Vols lose to Alabama, 45-10

We Tennessee fans got a reminder this afternoon that actually getting punched in the face hurts more than talking about getting punched in the face, as Alabama cruised to a 45-10 victory over the Vols. The Tide piled up 479 yards to UT's 322 and at one point in the first half had 15 first downs to Tennessee's 16 plays from scrimmage. It wasn't unexpected, but it still stung.

Nothing that happened today should take away from what this Tennessee team has accomplished so far this season, and if the three primary preseason goals were to get an upset against a ranked team, make it to a bowl game, and hold on to the recruiting class, one of the goals is met and the other two are still on the table. Team 117 needs two more wins to get bowl eligible, it has two additional excellent opportunities to overachieve on its upset goal, and there is no sign of the Class of 2014 faltering. Alabama, like Oregon, are simply at a higher level now than Tennessee is, and if the team keeps progressing, we'll get there sooner rather than later.

The biggest news of this game is that Butch Jones was essentially forced to forego the possibility of a redshirt for true freshman quarterback Joshua Dobbs after Justin Worley threw two picks with a throwing thumb that was obviously making it difficult for him to grasp the ball. Dobbs looked pretty good, actually, and the team did score 10 points, all in the second half with Dobbs at the helm.

More on the game later, but here's your commiseration thread. Feel free to use it to also dream dreams of the better days that are just around the corner, days when our guys can teach the Tide that talking about beatings is easier than taking them.