Even in this weird world, wisdom remains available on a limited basis.
Last week, at the peak of chatter about how awesome was Kentucky football and how the Wildcats might annihilate the Volunteers at Neyland Stadium, retired coach Watson Brown (42 seasons) summarized the situation for Tony Basilio‘s radio audience.
“I’ll believe in Kentucky when I see them do it on the field with Tennessee.”
Kentucky just doesn’t defeat Tennessee – once in Knoxville and twice in Lexington in all of Coach Brown’s years. The Vols once won 26 in a row. Some Kentucky teams were better than Tennessee but the Orange beat the Blue, or in this latest conflict, the dark mode beat up the whites in the fourth quarter.
Speaking of wisdom, do you think the last Vol touchdown (DeSean Bishop with 1:06 to go) was style points for the playoff selection committee to ponder or perhaps something personal, maybe payback for pop-offs or punishment for Kentucky pranksters painting The Rock.
Our 98-ton dolomite boulder is something special, a sacred scene for campus expression, especially on homecoming weekend when parents take children to see where they painted warm greetings and best wishes to Peyton lo, those many years ago.
Message to Kentucky: Thou shall not vandalize The Rock. Just don’t do it. And don’t try to dog-knap Smokey.
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PLAYOFF TALK: There isn’t much, according to George MacIntyre.
”We do a good job of staying week-to-week and focus on who we’re playing … obviously, we saw the rankings and that Kentucky was ranked ahead of us … not that big of a deal in the locker room, especially at this point in the season. It’ll become a daily topic later in the year.”
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NUMBERS: How can a team contend for a playoff opportunity while burdened with the worst passing numbers in the Southeastern Conference?
The Vols average 161 yards against league foes, about half what LSU and Ole Miss produce. The Vols have had three touchdown passes, counting Mike Matthews’ end-around as an 11-inch aerial.
MacIntyre lost big yards and three touchdowns to penalties in the South Carolina game. George had 86 total passing yards against Auburn and 125 against Kentucky.
Playoff perspective: Vols have a 7-2 record, a good ground game and a crusty defense. If they win the three remaining games …
Bishop ran for 109 yards against the Wildcats, his fifth straight 100-yard game. He has 1,066 this season and 13 touchdowns. Last season, he gained 1,076 and scored 16 TDs.
That combo puts him in select company. He and tailback Johnnie Jones are the only Vols with back-to-back thousand-yard seasons. Jones rushed for 1,116 in 1983 and 1,290 in 1984.
Josh Heupel says Bishop is a special competitor.
“He represents everything that’s good about college athletics.”
The defensive front is very good. Linebackers Arion Carter and Amare Campbell are busy stoppers. Qua Moss is multi-talented. Dejuan Lane has four interceptions.
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TEXAS A&M will almost certainly be a challenge and perhaps another trap game.
Mike Elko led Texas A&M to an 11-2 record and its first CFP appearance in 2025.
Tennessee followed the previous big victory (over Alabama) with the loss at South Carolina. It may or may not have learned from that experience. Building on success is sometimes more difficult than bouncing back from defeat.
The Aggies have more talent than positive results. They are a stunning 1-5 against SEC foes. They routed Arkansas but lost at home to Kentucky. They lost at LSU by four touchdowns and at Missouri by three. They fought Alabama and South Carolina in tough road games.
The Aggies actually outgained South Carolina but struggled to score. They also had trouble with quarterback LaNorris Sellers (does that sound familiar?) He passed for 251 yards and a touchdown and removed all doubt with a 41-yard TD run in the closing minutes.
Trooper Taylor, A&M associate head coach, was at Tennessee from 2004-07. He was position coach for Arian Foster, Robert Meachem, Gerald Riggs Jr. and Cedric Houston.
Aggie QB Marcel Reed has had a down season – a sharp decline in accuracy and a corresponding drop in passing yards and touchdowns and an increase in interceptions. The trademark has been stalled drives in the red zone.
For the record, Texas A&M was ranked No. 8 in the country in August and fourth in the SEC media preseason poll, behind Georgia, Texas and Ole Miss and ahead of LSU, Alabama and Oklahoma.
The Aggies need two wins just to get bowl eligible.
Marvin West welcomes comments and questions from readers at marvinwest75@gmail.com Read more westwords. Follow KnoxTNToday on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn. Get all KnoxTNToday articles in one place with our free newsletter.
