Orange Clockwork

The statement from the coach below:

“I will miss the press conference and I will miss practice on Tuesday. I had a great friend and a great mentor pass away, very early in a youthful life, he was 64, Skip Carr. My wife and him and our family have been great friends for a long, long time. He had a sudden heart attack and died.

“You can count on one hand the times I’ve missed practice in 30 years and I’m certain my friend would understand if I didn’t go, but I need to be there for my wife and for my children. I may be back for part of practice, I will certainly be back for that evening’s planning.”

When making my preseason predictions, I gave Tennessee the benefit of the doubt in several areas.

I assumed the Vols would avoid a significant injury at defensive tackle to expose their lack of depth at that position. I figured Chad Cunningham would be competent enough at punter to get Tennessee through its first five games. And, despite some concerns and a boatload of spring-practice picks, I reckoned Jonathan Crompton would make a fairly sound transition into the starting quarterback.

So far, I’m one out of three on those assumptions. That’s a decent batting average, but 1-2 is no way to start the football season.

Just ask Phillip Fulmer.

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Welcome back to Blog Exchange.

I asked Evan Woodbery, Auburn beat writer for the Press-Register in Mobile, questions about the Tigers leading into Saturday’s game with Tennessee. He answered them.

Evan drops all kinds of War Eagle knowledge, after the jump.

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The Big Picture: The margin wasn’t as ugly, but the Vols got dominated by Florida for the second straight year. The Gators took a 17-0 lead less than 11 minutes into the ballgame, and Tennessee never had a chance. Jonathan Crompton showed poor decision-making and game management again. The Vols continue giving up busts on special teams. Right now, they look like the worst team in the SEC East.

Full analysis, after the jump.

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If someone told a Tennessee fan, player or coach that the Vols would gain more yards, draw even in the time of possession battle and limit Tim Tebow to 122 yards of offense, they’d probably be ecstatic.

And still, the Vols lost the game.

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The Vols are on the doorstep of the goal line, but enter the fourth quarter 15 minutes away from being shut out for the first time since 1994 — when these same Gators did the deed.

Well, not THESE Gators. Members of the current team were in grade school.

Is it just me or is Jonathan Crompton talking smack after each and every play? Can someone confirm this? If so, how stupid is it to be woofing to the opposition when you’re trailing by four touchdowns?

The Vols are playing for pride at this point. Postgame interviews should be an adventure.

No one thought they could win. Phillip Fulmer publicly vowed to kick some Gator butt. Al Wilson gave a fiery speech in Friday’s walk-through.

Tennessee had all the momentum on its side heading into this game.

And in a span of 30 minutes of football, the Vols frittered it all away.

Florida leads 20-0, but Tennessee has more yardage (138 to 108) and has won the time of possession battle (17:14 to 12:46).

The Vols blew a chance to at least salvage some momentum heading into halftime. Tennessee put together a fine offensive possession at the end of the half. A touchdown would have at least put the Vols on the board, and they begin the second half with the ball.

Instead, Tennessee came away with zero points despite a first-and-goal from the 5 yard line. After two Montario Hardesty runs set up a long 3rd-and-1, Jonathan Crompton let 15 seconds tick off before he called the Vols’ third and final timeout. A pass over the middle to tight end Luke Stocker got deflected away from a Florida defender, then Crompton got picked off in the end zone on a fourth-and-goal try.

Call-in shows and message boards should be lit up tonight, tomorrow and Monday.

Here’s a fun stat for my dozens of readers.

With that 17-0 quarter, Florida has outscored Tennessee 48-0 over the last 26 minutes of football between the two teams.

48-0!

Said all week special teams could be a huge factor. Florida proved that with Brandon James returning the opening kickoff 50-plus yards to set up the Gators’ first touchdown, then ripping off a 78-yard punt return to account for his team’s second TD of the day.

So here we are, with Tennessee trailing 17-0 and little of the fault falling on the defense, which has been backed up all afternoon.

Two questions:
1) Is it time for Tennessee to get a TRUE full-time special teams coach?
2) When do the Vols have to try someone besides Chad Cunningham as punter?

Back at halftime. The Vols are driving, but a 17-point deficit might be too much to overcome.

Greetings from the press box!

We’re less than 90 minutes away from kickoff. The Vol Walk has been completed, with Tennessee players in suits both conservative and colorful. Us media hacks are finding our seats and consuming the pregame meal, and players are on the field warming up for both teams.

Currently, the referee is doing an interminable microphone check which sounds like being next to a souped-up drive-thru speaker. What a treat!

Much greater buzz today at Neyland Stadium. The Vol Walk was packed; the team had to go single file, and it was a tight single file at that.

Florida’s warmup outfits look like a spandex version of Superman’s costume. We’ll see if the Vols have kryptonite for the Gators’ Superman, Tim Tebow. If there were a bizarro version of Tebow, like the Bizarro equivalent of Superman, I think he would be named Wobet. Just an idea.

Back with thoughts after every quarter.

The Place: Neyland Stadium
The Time: 3:30 p.m.
The Rankings: Tennessee unranked; Florida No. 4 AP/coaches
The Series Record: 19-18 Tennessee
The Odds: Florida favored by 7.5 points

The Gators and Tim Tebow come back to Neyland Stadium. No word if Tebow will bring his Heisman, or if Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes will accuse anyone of quitting.

Full analysis, after the jump …

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