“Respect the opportunity”

Capt’n Cornjuice, Vol Twitter

September 6, 2025 – Knoxville, TN. The first home start of Joey Aguilar’s career. I felt the need to start with a quote from a familiar member of Vol Twitter: “Respect the opportunity”. This spoke to me as the theme of the weekend, particularly pertaining to Joey Aguilar.

The video shows Joey Aguilar’s mother seeing her son run through the T for the first time. You can see the weight of the moment on her face, what it means to her. We got another glimpse later in the game, this time his grandmother reacting with intense emotion to an Aguilar touchdown pass to Mike Matthews.

How refreshing does it feel to move from a quarterback – and family – who feel that everything is OWED to them, to a quarterback – and family – who recognize the importance and satisfaction of EARNING it?

Joey Aguilar’s presence, approach to the game, and general attitude may be having more ramifications to the very fabric of this team than we realize. There’s a buzz in the air. I can feel it all the way in Houston. Something feels different to this team. A comradery and buy-in that I haven’t necessarily felt to this level in the Heupel era. It remains to be seen what kind of results this will produce, but it feels like something important in both the short and long term.

Game Breakdown: What Went Right?

Mainly, the thing that went right on Saturday is that we were matched up with ETSU. If Vanderbilt is Tennessee’s little brother, ETSU is Tennessee’s little baby nephew. This was never going to be any sort of real test, rather a glorified, live-speed scrimmage. And, frankly, this is a good thing and maybe exactly what we needed before SEC play. Every rep on Saturday for starters and bench players alike, was valuable. Tennessee came out focused and took care of business. There was no sluggishness, no playing around with their food, and they made every rep count.

Joey Aguilar’s short throws felt much less erratic on Saturday. Safe to say he was likely amped to the max in his first start and felt much more comfortable in his second. No throw stuck out to me as egregiously high or low.

Joey’s composure also continues to impress. On his first touchdown throw to Brazzell, Aguilar wasn’t quite all the way set and it looked like he might be about to approach the line to adjust the protection when the snap came and caught him by surprise. He didn’t panic, he didn’t immediately bail on the play and try to make something out of nothing. He remained calm, let the play develop, and found Brazzell in the corner of the endzone exactly where he should’ve been. Delivered a perfect ball for a touchdown. It’s hard for me to imagine Nico or Milton doing anything but running up the middle for nothing if a snap took them by surprise.

Joey also did a good job for the second straight week of not putting the ball in harm’s way. I saw two throws in particular in the second quarter that he seemed to purposefully let sail on him in order to keep it from potential defenders and live to fight another day. For all the talk about Aguilar being a “gun-slinger” and taking too many risks, he certainly seems capable of mitigating those risks and picking his battles wisely – as shown on his 53-yard improve bomb to Matthews. It’s almost as if listening to Heupel’s quarterback expertise and being coachable can do wonders for a young passer? Some other QBs who shall not be named should take note.

We’ll talk about Mike Matthews’ big catch later in the column, but Mike had a very nice game in other ways and you could call this his breakout moment. 6 catches on 6 targets shows that MM saw those drops last week and spent time working on his hands. Nothing got away from him on Saturday. His routes were tight and he consistently blocks well on the perimeter. Matthews also couldn’t wait to hit someone. His first two catches were in a bit of traffic and he immediately turned up field looking for a defender to barrel into. He’s not the biggest receiver ever, but he has that physical, take-it-to-the-opponent mentality that is so important for this offense. MM needed a game before Georgia where he could gain confidence in himself and his QB, and I think he got it on Saturday.

The running back room continues to look the part of a three-headed monster. DeSean Bishop is the hardest runner who is establishing himself as an absolute nightmare to tackle. I mentioned last week that Star Thomas may have the best vision of the three, and now I’m more certain. He has a knack for hitting the correct hole consistently and has good speed to add. With carries being split the way they are, Thomas could have an outrageous yards per carry average this season. That vision serves him well in the redzone where he could play the role of Touchdown Vulture between the 20 and 5 yard line – he scored 3 on Saturday. Peyton Lewis still has the most developing to do of the three, but he will be a great compliment after Bishop and Star have already worn out a defense to come in with his big body and elite athleticism.

