That scene in Old Yeller when Yeller gets rabies and they have to put him down.

That scene in The Iron Giant when the robot sacrifices himself for his new friends.

That scene in Bambi when the mom is killed by a hunter.

That scene in The Andy Griffith Show when Opie accidentally kills a momma bird.

That scene in The Patriot when Heath Ledger gets stabbed.

That scene in The Lion King when Simba finds Mufasa after the stampede.

That scene in An American Tail when the mice sing “Somewhere Out There”.

That scene in Cast Away when Wilson falls overboard.

That scene in Homeward Bound when Shadow falls into the pit.

That scene in LOST when Michael turns around and shoots Libby.

That scene in Titanic when Jack doesn’t wake up.

That scene in The Never Ending Story when Artax sinks into the swamp.

That scene in The Land Before Time when Littlefoot’s mom dies.

That’s kinda how I felt on Saturday.

September 13, 2025 – Knoxville, TN. It felt like the table was set for us. College Gameday in town, Tennessee legends and celebrities spotted everywhere, Georgia feeling beatable for the first time in a while, then energy feeling unmatched. Then a dream scenario started. The Vols looked like they not only belonged on the field with Georgia, but may even be significantly better than the Bulldogs. The game was there to be taken. And then it wasn’t.

Pain.

One of the most painful losses I can remember. Certainly goes on the Mount Rushmore of painful Tennessee losses, and that’s no easy feat.

This was a weird one to write about (which is why it’s a little late this week). There were roughly six million different angles I could use to approach breaking this down and not one of them felt exactly right. So I’ve decided to play a game. I call it, Two Things Can Be True. I chose this angle because I’m a firm believer that things in general are rarely ever black and white, especially in sports. Multiple things are true about this game that may feel contradictory, but aren’t necessarily. So let’s get into it.

Truth 1: Josh Heupel coached an amazing game and deserves credit for the near win. Truth 2: Josh Heupel bungled most of the 4th Quarter and made decisions that directly or indirectly cost the game.

I don’t think you have to take a stance one way or another here saying that Josh Heupel either coached a great game and had us in position to win, or Josh Heupel botched the ending and it’s all his fault that we didn’t win. I think both stances are completely fair and both should be taken as truth.

Heupel has the 2025 Tennessee Volunteers DIALED IN. This team was ready on Saturday from the very get-go. Tennessee got the ball first to kickoff and that opening drive? That was maybe the best, most well-scripted and well-executed opening drives against a quality opponent that I’ve ever seen in 30 years of football viewing. It was absolute artistry and vintage Heupel. And it genuinely shook up the Georgia defense. It took Georgia three whole possessions to recover from that opening punch and settle down.

Heupel has identified his quarterback who understands his grand offensive vision and has enough skills and confidence to put it in motion. Because Heupel has this confidence in his QB, he has officially handed Aguilar the keys to his ride and said, “let’s roll”. I made an observation on Twitter that Aguilar was wearing a QB wristband on Saturday that’s sort of a playbook cheat sheet. He hadn’t worn that yet this season and that tips me off that the playbook was finally and officially open for the first time since Hendon Hooker was under center.

It immediately showed.

The pace was back. The motion, play-fakes, misdirection, and QB accuracy, all back. The WR route tree look full and professional level, adding more options than ever before. The offensive line looked stout, lean, fast, and prepared. Aguilar is in full command of it all and Heupel is pulling his strings like a marionette puppet master.

Heupel has the look of a coach who is ready to take the leap from a good coach, to a great coach. He’s in year 5, he’s built a solid foundation and culture, he’s moved Tennessee past the ugliness that preceded him, he’s finally starting to stack some nice recruiting classes, and he’s clearly learned how to evolve as the coach of a powerhouse SEC program. Project number one for the last 4 years was to figure out how to close the gap with Georgia. After Saturday’s matchup, I feel confident saying that the gap has closed. The next step for Heupel is to get out of his own way and win.

Heupel has always struck me as a Jekyll and Hyde type of coach.

On one hand, he’s a former player who played at the highest level in college, quarterbacking his team to a national championship and nearly winning a Heisman – and he tends to coach like that. When he’s coaching with his young player personality (Jekyll) he’s aggressive and merciless. Jekyll Heupel wants to score early and often and he wants to beat you down, steal your lunch money, and dance on the sidelines. He thinks less and makes decisions more instinctually. Sometimes Jekyll is too impulsive and risky.

