Post game awards: Tennessee Volunteers v. Arkansas Razorbacks
Best quote. "Build a fence, and don't anybody open a gate," uttered by defensive coordinator John Chavis, according to one of the Daves from LFS. Perhaps the most effective metaphor of the season.
Best guts. Coach Fulmer, who elected to go for the first down on 4th and 1 at the 46 on the first drive. The offensive line was so excited by the vote of confidence that it practically picked up the line of scrimmage and relocated it a full three yards down the field. The entire drive was a success, resulting in +7 in points and -5 in minutes.
Worst smack. The three Arkansas defenders who were all bouncing and jawing at Austin Rogers when the first pass play to him didn't work.
Best payback. Rogers, who got the last word in a way that really counts, finishing the drive with a 16-yard yard touchdown reception. Rogers added an exclamation point on the next series by eliciting a 15-yard personal foul penalty from a defender.
Best reverse. Me, for telling just about everybody who asked this week that I wasn't going to the game. I ended up getting free tickets at the last minute from an Arkansas fan (thanks!), and so I went. They weren't the best seats -- upper deck, last row, Arkansas section, with the back of my head nearly touching the JumboTron -- but you could see everything on the field, and we had a fantastic time talking with all of the extraordinarily classy and gracious Hog fans surrounding us.
Best decision. To squib every kickoff after Felix Jones returned his first and only to midfield.
Biggest surprise. Realizing that I'd missed Dave, what's his last name, Neal, Thomas, Barry? Roan? Whatever, LFS hasn't been the same this year without the color guy from previous seasons who re-joined the team this week.
Best I-am-not-a-fluke. Antonio Wardlow, who got a piece of yet another punt. Is it safe to consider him a special teams specialist now?
Best sneaky stat. 6-0. With all of the talk of the demise of home field advantage, the Vols are undefeated in Neyland this year.
Biggest need. Equipment for the officials. The center judge (who is actually shaped like a center) got knocked over pretty good by Hardesty on one of his bulldozing runs, and some other poor guy just tripped on grass while trying to race Arian Foster down the sideline on his 59-yard TD run.
Best ball hog. The Tennessee offense, for having first half drives of 4:45, 7:15, and 5:32.
Worst decision/best stop. Houston Nutt decided to go for the first down on 4th and 1 with about 6:00 minutes remaining in the half, but also decided to keep both Darren McFadden and Felix Jones on the sideline for the play. They failed. We succeeded. However you want to look at it.
Best use of hankies. Tennessee had back to back false start penalties on 3rd and goal just before halftime, giving them essentially five downs to get into the end zone. They scored on the fifth try with a down to spare.
Best backfire. Coach Nutt called a timeout with one second left in the first half so that Casey Dick could heave one toward the end zone. Eric Berry not only picked off the pass, he returned it 37 yards and threatened to take it all the way.
Best stat. Tie: (1) McFadden and Jones, 22 yards in the first half. (2) Tennessee, 34, Arkansas 13. Not necessarily in that order.
Did I miss anything? Leave your own post game awards below.
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10 comments
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Best Fly By
by Getoffmyvols on Nov 12, 2007 8:39 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
Rowe
by gramsey712 on Nov 12, 2007 9:26 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
More superlatives and questions
MOST IMPORTANT HIT: Jerod Mayo put a substantial, perhaps painful lick on McFadden early in the 1st qtr. I believe a definitive message was sent on that play.
PLEASE TELL ME WHY: Montario Hardesty did not play at all in the debacle against Alabama even though TN desperately needed a runing attack. For my money, he is clearly our best running back (doesn't have fumblitis, either).
WHERE WAS HE: Chris Brown has been an effective "go to" guy for the offense all season. Did he even touch the ball against AK?
by RevOrange on Nov 12, 2007 10:43 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
"And The Math Shall Set You Free" Award
Most Improved:
The Defense. Where were these guys during the California and Florida games in particular? If we can stop the McFadden/Jones attack (admittedly, Jones was injured early) in such a brutal fashion, we had the players to slow down the Cal and UF rushing attacks, too. Still, at least we have them for the final run
by Hooper on Nov 12, 2007 11:04 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
The Key
According the the Locker Room, a large part of the Arkansas defensive game plan was to limit Chris Brown. Apparently they not only considered him a threat but considered him to be the KEY to the vols offense and had a significant number of eyes watching him and reacting to his positioning. Its a pretty interesting approach as Brown is one of our most versatile offensive players. He is one of our most dependable pass catchers and a fantastic lead blocker. Its not to far off to try to gauge what UT tries to do offensively off of what Chris Brown is up to.
by Getoffmyvols on Nov 12, 2007 11:49 AM EST reply actions 0 recs
How??? How???? HOw?????
How??????
by gramsey712 on Nov 12, 2007 1:48 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Ahh
And also (even though off topic), I find it humorous that Georgia is getting a ton of media attention about being a possible BCS buster and talk of them knocking off LSU, then at the end, they note that Tennessee needs to lose in order for UGA to get there.
It's like, "Georgia's great, but oh yeah, there's that Tennessee team in the way."
by Volorado on Nov 12, 2007 3:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Ohhhhhh yeahhh
Being able to drive through the University of Arkansas Campus after driving from Knoxville, with Rocky Top playing on my Stereo as loud as I can handle it.
Worst off Experience:
Having 2 17 yr old kids steal one of my Tennessee flags off my truck at a gas station while I was paying for my gas in Fayetteville.
I can't wait till I get back to work!!!
by BloodSpite on Nov 12, 2007 2:25 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Worst Announcer
It's inconceivable that someone calling a game in Neyland Stadium could mistake orange for yellow....TWICE!
by TJVOL on Nov 13, 2007 9:02 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

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