Next up in the Best Plays of 2007 Brackety-ish Thingy is No. 1 seed Antonio Reynolds Makes Sure UL-Laf versus No. 4 seed LaMarcus Coker Smokes Florida.
The contestants:
Antonio Reynolds Makes Sure UL-Laf
At stake: Nothing. It was Louisiana-LaFayette.
In-game context: It was already 17-0, Vols, in only the second quarter when two of the most remarkable things happened:
Impact: None, but it makes me happy. Few things are better than seeing a defensive lineman lumbering 70 yards toward the end zone after lucking into an interception. To see him juke a guy, well that there's something special.
LaMarcus Coker Smokes Florida
At stake: Kicking the season off right. Losing to Cal in the first game was bad, but it wasn't the SEC and so really didn't matter much. No, it's always Florida (and/or sometimes Georgia) who's in our way.
In-game context: After Tennessee went nowhere on its opening drive, we made the mistake of punting directly to Florida's Brandon James, who returned the blasted thing 83 yards for a touchdown. Huh. Apparently, we don't learn. Anyway, . . . wait. Didn't I just type this? Yeah. Okay, well, anything you can do . . .
Impact: Love that run. Also love a couple of other things: both Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson obviously thought the play was over, but Lundquist had the good sense to just get back on the bus. Danielson started to throw Lundquist under said bus and then had the good sense to blame it on both of them. Anyway, this kickoff return should have done something for us, but Ainge was intercepted on the ensuing drive. Huh. Kind of like how the botched handoff to Foster squandered the momentum that the Berry INT-bow created.
So which of these two will advance? That's up to you. Vote below.