Defensively, there’s not much to talk about. ETSU was vastly overmatched and only scored against the first team because of a preventable fumble in the ETSU redzone on a botched snap to Aguilar.

Josh Josephs had another nice sack deep into Bucs territory that nearly resulted in a safety.

Arion Carter flies to the ball with speed, confidence, and a deep desire to mess you up.

Boo Carter seemed much more engaged on Saturday in special teams as well as defense. Unlike against Syracuse, his presence was felt as long as he was on the field and that’s the Boo that I have come to expect. The more he settles in, the more impactful he should be defensively (especially with the injury situation in the secondary) and it’s not a matter of “if” but “when” he takes a punt to the endzone. His ability to change direction without sacrificing speed or having to change acceleration is something that you’re either born with or you’re not.

With our elite cornerback tandem of Jermod McCoy and Ricky Gibson officially sidelined for the Georgia game, Colton Hood, Edrees Farooq, and Ty Redmond got valuable reps on Saturday to tune up. Same for several young guys on the defensive line.

Game Breakdown: What Needs Work?

Even with this being a tune-up scrimmage, there were still some things that reared their heads that need work.

Perimeter blocking by TE Ethan Davis continues to be an uphill battle. I don’t love that this is still an issue. Davis is a redshirt sophomore but effectively a junior as he’s in his third year in the program. That he’s still struggling this much with perimeter blocking which is such a fundamental building block of the Heupel system is a major concern for me. He took a touchdown off the board on the opening drive by committing a holding penalty trying to block on the perimeter for Braylon Staley. Later in the game, he got Staley blown up on a screen pass by missing a 1 on 1 block where the play should have been a 15-20 yard gain.

If this doesn’t get cleaned up in SEC play quick, fast, and in a hurry, Heupel will be forced to cut his playing time and look elsewhere. There are a couple of highly talented freshmen tights ends who may be itching to hit someone. I hope this doesn’t happen because I want to be an Ethan Davis fan. But I’ve seen many other receivers/tight ends who have mega talent and athleticism who waste their careers because they are unable or unwilling to improve in the dirty and unglamorous work. Skill players MUST commit to blocking for the Heupel offense to reach its potential, full stop.

The defensive line still is not generating quite enough pressure on its own as I would like. I’m not in panic mode or anything – the pressure has come in flashes so far – but I’m sure I haven’t seen as much as will be needed to beat Georgia and other SEC foes. This week will be a gut check week for the D Line and Josh Josephs should look at this as his opportunity to earn an NFL roster spot and become a permanent star on Rocky Top.

Dropped passes were much cleaner this week, but I still saw two bounce off the hands of running back DeSean Bishop and Captain Miles Kitselman let one get away from him as well. It’s clear this season that the running backs will be more involved in the passing game, so this needs to get cleaned up asap. Based on the work ethic that we’ve seen from Bishop so far, I have no doubt that he’s already hit the jugs machine before I’ve even written this. Kitselman could potentially be our most important offensive player against Georgia. I think that we’ve been very vanilla with our tight ends over the last two weeks because we haven’t needed to go there. But I’m expecting a heavy dose of tight end impact against the Bulldogs. Miles will need to shake off the drop and be ready. I’m confident in him.

Looking Ahead: Georgia Week

We’ve had a lot of questions answered over the last 2 weeks and it’s been fun. Now, things are about to get real.

There are positives and negatives about getting Georgia as our SEC opener.

A big positive is that Georgia may very well not be ready for us based on their own cupcake schedule to this point and that their starting QB is a young guy who has never had a true road start. I know I wouldn’t want my first road start to be against my rival in Neyland Stadium. It’s also positive that we can still lose this game but still have all our goals in front of us. It’s very likely that we may have to play Georgia twice if we want to win any sort of championship. This game should be seen as a measuring stick of where we are and how we can improve to make sure we’re ready to take on the rest of the SEC gauntlet. The negative would be that a truly poor showing could have massive impacts on confidence and buy-in for the rest of the season.

