Football openers are not all the same. Primary purposes are different.
Some are for development of players. Some are for good starts and coaches’ 1-0 records. Some are to encourage the sale of season tickets. Some are arranged for TV ratings and million-dollar profits. I suppose one, now and then, is just for fans.
Some are deliberate mismatches, purchased victories. Stay tuned.
Some are main events.
At the peak of his career, Doug Dickey assembled one of Tennessee’s best teams. Athletics director and schedule-maker Bob Woodruff did it no favor. To get UCLA to play the Volunteers in Memphis, Bob agreed to a rematch at the Los Angeles Coliseum, opening game of 1967, the great Gary Beban against the Swamp Rat and some really good teammates with more conventional nicknames.
UCLA arrived at No. 8 in the country, Tennessee No. 9.
For most of the evening, Dewey Warren, Bob Johnson, Charley Rosenfelder, Steve Kiner, Dick Williams and associates had the Vols ahead. In the closing minutes, Beban made the best run of his Heisman Trophy lifetime. Tennessee didn’t tackle him. UCLA won. It was a long trip home.
Once upon a time, on direct orders from General Robert R. Neyland, Tennessee fans were taught to fear Carson-Newman, Maryville and Chattanooga as football openers. Each summer, the coach fretted about enemy passing attacks and “what if.”
Neyland didn’t want anybody looking ahead to Alabama.
Late in the John Majors era, Tennessee discovered Southwestern Louisiana. Coach Phillip Fulmer found an occasional first foe below the top 25 – Louisiana Tech, East Carolina, UNLV.
Lane Kiffin was happy to entertain Western Kentucky. Derek Dooley opened against UT-Martin and moved up to Montana. Butch Jones went out on a limb against Austin Peay, Bowling Green and Appalachian State. The third one was a close call, overtime.
Two of Jeremy Pruitt’s three opening foes were tough enough. The one in the middle, Georgia State, was deadly. In Vegas, Tennessee was a 25.5-point favorite. At Neyland Stadium, it was naptime.
Georgia State was paid real money to visit and absorb an opening day defeat. The Panthers very rudely abandoned the script, scored 17 points in the fourth quarter and stuck a stunning 38-30 upset on every orange shirt they could find.
Tennessee has never had an upset victory comparable to this upset loss. Alas, it was a shock only on the scoreboard. On Shields-Watkins Field, Georgia State was the better team. It was up by 15 until Juan Jennings caught a touchdown pass with two seconds to spare.
Josh Heupel deserved a soft start. Considering the mess he inherited, his up-tempo offense, compared to whatever that was Pruitt deployed and how much how many had to learn about the passing game, an easy opener was no more than fair.
Surprise, surprise: Tennessee running was better than passing against Bowling Green. Everybody expected a rapid-fire air raid. Tennessee delivered a knockdown and runaway ground attack. Jabari Small and Tiyon Evans each had a touchdown and 116 yards.
There were pregame concerns about the defense. It dominated.
Joe Milton III did not clinch all-America honors in his debut. The quarterback ran for two touchdowns and completed a TD pass to Cedric Tillman. Milton had one completion after intermission.
Unforgettable was how happy Heupel was to be here: “Awesome experience.”
He was OK with 38-6. He was celebrating the Vol Walk, running through the T, the enthusiastic student section and the fact that his team played with energy and passion.
Attendance was announced at something more than 84,000. I thought some were probably counted twice.
Ball State on Thursday evening may be another Bowling Green. I don’t think it will be a Georgia State. I guarantee it won’t be a UCLA.
Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com