On the other hand, Heupel’s an adult now (Hyde). Hyde Heupel is more conservative, more mature and calculated and thinks more like a traditional coach than a player. Hyde slows things down, tries to be more patient, and tries to think about the potential consequences of his actions rather than just acting. Sometimes Hyde overthinks a situation and makes things more complicated than they need to be.

Now, I’m not saying that either Jekyll or Hyde in Heupel is better or worse than the other. Sometimes Jekyll wins out and works great (see 2021 Missouri or 2022 Kentucky). Sometimes Hyde gets the job done (see last year’s games against Oklahoma and Florida). Sometimes both work extremely well together for the situation at hand (see 2022 Pittsburgh or 2024 Alabama).

But on Saturday against Georgia, Jekyll and Hyde were in clear conflict and could never find the proper balance.

When Tennessee stormed out of the gates, scoring 21 points on their first 3 possessions in the first quarter, it looked like the Vols may have been able to name the amount of points they wanted to score. Jekyll was rolling. Instead, Georgia’s brilliant defensive-minded coach made adjustments and forced Hyde to appear. Hyde/Heupel had to take his foot off the gas, one, to slow the pace of the game down for the sake of his defense, and two, to keep the offense from making a game-changing mistake due to Georgia’s effective adjustments. Heupel took too long to reassess and get the flow back, which resulted in being shut out of the entire second quarter, costing Tennessee highly valuable points in a game where each point was needed.

In the third quarter, Jekyll clawed his way back out. The offense found its footing again, ripped off more points, and looked like they had all the answers to the Bulldog defense and could move the ball at will.

And then it happened. With 8 and a half minutes remaining to play and Tennessee up by 5, Joshua Josephs came up with the strip-sack of Gunner Stockton and gave Tennessee the ball in Georgia territory. This should have been the play of the game.

Heupel was faced with a crossroads. Take the safe and mature road: run as much clock as possible, kick a field goal, and make it a full possession game, meaning the Georgia will have to score a touchdown AND complete a 2 point conversion in order to tie knowing that you’ll likely have time for one more drive. Or Heupel could take the aggressive and cut-throat road: ride the momentum, play aggressive and move the ball like you had most of the day, go for the touchdown and make it a two possession game knowing that it would be highly unlikely that Georgia could answer with a score, stop you AGAIN, and score AGAIN with the amount of time that would be left.

Heupel chose the safe route. He didn’t go for the kill. He left them alive. We only went up one possession. Georgia drove down and scored. And even that had a chance to work itself out. As conservative Heupel calculated, Georgia left too much time on the clock. Tennessee got the ball back and drove down the field themselves, putting the Vols in position for a game-winning field goal.

But then the sequence happened that brought Hyde back out to overthink the situation. Georgia is out of timeouts. Tennessee is in position for an easy field goal. It’s third down, the clock is ticking away and Heupel has timeouts to work with. The move here is to run a play on third down, line the ball up center field, call timeout with 2 or 3 seconds remaining, kick the field goal. Then the false start. Kill the play, back up 5 yards. Heupel is SPOOKED. He decides he doesn’t want to run another play and risk a mistake, sends out the kicker who promptly misses the field goal.

Now, I’m a believer that the mental makeup of football placekickers are the most delicate and fragile of all positions in sports. Kickers are the most rhythmic, superstitious, and routine drive athletes in existence. I’m not making fun of them, mind you, this neediness is for good reason. There is no pressure like being called upon for a game-winning/tying field goal. ALL eyes, hopes, and dreams are on you. A kicker can literally make the dreams come true OR crush the very souls of hundred of thousands of people in an instant. Laces out!!!

Coaches know this. They also know that the mental makeup of their kickers are of paramount importance. Here’s how I saw this playing out: It’s third down. The kicker – Max Gilbert, a teenager who’s never kicked a high pressure kick of this caliber in his young life about to attempt a game winner in the cathedral of college football – is sweating bullets on the sideline. He knows the plan here… they’re going to run one more play, line it up for me, and I’ll kick it, and then everyone will storm the field. Suddenly, false start! Oh crap, I just got backed up 5 yards. It’s cool. They’re still going to run one more play and line it up so I should be fine. And that’s when Heupel turns around and says “go kick it now”.

