Ole Miss Game Preview
Tennessee showed last Saturday that the Missouri game was no fluke. Heupel was masterful in his play calling against a pretty decent Carolina defense. Tennessee took its foot off the gas in the second half and the Gamecocks mounted a minor comeback attempt. Shane Beamer was quite pleased with his moral victory. Tennessee did manage to finish strong and close the game out though. On to Ole Miss.
Before I address the elephant in the room, I would just like to provide a little historical context. College football is great on its own, but it is so much more rich when you can appreciate the history of the sport. Tennessee and Ole Miss were rivals before the SEC expanded in 1992. The two teams played most years between 1922 and 1991. The series has been more or less one sided. Tennessee leads the series 44-19-1. But in 1969, Tennessee was 7-0 and ranked 3rd in the country when they played Ole Miss in Jackson. Vol fans had the rally cry of 'Archie Who?'. Archie Manning and the Rebels beat Tennessee 38-0 that day, costing the Vols a chance at the national championship. Between 1969 and 1983, Ole Miss was 7-6 against the Vols. In fact, between 1957 and 1983, Ole Miss was 16-8 against the Vols. By far their best stretch in the series. Since 1983 however, it's been all Tennessee. Ironically, Lane Kiffin was Tennessee's coach when Ole Miss broke a 12 game losing streak to Tennessee in 2009. Since then, Ole Miss is 2-1 against the Vols. Perhaps the most significant historical fact for this game is that Ole Miss hasn't won in Knoxville since 1983.
Now to the elephant in the room. Lane Kiffin. He has plenty of devoted followers in the Tennessee fan base and that's kinda sad. He's a pretty good head coach. He's a great play caller. He has an exciting offense. His personality is magnetic. I get that part of it. Here's the thing about Lane that you have to understand though. No one has ever devalued the brand of the Tennessee Volunteers more than Lane Kiffin. That's just a fact. Did he start the downfall of Tennessee football? No. Fulmer's complacency and unwillingness to hire a great offensive coordinator did that. Is he mainly responsible for the downfall? No. It really was the perfect storm of terrible coaching hires and administrative incompetence that was mostly to blame. The fact remains though, no one devalued our brand more than Lane Kiffin. No one. What do I mean by that?
Consider this. When Kiffin was hired, Tennessee was still looked at as an undisputed blue blood in the college football world. Kirk Herbstreit even went so far as to proclaim Tennessee a top 5 job during the coaching search that brought Kiffin to Knoxville. Clemson and Washington both opened at the end of the 2008 season. All pundits said that Tennessee was without a doubt the best job available at that time. I know this is hard for a lot of younger fans to wrap their minds around but it's true. It's comparable to the way people are talking about the LSU job potentially opening right now. I say all that to say this. Of all the coaches that wanted the job then, from Brian Kelly to Gary Patterson, it was Lane Kiffin that was handed the keys to one of the blue blood jobs in America that had just came open for the first time in 16 years. Keep that in mind for a moment. I'll get back to that soon.
Now a lot of people have very fond memories of that 2009 season. From keeping it close against Florida and almost beating Alabama to hammering Georgia and South Carolina. There were some good moments for sure. There were also some choke jobs. Losing to a bad UCLA team was a total choke job. Losing to a mediocre Auburn team at home was also a bit of a choke, although that's the game where Crompton started to figure it out. Getting demolished by Ole Miss was flat out unacceptable. By the time the Peach Bowl choke job to Virginia Tech was complete, I was starting to have serious doubts if Kiffin would ever be consistent enough to be a championship coach. The Kiffin devotees, I call them simps, like to conveniently gloss over the choke jobs.