Don’t get me wrong, I think that Georgia is VERY beatable this year. The playing field has leveled considerably. Georgia can no longer stockpile talent three-deep at every position as they could in the pre-NIL days. And Neyland.. oh Neyland. Home field will be as big of an advantage as it’s ever been.

Since 2022 – three full seasons – only one team has beaten Tennessee inside Neyland Stadium, and that’s Georgia.

There are other hurdles to overcome and monkeys to get off our back here. In the Heupel era, the only team that’s had any sort of sustained success in slowing down our offense is.. Georgia. Heupel has yet to score more than 17 points against them. The losing streak now stands at 8, dating back to 2017.

This matchup feels different though.

Last season, our team top to bottom was close. We played Georgia very tough on their home field for three full quarters before it finally fell apart. There’s no history of everything that can go wrong will go wrong like we have against Florida. There’s no aura to deal with like Nick Saban. Our boys believe they can win this game.

It’s gonna take 5 factors to get it done in my view:

  1. Defensive Line must show up and have their best game.
  2. Wide Receives must win their man-to-man matchups more often than not.
  3. Neyland must affect Gunner Stockton in the most negative ways.
  4. No self-inflicted turnovers.
  5. Someone must step up and create 3 or 4 clutch, game-changing plays.

1. Defensive Line

It is imperative that the defensive line shows up on Saturday. Georgia is going to want to establish the run and gouge our interior for chunk plays on early downs. The line must hold up and force Georgia into 3rd and medium/long situations. When we do get in those situations, the line needs to generate consistent pressure and rattle Gunner Stockton. I don’t need a ton of sacks. What I need is for the line to speed Stockton up. Make him think fast, get twitchy, and make mistakes.

The line is even more important now that we’re down 2 All-American caliber corners. You can bet that Kirby Smart is licking his chops looking at freshman Ty Redmond guarding one of his big, fast, receivers. If Stockton has time to throw where he wants to the matchup Kirby wants, it will be a long day.

Tim Banks is going to bring the fight to Stockton with blitzes early and often. But you can’t blitz every down. The line has to generate their own pressure. The better they accomplish this, the more creative Banks can be.

2. Wide Receivers

We know exactly the type of defense Georgia is going to play. Kirby Smart has been the only one to slow down the Heupel offense and it’s because he has the personnel to match the formula. The Bulldog defensive gameplan will be to rush 4, cover the TE and WRs in 1 on 1, man to man coverage, keep the box stacked to stop the run, and drop 2 high safeties back to take away the deep ball. They are going to dare us to score with long drive rather than explosive plays. They are going to dare Joey Aguilar to beat them with his arm and they are going to dare the receivers to try to get open with routes other than go routes.

It works against us because we have yet to have receivers be able to consistently create separation vs Georgia’s elite corner play over the course of an entire game. Couple that with Georgia’s defensive line successfully wearing our O line down to make pass protection harder and harder, and Georgia’s ability to keep our run game in check because their linebackers are able to leave the receivers to the secondary, and you have a recipe to beat us every time.

This is the challenge for Matthews, Staley, and Brazzell. They MUST find ways to get open on curl routs, digs across the middle of the field, comebacks to the sideline, quick slants to challenge the linebackers, and deep posts when they’re available. We need to be prepared for 10, 12, 15 play drives. I guarantee you, getting a few big completions in strategic parts of the field without the big 70 yarders, will loosen things up for the run game which in turn will bring those high safeties closer and closer to the box, which in another turn will lead to play action explosive plays.

The offensive line is equipped for this to finally happen against Georgia. The receivers must prove they are as well.