Do you see where I’m going here? It may seem like the simplest of things to kick on third down instead of fourth down. I tried to explain this in 180 characters on Twitter but wasn’t breaking through. “Don’t be stupid, you act like Gilbert didn’t know it was his job to kick a field goal” someone graciously told me. Thanks. I’m TELLING you, these things matter to kickers. Especially young kickers. Extra especially young kickers in the highest of pressure situations. This was a mistake by Heupel. I stand by it. He had the timeouts and it was a tie game. This wasn’t a “make one more mistake and you lose” situation. I firmly believe you trust your guys to run the ball one more time, call timeout, and send your kicker in ever so slightly more confident. Throwing Gilbert in on third down when he was fully expecting one more play, screamed “panic” and I promise you, that rubbed right off on Max.

So this leads me into a few more “Two Things Can Be True” scenarios.

Truth 1: Josh Heupel deserves some blame for losing this game. Truth 2: I do not believe that Heupel or any other coach on this staff should be fired, in fact, they should have us competing for bigger and better things all year if we’ll all be patient.

Truth 1: Max Gilbert still should have won the game with his kick. Truth 2: The defense should have won the game on 4th and 6 or on the 2 point conversion.

Truth 1: Tim Banks and the defense deserve just as much credit for losing this game by constantly leaving our true freshman cornerback on an island getting burned and failing to make adjustments. Truth 2: Tim Banks and the defense put us in perfect position to win by making the biggest play of the game with the Josh Josephs strip sack.

Truth 1: There are no moral victories. Truth 2: Tennessee showed plenty of positives that should be viewed as a launching point for the 2025 season and it’s okay to be excited about it. We should feel confident that we now have the right to expect Tennessee to compete for a playoff spot once again.

You see why I had trouble choosing the angle to approach this with?

Looking Ahead: UAB Week

The good news for Tennessee is this: Everything the Vols want to accomplish is still attainable, they’ve announced themselves as a force to be reckoned with, and the 2025 sets up extremely favorable.

UAB is a very timely game. This gives us a chance to pick up our ego off the floor, lick our wounds, heal up, and keep gaining experience and confidence. This is a week to keep the offense hot and keep getting valuable reps for our young defenders, running backs, and receivers. It’s an opportunity for everyone to shake it off, refocus, and channel their anguish from Saturday into an unfortunately overmatched team.

Proper prep and execution of UAB will go a long way towards making sure Mississippi State is not the “trap game” that many have predicted.

10 Things I Think I Know

1. I think it’s looking more and more like Josh Heupel’s 2024 coaching job is criminally underrated.

The more we see of Nico Iamaleava at UCLA, the more I’m convinced that Josh Heupel pulled off a minor miracle getting us to the playoffs in 2024. UCLA is 0-3 with no signs of a winnable game on their schedule. Their coach is already fired. And Nico looks like a shell of a former 5 Star QB who may not even be all that interested in playing football soon. With the UCLA 30-day transfer portal opening on Monday due to firing of its head coach, I think I speak for all Vol fans that we will be watching for Nico’s next move with great interest.

2. I think that we in Tennessee are blessed to have Candace Parker in our corner.

I saw a few grumbles from Tennessee fans that Candace Parker was chosen as the celebrity guest picker for College Game Day in Knoxville on Saturday and I’ve gotta say, I don’t get it?? What more could you possible want as an ambassador for the University of Tennessee outside of Peyton Manning? Candace Parker is not only one of the great athletes in Tennessee history, she is one of the greatest athletes in the history of women’s sports. With her amazing accomplishments on the basketball court including National Championships at Tennessee, WNBA Finals trophies, and numerous records, she has gone on to be a true ambassador for women’s sports at ever turn. She’s been a pioneer in bridging the gap between the NBA and WNBA by commentating men’s basketball since 2018 with the likes of Shaq and Charles Barkley. She’s currently President of the Adidas Women’s Basketball Division – a seemingly huge deal considering the deal that Tennessee just signed with Adidas beginning next season. She’s a role model for women everywhere and we’re lucky she’s ours.

