Shots Across The Bow

When is a Loss Better than a Win?

It's an odd feeling.

For the last two weeks as I watched the Vols beat Vanderbilt and Kentucky, I was mildly disgusted with the level of play. Yeah, we came away with wins, but damn, they were ugly. We made Vandy look good, and before that last interception, we were lookinf another L in the face.

And the game against Kentucky was no better.

I'm not trying to knock either program, because they came ready to play on game day, while the Vols went through the motions, but there was no reason for Tennessee to let those two teams stay that close through 4 quarters. Tennessee simply played uninspired football, and if they played like that in the SEC chamionship game, it would be another blowout, maybe even worse than their first meeting. Auburn needed to thrash Tennessee, not just beat them, in the hopes of gaining a little ground on Oklahoma in the BCS polls.

But the Vols didn't co-operate; the team showed up like they did against Georgia, full of fire and determination. Unfortunately, for most of the game, they were outplayed by a better Auburn team. The offense never really settled in until the second half, and while the defense front managed to contain the potent Auburn rushing tandem of Carnell "Cadillac" Williams and Ronnie Brown, the secondary was ravaged by the pinpoint passing of Jason Campbell, who had the game of his career just when he needed it most.

In the first half, Tennessee managed only 20 plays, 2 first downs, and 7 points. Rick Clausen's game was much better than his stats, as several nice passes bounced off of receivers' hands and chests to hit the turf. I counted 4 drops in the first half, one of which would have gone for a touchdown.

The second half started with Tennessee again taking advantage of an Auburn miscue, recovering a fumble that lead to Tennessee's second touchdown. The defense was fired up by the score and stopped Auburns next possession after a single first down. Then Tennessee had it's first big play of the season. Gerald Riggs broke up the middle virtually untoouched as he raced for 80 yards and the tying touchdown.

In the middle of the rout, a football game had broken out.

But Auburn didn't go undefeated through an SEC season by packing it in at the first sign of trouble. They answered with a 6 play 85 yard drive of their own, taking the lead back. They added a field goal to their lead early in the 4th quarter, but Tennessee answered the call again with their own 5 play 80 yard TD drive to cut the lead to 3.
But that was all the fight the Vols had left. Auburn scored once again to make the score 38-28, and that's the way the game ended.

So why do I like the loss better than the two earlier wins?

Because they played the game as hard as they could. Rick Clausen played better than he did in his previous three games, making good throws and better decisions. He threw for one touchdown and had his first interception free game. The offensive line showed signs of the dominence they had early in the season, allowing both Riggs and Houston to break off 80 yard runs, although Houston had his called back on a penalty. All season long, Auburn had given up only 1 rushing touchdown; Tennessee scored 3. Randy Sanders called a good game, showing me that he can do it when needed. The running game showed some imagination and some new wrinkles that resulted in success.

In short, Tennessee played like they diserved to be there, and they played to the best of their abilities, and that's what I want to see in a team. I would have loved to have won the game, but Auburn was the better team, and deserved the win. But I'm proud of our guys; they gave it all they had, from the coaches to all the players.

Next up is a tough but winnable game against Texas AM in the Cotton Bowl.

Posted by Rich at December 6, 2004 12:28 AM | TrackBack