3. Neyland Stadium

More thoughts on Neyland’s impact on Saturday in “10 Things I Think”, but the bottom line is that Neyland will be vitally important in affecting the play of Gunner Stockton which will trickle down to the rest of the Bulldogs. There is no way that Stockton is prepared for what’s coming. It’s his first true road start. We are literal monsters. Everyone inside Neyland needs to do their part every time Georgia’s offense takes the field. You know the drill. It’s time to release your inner bluetick hound.

4. Turnovers

Please, for the love of all that is good and holy, we have to cut out the unforced error turnover that we’ve had in both games so far.

Against Syracuse, it was a botched handoff. Against ETSU, it was a botched snap. They were good learning opportunities against those opponents. Make those mistakes against Georgia, and they will make us pay. There’s no room for it. I don’t know that this team has the horses or experience to make up for those kinds of lost opportunities. Joey must find a way to keep his aggressive approach within the efficient rules of this offense while simultaneously playing the cleanest football of his life. It’s a tall task, but it must be done.

5. Get Clutch

Since Heupel has been with us, we’ve beaten both Florida and Alabama twice each. All four of those wins came down to the wire and required someone somehow to make a play that turned the tide of the game. Some that come to mind:

  • Ramel Keyton laying out for the diving catch vs Florida
  • Bru McCoy making a hands catch across the middle of the field to set up the game winning kick vs Alabama
  • Jermod McCoy’s one-handed pick in the endzone vs Alabama
  • Chris Brazzell laying out for the diving touchdown vs Alabama

That’s just to name a few to get you hype.. there were many others just in those four games.

The point is, we haven’t had those clutch moments yet against Georgia. We’ve had some good moments like Jaylen Wright’s explosive touchdown run to open up the 2023 game. But haven’t had a mid to late game clutch moment that turned the tide. Someone has to step up and make it on Saturday. And frankly, we’re gonna need 3 or 4 of those moments to get this done. There are plenty of guys on this roster who have the ability to do it. I for one, can’t wait to see who emerges.

It feels like it’s time. It’s time for this 8 game losing streak to end. It’s time bring this Georgia program back down to Earth. It’s time to stop living in the shadow of our Big 3 Rivals. We’ve broken the chain vs Florida and Alabama. It’s time to bring the fight to Georgia.

I’m going to pick Tennessee in a 31-27 win.

10 Things I Think I Know

1. I Think a 2007 style season of chaos is absolutely in play 2 weeks into the year.

Only two weeks into the season and everything feels as wide open as ever. The Transfer Portal, the Playoffs, NIL, among other things have all impacted the parity of the sport. The traditional power houses of the last 20 years no longer have a stranglehold. The playing field is leveling.

I still think that Ohio State is the best team in College Football until proven otherwise, but even that is pure gut feel. They gave no real reason to think they were anything special in the Texas matchup. Speaking of Texas, they were uninspiring and looks like they may be a year away from maximizing Arch Manning’s development. Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame have each already lost. Miami and LSU look solid but flawed. Oregon may have something going on, but I haven’t had a chance to watch them myself yet.

All of this points to a season where anything is possible. 2007 is generally held as the standard of the “anything is possible” season with top teams going down week after week, teams like Kentucky spending a week ranked number 1, and leading up to a 2-loss team winning the National Championship.

Tennessee has a prime opportunity to kick the chaos into high gear by dealing 4th ranked Georgia an early season loss

2. I think Daune Morris is the next upcoming star running back in Tennessee’s long history of backfield studs.

Daune Morris has The Look that I’ve talked about before. Putting this to paper so we can revisit in ’26 or ’27. Morris is coming.

3. I think Billy Napier will not be the coach at the University of Florida by the time the Vols head to The Swamp.

Will talk more about this topic in the weekly awards segment but… WOOF.

Florida’s 18-16 loss to USF wasn’t just a bad loss, it was likely a career crushing loss. That’s the type of loss that a coach who’s already on sitting squarely on the hot seat does not recover from. Not only does Florida’s schedule not get easier next week, it doesn’t get any easier for the REST OF THE SEASON. Florida fans better look at this list and brace themselves for the upcoming train wreck.