Now we are at that crazy night in January when he had that weird press conference to announce that the was leaving for USC. This is thing about Kiffin. He was entrusted to run a blue blood program and he treated it like a stepping stone. He didn't appreciate it. People love to cover for him by saying he left for his dream job. Okay. That might have been understandable after three years at Tennessee, but not after one. And sure, he regrets it now. Failing at USC will do that to you. And sure, he wanted to come back after Pruitt was fired. He was certainly the fan's choice and I admit, I wanted him back then too. Only because I knew they wouldn't touch Hugh Freeze and I didn't think we would get any other high value coach considering the circumstances. It all comes full circle to him devaluing our brand though. Overnight, he changed the perception of Tennessee from a blue blood destination job to a washed up also ran in the SEC. 11 years and 3 failed coaching tenures later and we still haven't climbed out of that hole. That's why our fans shouldn't worship this guy. I respect him as a play caller. His teams are fun to watch. I even kind of like his Twitter game. But make no mistake. My loyalty doesn't lie with him. It lies with the program I've followed for over 30 years. The program that I've been with at the top of the mountain and at rock bottom. Tennessee football is bigger than any one person, especially one that didn't appreciate the opportunity he was given in the first place. Tennessee football has won 853 games, 16 conference championships and 6 national championships. It's bigger, even to this day, than Lane Kiffin ever will be.
I said before the season that Josh Heupel had a better resume than Lane Kiffin. I stand by that. And I would rather have Heupel as the coach of the Vols than giving the ex who never really won anything another chance. After 3 terrible hires, I think we finally got lucky with Heupel.
On to the game. It's officially a sellout and it's officially a Checker Neyland game. Reminder to the anti-Checker Neyland people. Butch Jones didn't start it. Spencer Barnett did after being inspired by Oklahoma striping their stadium when Tennessee played them in 2014. And it's the most beautiful setting in college football. Penn State's White Out pales in comparison. The crowd will probably be the most hostile it's been since 2015 Oklahoma or 2006 Cal. The Ole Miss program probably hasn't been in an environment as hostile as Saturday will be since Hugh Freeze was on the sidelines. It will be interesting to see how they respond to the noise. It's also worth noting that Ole Miss has gotten up 2 straight weeks in games against Alabama and Arkansas. It's very hard to get emotionally up 3 games in a row.
Tennessee should have a lot of success on offense. There are reports that Tiyon Evans will miss the game and that certainly would be a blow. Hopefully Jabari Small will be healthier. Le'Neth Whitehead has been good in mop up duty this season. The Rebels defense is terrible against the run and pretty bad against the pass as well. Josh Heupel should have no problem scheming against Ole Miss. As long as the Vols execute and take care of the football, they should be able to match Ole Miss score for score.
Ole Miss has a great offense. Matt Corral is a Heisman contender. In just 5 games, he's thrown for almost 1,500 yards and 12 touchdowns without an interception. The Rebels will put up points. There's no doubt about that. I think the game comes down to a couple of factors. One, Tennessee has a better defense than Ole Miss. Much better. I do think they will get a few stops. Two, as Matt Dixon pointed out, they are a very penalized team and the crowd Saturday night should keep that trend going.
Tennessee will exercise some demons on Saturday night. They will turn the page on Lane Kiffin forever and they will storm back into the national consciousness of college football. Hopefully to stay this time.
Tennessee(+2.5) 51
Ole Miss 45
In other games...
Texas(-4.5) 52
Oklahoma State 38
Arkansas(-4.5) 31
Auburn 24
Florida(-12.5) 38
LSU 21
Georgia(-21.5) 35
Kentucky 10
Alabama(-17.5) 48
Mississippi State 28
Last Week 3-4(4-3 ATS) Overall Record 25-15(25-15 ATS)
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This is probably the biggest game in Neyland Stadium since the 2016 Florida game. It would be a loud statement game if they can get the win. It should be a great environment and a beautiful setting. Enjoy this weekend. Vol fans certainly deserve a game like this. Cherish every football game. After Saturday, there will only be 5 more left in the regular season. Heupel's offense is a thing of beauty. Just sit back and try to appreciate the harmony of it when you're watching the game.
Have a great weekend everyone. Thanks for reading and stay safe. Go Vols and God Bless!