What a relief it must have been for authorities in Neyland Stadium as the final seconds ticked away in Tennessee’s eighth consecutive loss to Florida. Nobody was storming the field.
Earlier in the week, the Knoxville Police Department issued a public warning that any Volunteer fans charging onto the field after the upcoming Tennessee win over the Gators would be promptly arrested. They wanted to be sure that nobody got hurt.
Congratulations! That’s one thing that you didn’t have to worry about.
Of course, the local police may have had other worries around that time — like massive traffic jams as Vols’ fans who started pouring out of the stadium in the fourth quarter were hurrying to get off the campus. Hopefully, none threw themselves into the Tennessee River to drown their sorrows.
While rampaging fans didn’t get hurt on the field, there was plenty of hurt to go around. Volunteer players took their licks. Big Orange fans certainly had hurt feelings. And, the chances that Derek Dooley’s coaching staff roams the Neyland Stadium sideline long-term may have been hurt, as well.
Saturday night should have been the “Welcome Back” party for Tennessee football. The Volunteers came into the game as one of the SEC’s most impressive teams in the early 2012 season. Florida traveled north without several key injured players, coming off two lackluster wins, and diminishing fan expectations. One report said that the Gators returned a significant quantity of unsold tickets. Tennessee was a three-point favorite.
At long last, the Big Orange was going to put itself soundly into the Eastern Division title race, setting up huge games with Georgia and South Carolina to claim their rightful position back among the league’s leaders. With all of those factors going their way, if they didn’t do it now, when would they do it?
Today, that is a burning question among Tennessee fans and that heat could intensify.
It’s not just that the Vols lost – it’s how they lost. After pretty well controlling a back-and-forth game, holding a 20-13 second half lead, Tennessee collapsed, giving up 24 unanswered points in the 37-20 defeat.
The frustration of Volunteer fans is understandable. Consider this: Over the years, Tennessee has played competitively against the last three national champions – Alabama, Auburn and Florida — but, not lately.
The Volunteers have lost four consecutive times to the Crimson Tide. Auburn has beaten Tennessee five straight times, not losing to the Vols in 13 years. And, then there are these last eight years against the Gators.
Tennessee has suffered through two consecutive losing seasons, and has been below .500 in three of the past four, and four of the past seven. These are historically bad times for a once-proud program.
All isn’t lost for the 2012 Big Orange season. The team appears to be improved over last year, and does have just one loss. But, after a sure win against Akron this coming Saturday, the next four games are at Georgia, at Mississippi State, Alabama in Knoxville, and at South Carolina … with no cream puffs in between. Should a Tennessee team that lost by 17 points to an undermanned Gator team be favored to win any of those? That Vanderbilt game in Nashville in late November might not look so inviting now either.
So much was on the line in Knoxville on Saturday. There was so much excitement; so much expectation; now, so much disappointment.
“Wait ‘til next year” is getting mighty old in east Tennessee.