3. I think Ty Redmond was put in an impossible situation and I’m excited to see where he goes from here.

Anybody who has anything disparaging to say about Ty Redmond’s play on Saturday can take a lap as far as I’m concerned. Redmond was put into an impossible situation with both of our All-American caliber corners being out with significant injuries. He had no choice but to grow up as fast as he possibly could. Anyone who was expecting him to play mistake-free football was fooling themselves. Georgia picked on him relentlessly which is exactly what they should have done.

Do I think Tim Banks could have done some things to give Redmond a little help in some situations, such as the big 4th and 6 that could have ended the game? Absolutely yes. And Banks deserves some criticism of being stubborn and unwilling to deviate from his aggressive game-plan when the time calls for it. I thought for the most part that Redmond held his own and showed flashes of why he’s going to be a very good corner for us in the future.

Redmond will never have a better lesson than he had on Saturday. Through that same lens, the game will never be harder for him than it was on Saturday. He will learn from it. He gets a week against UAB to put things he learned into practice as he prepares for the SEC gauntlet.

You might as well start supporting him now, because from the looks of things, he won’t be getting any relief any time soon. As of Tuesday, there is no timetable for the return of McCoy or Gibson either one. For my part, knowing how tight-lipped Heupel can be about injuries, I’m moving forward under the assumption that they will not be back in 2025. We need to support Redmond in his accelerated growth so that by the time, say, Alabama and Oklahoma are coming around, Redmond is ready to play big-boy football.

4. I think Clemson and Notre Dame are cooked.

In Week 3, Clemson and Notre Dame both took their second losses of the season and seem to be early exits of playoff contention. Clemson is certainly cooked with games against Georgia Tech, Florida State, and South Carolina still on the docket.

Notre Dame may not be quite done yet, but their margin for error is so thin, that the oven could ding at any second.

Two playoff teams from last season getting knocked out (or nearly out) of contention this early only helps Tennessee’s margin for error with our own September loss.

Of course, win our remaining games and none of it matters.

5. I think Cam Skattebo of the New York Giants is an immensely enjoyable football player to watch.

Skattebo will never be in the upper echelon of NFL backs in his career, but he’s a true throw-back style player who is tons of fun to watch. I wasn’t sure that his style at ASU would translate well to the League, but the way he runs so hard with such fury, and seeks contact at every chance, it catches veteran NFL defenders by surprise. Skattebo runs like Satan himself is trying to tackle him. He may not be long for this League – I’m not sure that this physical of an approach has a very long shelf life – so I’m gonna enjoy him for what he is for as long as he’s around. He’s the last of a dying breed of football player.

6. I think Brian Kelly pressers remain undefeated.

Brian Kelly losing his cool even for a few seconds in a press conference is always worth watching. This week, calling a reporter “spoiled” after a football reporter dared ask him football questions after beating Florida.

7. I think I’m less nervous about Mississippi State being a trap game than I was this time last week.

After Saturday’s offensive showing, I’m much less concerned about Mississippi State sneaking up on us in a trap game. Yes, Heupel teams have historic concerns on the road. Heupel needs to demonstrate that he is progressing over this hump. Even if our defense is still recovering from injuries and gives up some points, Miss St should not be able to match our offensive output as long as we are dialed in and playing to the potential that we showed against Georgia. If we struggle to put Miss St away or Miss St does come out and beat us, there will be a firestorm of questions to answer.

8. I think it’s okay to complain about the refs in a game like this without blaming the outcome entirely on calls.

I made a seemingly harmless comment about the refs on Twitter right after the game on Saturday, and BOY HOWDY did I get raked over the coals for it. Let’s go back to my favorite game of “Two Things Can Be True” shall we?

Truth 1: The officiating in Tennessee vs Georgia was objectively one-sided and Georgia having zero flags against them in the entire second half is a terrible look for the SEC officiating crew. Truth 2: None of those potential holding or PI calls that we saw with our own eyes would have mattered in the grand scheme of things and Tennessee still should have made the kick and won the game anyway.

See how easy that was?