All this being said, knowing Tennessee’s curse in The Swamp, we will make whatever interim head coach is left look like Nick Saban. Florida could legitimately have their worst season in school history, and it will matter exactly zero when we come to town. Don’t sleep on this game no matter how grim things get in Gator Land.

4. I think Vanderbilt/South Carolina is the most fascinating matchup of Week 3 outside TN/GA.

South Carolina is ranked Top 10, has a Heisman favorite in LaNorris Sellers, has expectations of nothing less than a College Football Playoff appearance, and beat Virginia Tech in Week 1 by a score of 24-11.

Vanderbilt is unranked, always “little brother” in the SEC, is led by a bold, brash QB in Diego Pavia who won’t get any Heisman traction but could easily outplay Sellers on any given Saturday, oh and they beat that same Virginia Tech team in Week 2 by a score of 44-20.

Both programs are looking to have their best seasons maybe ever, and for those dreams to be realized, one team needs to be knocked down. The outcome of this game could determine the level of seriousness that both programs should be approached with moving forward. It’s an unlikely duo and I don’t really know what to expect from either team. Should be fascinating and fun.

5. I think ESPN is always late when a rivalry has lost its luster.

Florida/LSU has much less intrigue and even less storylines than Vandy/SC, yet the former gets the primetime slot for ESPN next week.

ESPN made a similar mistake in this past NBA season choosing to air the played out LA Lakers and Golden State Warriors at every chance rather than showcasing the up and comer teams who would actually go on to be real contenders for the Finals. By the time the Finals matchup of OKC Thunder vs Indiana Pacers was set, the playoffs were receiving incredibly low viewership ratings despite some highly entertaining basketball. A big reason was that nobody had a chance to see these teams play all year and were only invested in the Lakers and Warriors!

This is an conundrum of ESPN’s own making, choosing to invest in predictable ratings rather than taking a chance that if the sporting event is just good quality, the ratings may just take care of themselves.

ESPN views this matchup on the surface through the same lens as Tim Tebow Magic vs The Most Physical Defense In College Football, but that was 15 years ago. Just like the Warriors vs LeBron rivalry no longer carries the weight it once did. The sport moves on, we all have to move on with it.

It’s one of a thousand gripes I have with ESPN, but I digress.

6. I think the NFL season is just as wide open as College Football this year.

Are the Eagles on the verge of a new dynasty? Do the Chiefs have anything left or is it time to move to the next phase of Patrick Mahomes? Can Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson finally break through? Is Cam Ward the guy to turn the Titans franchise around? Is CJ Stroud ready for a big next step to become a true contender? Can Derrick Henry continue to sustain his elite production and enter the conversation as the greatest RB ever?

These are just a few storylines worth paying attention to. Bill/Ravens wrapped up Sunday Week 1 with an instant classic that should set the stage for a wild and highly entertaining 2025 season.

7. I think I’m the most confident in our depth and upcoming freshmen for future seasons than I’ve been since the Fulmer years.

We had been in this cycle of coaching turnover, reduced scholarships, bad press, and just plain bad decisions for so long, it almost feels weird to have good vibes about the trajectory of our overall depth. After nearly 20 years, we’ve finally come to the other side of coaching continuity, no more NCAA penalties, and good, steady leadership – and it’s finally showing up on our depth chart. I saw big, physical, talented, freshmen specimens running all over the field in garbage time on Saturday and most of them won’t play a meaningful snap all season (health permitting). Add in the fact that we have a Top 10 recruiting class coming in ’26 that is littered with talent and our internal culture seems to be getting better and better as time goes on. The future is as bright as I can remember in a long, LONG time.

8. I think that the 53-yard touchdown pass from Joey Aguilar to Mike Matthews was almost completely improvised between the two of them and that’s a huge development for the Heupel offense.

