty-seven years as the coach of the Lady Vols and the face of women's college basketball, Pat Summit is stepping down as the head coach at the University of Tennessee. She leaves with a legacy of winning, tradition and transcending the game. Among all of her impressive stats, it's not the SEC titles, the multiple twenty win seasons, the Final Four appearances or the national titles that will leave the longest lasting legacy. It's the fact that for thirty-seven years every young lady who stepped onto the court at Tennessee graduated. One hundred percent. That's one hell of a legacy.
I feel fortunate that I was able to be a fan of the Lady Vols and Pat Summit during one of the golden ages of Lady Vols basketball.
It's going to be strange next year when the Lady Vols take the court for the first time and Pat isn't on the sidelines, making changes, glaring at players and running the team.
When we got word of her health last year, we all knew this day was coming.
As a fan of Tennessee, it came too soon. My thoughts and prayers go out to Summit and her family during this time.
As does my thanks to Pat Summit. She elevated the game of women's basketball to a new level. She did it with dignity, grace and a commitment to making her players better people when they left the doors of Tennessee than when they entered. She was a classy, intelligent, motivated person and truly one of the greatest who has ever or will ever coach.
I'd wished the Lady Vols could have won it all this last year and sent Pat out on top. But in the end, that doesn't really matter. She was going to go out on top no matter what.
Thank you, Pat Summit for all you did for the Lady Vols. I know you'll still be around as coach emeritus, bt somehow it just won't be the same without you on the sidelines coaching our Lady Vols.Labels: tennessee, tennessee basketball, tennessee sports
posted by Michael Hickerson at 4/18/2012 07:01:00 PM |
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Labels: tennessee
posted by Michael Hickerson at 6/20/2011 11:02:00 AM |
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SI seems to think so. (I wonder if this article was written before our three-game losing streak?)
Of course, it didn't take Memphis fans long to start whining about it. All I have to say is--the Vols have surpassed you guys. They play in a better, stronger conference and have more quality wins which will be helpful come tournament time. So, get over it and go root for the Grizzlies. Oh wait, they stink too....Labels: basketball, tennessee
posted by Michael Hickerson at 1/20/2007 06:18:00 AM |
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As disguisted as I am with the Vols for losing to an inferior Penn State team today, I'm even more disguisted by ESPN's coverage of the game.
Every damn thing was all Penn State...we got little snippets with their players, talk about their year next season and a reaction shot of Joe Paterno on every play. But never once did we get any coverage or focus on Tennessee....
This is beyond biased and totally unprofessional of ESPN. I'm sickened by it.Labels: football, tennessee
posted by Michael Hickerson at 1/01/2007 03:08:00 PM |
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Chalk up (another) exciting win for the UT basketball team. And in overtime no less!
UT once again shows the wanna-bes in Texas who the real UT is.
This week, the men's and women's teams have swept the University of Texas in basketball.
Kind of an early Christmas present from my team...
GO BIG ORANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Labels: basketball, tennessee
posted by Michael Hickerson at 12/23/2006 01:51:00 PM |
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