9. I think Kirby Smart is a damn-good football coach and a worthy opponent.

I think it’s safe to say that we collectively hate Kirby Smart at this point but hate him all you want, he’s an unbelievably good football coach who knows how to prepare his team and keep them engaged until the final whistle blows. He’s not Nick Saban by a long shot. Just look at his record against Saban. But he clearly took a lot of Saban’s better qualities and has successfully used them to create a powerhouse that has long term legs at Georgia. He’s a tailor-made foil for Josh Heupel in both demeanor and philosophy. Heupel and Smart are a yin and yang to each other. If Heupel has indeed closed the program gap, there could be many great battles ahead for these two – even as early as the end of this year.

10. I think Tennessee has a good chance of meeting Georgia again in 2025.

I’d be lying if I said that Saturday’s showing didn’t change my view of this team. Even with the loss, it changed in a positive direction. In my mind, this season will boil down to Alabama on the road, Oklahoma at home, and Florida on the road.

Win one of those three, and it will have been a pretty good season that generally met expectations and have us ready for ’26. Win two of those games, and we should be in the playoffs. Win all three, and we can break out the Michael Scott celebration box.

All that being said, it will all depend on us taking care of business against the teams we have no business losing to. That means no repeats of Arkansas 2024. Right now, this team looks dialed in for Heupel. They look rejuvenated with Joey Aguilar. Take care of business, show up for work every day, don’t get side tracked by this heart-breaking loss, stay locked in. They do all of that, they will have a good chance to get another crack at the Georgia Bulldogs.

Awards of the Week

Offensive Players of the Week

  • Chris Brazzell WR – 6 catches on 8 targets, 177 yards, 3 touchdowns. I mean what??? Of the receiving room, Brazzell was the one I was most concerned about coming into Georgia week. I wasn’t sure how he was going to handle the physicality or the mental aspect of this matchup. Boy did he prove me wrong in every way imaginable. Brazzell has a golden opportunity for this to be his breakout moment on his way to a special 2025.
  • Joey Aguilar QB – 24/36 for 371 yards, 4 touchdowns, 2 interceptions. Don’t let the picks fool you. One was an arm-punt that was also missed pass interference. The other, Braylen Staley unfortunately fell during his route. The ball was on target and would have hit him in the chest. At one point, Aguilar was 14/14 for 223 yards and 2 touchdowns AND a rushing touchdown. This was a breakout performance of epic proportions and an announcement to the college football world. The crazy part? He’s still a long way from finding his ceiling in Josh Heupel’s offense.

Defensive Players of the Week

  • Joshua Josephs DE – Josephs continues to be a leader on this defensive line and had what should have been the play of the game with the strip sack of Gunner Stockton in Georgia territory.
  • Caleb Herring DE – Herring had a breakout performance of sorts with 4 tackles, 2.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks on the day. There were times when Herring looked like the last man standing on a defense that was gassed near the end.

Hero of the Week

  • Bennett Brady LS – Had Tennessee won the game, I likely would have gone with Max Gilbert, Chris Brazzell, or Josh Josephs, but under the circumstances, I decided to zig instead of zag. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a long snapper run the length of the field after a punt, chase down the ball, and go full extension Dennis Rodman to pin a team deep like this. This was the embodiment of hustle and shows exactly what sort of culture Josh Heupel has been building. Teammates see this sort of play and think “if Bennett can give his all for Tennessee like THAT, then I can too”.

Bust of the Week

  • Max Gilbert PK – I really didn’t want to choose Max Gilbert here and I almost talked myself out of it. But of all the things I’ve said today that can be true, one thing stands out as the absolute, undeniable truest… make the kick and we win the game. Max proved he can shake it off by nailing one in overtime. He will have plenty of opportunities for redemption in 2025. Stay ready, Max.

Fact of the Week That May Interest Only Me

In 2008, after an illustrious career at the University of Tennessee, Candace Parker joined the WNBA where she went on to not only win Rookie of the Year, but league MVP. In the history of the sport of basketball – men or women – this has only happened three times and never in the modern era.

The list of basketball players to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season is Wilt Chamberlain, Wes Unseld, and Candace Parker. That’s it.

Put some respect on Candace Parker’s name.

A Haiku For You 

This one is painful.
Volunteers beating themselves.
Learn, grow, and move on.