One thing about the Heupel offense is that each play is very purposeful. Heupel plays typically have short, quick reads that require the QB to do most of his diagnostics pre-snap and have a quick trigger. The problem for the last 2 years has been that our QBs have been unable to complete the pre-snap diagnostics, so when the first read isn’t available, they would either freeze or run around aimlessly until they were sacked.

Joey Aguilar, however, did something that we’ve only seen Hendon Hooker do consistently: buy quality time to make something productive happen. But something else happened on this play that didn’t even happen with Hooker all that often: a wide receiver responded to Aguilar buying time and ran a proper scramble drill.

A scramble drill is basically when a receiver runs his route that has been called for the play, but the pocket breaks down, the QB starts to scramble, and the receiver has to make a business decision. In a typical scramble drill, the receiver should break off the route, run in the direction of the QB, and find an open hole in an effort to give the QB a bail-out throw. In they Heupel era, we’ve mostly seen receivers in scramble situations either act as decoys to hold defenders or immediately act as blockers for a running QB. I think this is a reason we’ve seen our QBs so often bail on a play and run rather than stalling in the backfield, keeping eyes downfield, and seeing if anything develops.

But on THIS play, Joey Aguilar and Mike Matthews both have the same instincts. The pocket breaks down, Joey slowly and deliberately scrambles to his left. Immediately after leaving the pocket, Aguilar points to Matthews signaling him to break route and streak to the open endzone. Matthews takes off and Aguilar puts the ball right into his mitts. This play was backyard football at its finest and it’s an exciting indicator of the chemistry and playmaking possibilities that Aguilar and Matthews are developing.

Not everyone views this as a positive, just so we’re clear. Breaking plays like this comes with risk and if Aguilar is going to throw some picks this season, this may be how it happens. This type of play, the way it was executed, could very easily be a interception against a Georgia or Oklahoma defense.

My push back is that not all picks are created equal. A pick on the opponents goal line could easily be spun into the equivalent of a good punt. Hit his receivers on, say, 60% of plays like these? I’d say that’s worth it.

When you see Heupel’s reaction on the sideline and read into his scathing halftime comments, it’s probably accurate to say that these type of plays give him heartburn. Heupel is about efficiency, efficiency, efficiency. Stick to the plan. But sometimes plays break down, it’s just part of it. The script will not always go according to plan. We’ve never really seen a gun-slinger who can keep a big play alive with his legs AND arm even after a play-call has gone awry. Hooker was great at escaping and sometimes picking up chunk plays with his legs but we never saw him throw off-script. Sometimes Joe Milton would try to fit one where it shouldn’t go with his bazooka, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. Milton would try to throw lasers through defenders when a receiver was already covered, he never really had the chemistry with anyone to break a play and throw to an unscripted route. Nico would panic and run into a sack that he created for himself.

I’m willing to see where this can go. I’d be more concerned if Aguilar, say, scrambled out of the pocket to his left then threw across his body to a receiver breaking on the right. That’s the sort of Brett Favre gun-slinging that can get in deep trouble. But that’s not what he did. He pointed to the spot where he thought MM could get behind the defense, then placed a good ball to give Matthews a chance.

If this unit can take the built-in efficient principles of Josh Heupel’s offense and add this sort of element of adaptiveness and unpredictability, it could unlock a dimension that we’ve yet to visit.

9. I think home field advantage at Neyland may be the most important it’s ever been this coming Saturday.

Georgia, specifically young QB Gunner Stockton, looks… unsure to say the least. Saturday will be Stockton’s first true road start and I suspect he is wholly unprepared for what’s to come. Neyland needs to be a different kind of loud. I’m talking about the kind of loud in 2022 when Alabama was backed up to their own goal line and the crowd was screaming at Bryce Young so loud that you could almost see the sound waves crashing down on the Tide offense. When Neyland finds that sort of extra gear, the pressure that the noise creates is more than just mental. It’s actual, physical pressure. You literally feel it in your bones. It’s like the crushing water pressure when you’re submerged in the depths of the ocean. If you crack, you drown. Neyland needs to drown Gunner Stockton on Saturday (metaphorically speaking).

10. I think (from a Tennessee Volunteer perspective) this has been the most fun first two weeks of College Football that I can remember in many years.

Two nice looking wins to start the season. Alabama is upset in Week 1. Florida is upset in Week 2. Tennessee is the clear winner of the Nico/Aguilar trade. A weird off-season seems to have galvanized the Heupel culture in unexpected ways. There’s still a lot that can/will go wrong in this young season, but early returns have Volunteer optimism at an extreme high, for this year and years to come. Enjoy these days regardless of what happens next week. If Tennessee is serious about winning championships, it’s very likely that we’ll have to go through Georgia more than once. Regardless of next week’s results, all of us need to stay locked in.

Awards of the Week

Offensive Players of the Week

  • Mike Matthews WR – 6 catches on 6 targets, 111 yards, 1 TD. Finally had the breakout game we’ve been waiting for. 53-yard touchdown catch showed natural improve instincts and a budding chemistry with his QB.
  • Chris Brazzell WR – 9 catches on 11 targets, 125 yards, 2 TD. Bounce back and statement game from Brazzell. Shook off the drops from Syracuse game. Establishing himself as a third downfield threat for this trio of potent receivers.
  • Joey Aguilar QB – 74% completion rate. 288 yards and 2 TD in one half of football. Most importantly for Aguilar: another week of 0 sacks and 0 interceptions.
  • Max Gilbert K – 3/3 FG Attempts including a 53 yard banger. Won free cookies for Knoxville. This will always get you on the good list.

Defensive Players of the Week

  • Arion Carter MLB – No eye-popping stats because the starters didn’t play much, but his presence is felt all over the field. He is big, strong, and fast. He flies to the ball like a missile. He had 4 tackles and a forced fumble in limited action.
  • Boo Carter PR – Putting him on this list for his punt returns. 4 returns for 94 yards (that’s 23.5 yards per return). He was back to his electric self, showing this threat of making a big play any time he touched the ball or gets near the play.

Hero of the Week

  • Mike Matthews WR – See “10 Things I Think I know” number 8 for a breakdown of why Mike’s big catch was a big deal.

Bust of the Week

  • Billy Napier HC Florida – Impossible to choose someone else here. Billy Napier is as cooked as a Thanksgiving turkey. On Saturday, Napier put on a masterclass in playing scared and not to lose. His team’s atrocious discipline and even worse clock management over the final 3 minutes of the game will go down in Gator lore. As I stood in my living room, mouth agape, watching the clock tick down to oblivion while Napier sat on 2 timeouts, I had Vietnam-level flashbacks of the Dark Years. Images of Dooley and Lyle Jones dancing in front of my eyes. And then the Gator logo came into focus. And I rejoiced.

Fact of the Week That May Interest Only Me

ETSU’s football program has never exactly been as well regarded as, say, its Bluegrass program (side note: if you get the title of today’s column – Appalachian Stomp – congratulations! You know your bluegrass). But that doesn’t mean they don’t have a little football history to be proud of.

1969 saw the greatest season in ETSU Buccaneers history with an undefeated record (their only undefeated season in school history) and an Ohio Valley Conference Championship. To cap off the season, ETSU matched up in the Grantland Rice Bowl against LA Tech who ranked #4 and boasted an All-American Quarterback. LA Tech was a 14-point favorite.

ETSU took the fight to the LA Tech Bulldogs, sacking the All-American QB 12 (??!!) times and intercepting him 6 (??!!) times. The Bucs pulled off the upset 34-14. It was a stunning upset and an unceremonious end of the collegiate career of Tech’s QB who would go on to be the number one NFL draft pick only months later.

Who was the LA Tech quarterback, you ask?

Four-time Super Bowl Champion and Hall of Famer – Terry Bradshaw.

Haiku for You

Florida... Bama?
Bad losses in September.
The Dawgs are up next.