Welcome to the first edition for the junior season of The Hangover, where I recap the previous weekend in college football. This week, The Hangover comes to you from Lake Martin, Alabama, where I’ve been relaxing and watching football all weekend long. No work for me to open this season, so I got to actually watch as many games as possible from the comfort of my couch. We learned a lot in Week One, but there’s still so much to dissect. Let’s dive in!
There’s a video that you’ve probably seen if you enjoy college football rivalries. It features an Alabama fan explaining all of the reasons why he hates Tennessee, including “that throw-up orange…that puke, inside of a pumpkin orange.” For some reason, my mind drifted to this video as I watched Tennessee this past weekend against Georgia State because, if “throw-up orange” was ever personified as a football game, we saw it in Neyland on Saturday.
This game was only a microcosm for Tennessee’s struggles over the last decade. To look at the bigger picture, we have to go back in time…
On November 8, 2008, Tennessee football broke. The 3-6 Wyoming Cowboys strolled into Neyland Stadium and upset Tennessee, putting a stamp of shame on what was already an awful season (head coach Phil Fulmer had been alerted about his dismissal earlier that week).
Since then, Tennessee hasn’t seen an up in production, despite raised expectations for certain years. Since the start of 2009, the Vols have gone:
7-6 (4-4)
6-7 (3-5)
5-7 (1-7)
5-7 (1-7)
5-7 (2-6)
7-6 (3-5)
9-4 (5-3)
9-4 (4-4)
4-8 (0-8)
5-7 (2-6)
Total: 62-63 (25-55)
That’s a decade of futility, folks. Yet, this season brought a new kind of hope. Fans were expecting a bowl game, and maybe an upset here and there. Jarrett Guarantano was back at quarterback, and there were some good skill players on the outside and in the backfield returning. The defense was young last year, so surely they’d take a step forward, right?
Nope. This past Saturday brought back shades of 2008, the moment when Tennessee fans knew things weren’t going to be like the glory days of the late 1990’s. Georgia State, a Sun Belt team that finished 2-10 a season ago and began as a football program in 2010, upset the Volunteers in Neyland Stadium 38-30, and it wasn’t even that close.
A Panthers team that averaged 23.9 points per game last year scored two touchdowns more than that against a Tennessee defense that look disinterested at best. The Vols’ offense couldn’t sustain drives in the second half, and what looked like an “oh, huh,” score at the mid-point of the game became an upset courtesy of a 26-point underdog.
What happened? How did things go so wrong, and what happens next? For Jeremy Pruitt and the rest of this Tennessee staff, 2019 could be a long season. A five-game stretch at Florida, against Georgia, against Mississippi State, at Alabama, and against South Carolina looms in the distance like a dark storm cloud. That quintet of contests makes the next two home games against BYU and Chattanooga must-wins for Tennessee. Either way, a season that came in with hopes of a bowl game and maybe seven wins feels impossible now. Jeremy Pruitt isn’t on the hot seat–it’s too early in his tenure for that–but if he wants to keep the rabid Vol Nation steady, he needs to find a way through the murky waters in the abyss that is Tennessee football.
Other Week One Reactions
-The SEC East belongs to Georgia. We already knew that, but Week One (and Week Zero, in a way) confirmed that. Along with Tennessee, South Carolina, Missouri, and Vanderbilt (to Georgia) suffered opening weekend losses. Look, Georgia was the best team in the division coming into the year, but now? Go ahead and put the Bulldogs in the SEC Championship Game, and do it in sharpie, too.
-For a bunch of quarterbacks across the country, Week One served as an introduction to a new fanbase. Justin Fields looked sharp in his first start with Ohio State, Jacob Eason threw some dimes for Washington, and Jalen Hurts had the best statistical game of his career in his first appearance for Oklahoma. The age of quarterback free agency is just beginning, and it’s interesting to see so many new guys starting off their seasons well.
-Of all the games I watched during Week One, the most impressive performance may have come from Wisconsin. Jonathan Taylor is picking up right where he left off from last year (135 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns, four overall) and the defense was incredibly physical (26 rushing yards allowed on 23 carries). Still, the most impressive part of Wisconsin’s 49-0 win over South Florida was quarterback Jack Coan going 19-of-26 for 206 yards and two touchdowns. With the team the Badgers have, they don’t need a game-breaker under center. They do, however, need competency, something they’ve missed the last few years. If Coan brings Wisconsin that, watch out for the Badgers this season.
-Let’s slow the roll on Bo Nix, folks. I love his story, and his poise and moxie down the stretch against Oregon was impressive for a true freshman. Still, the Auburn quarterback was 13-31 for 177 yards and two interceptions alongside the two touchdowns. Nix had a decent game, but he also had moments when it was clear he’s a freshman. I know you’re excited about another wild, miraculous victory, Auburn fans, but let’s stop making “Nix 4 Heisman” calls for now. It’s a long season, and the schedule only gets tougher.
Gray’s Top Ten
- Clemson
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Oklahoma
- LSU
- Ohio State
- Texas
- Michigan
- Texas A&M
- Utah
You guys didn’t see our preseason top ten, but some things have shifted around outside of the top six. Alabama and Clemson hold onto one and two after pretty dominating opening games, and Georgia stands firm at three after smothering Vanderbilt. Oklahoma looked really good against Houston Sunday, especially defensively. I know, the Cougars still scored 31 points, but I thought the Sooners looked exponentially better on that side of the ball compared to past seasons. DC Alex Grinch may have been the hire of the offseason by anyone, so I’m excited to see how the Oklahoma defense improves throughout the season. LSU’s new-look, modern offense worked against Georgia Southern, and Joe Burrow had a great game. Now, can things work just as well against Texas in a hostile environment next week? We’ll see. Speaking of Texas, the Longhorns jump Michigan for me this week. There’s no reason in particular as to why, I just think Texas looked sharper in week one. Texas A&M moves up to number nine mainly because I didn’t want to keep Florida or Notre Dame in my top ten. Finally, Utah had a brilliant performance to start off the year against BYU on Thursday night. The hardest thing to do is blowout a rival on the road, and the Utes did just that in a 30-12 win. I’m so intrigued by this team and all of the hype surrounding Kyle Whittingham’s squad, and my eye will be on them as the season progresses.
Coach of the Week
As awful as Saturday was for Tennessee, take a bow Georgia State head coach Shawn Elliott. If you listen to what Elliott said postgame and on various radio shows across the country, it’s clear that he firmly believed he had the better football team. Elliott was able to keep his team in it after Tennessee took a 14-7 first half lead, and his offense ran for 213 yards against the Vols. After a disappointing 2-10 season that followed an impressive 7-5 debut year, Elliott has the Panthers back on the upswing. Watch for his name once some jobs become available in the next few months.
Special COTW shout-out to Liberty head man Hugh Freeze for coaching in a hospital bed in the press box. Easily, it’s the most bizarre thing to happen ever in college football coaching, and it gave us plenty of Twitter gems.
Idiot of the Week
Do you know who Mark Farley is? You should, because he’s one of the best FCS coaches in the business. Farley has coached at Northern Iowa since 2001, and he had a chance to pull off a huge upset against ranked Iowa State on Saturday in Ames. Unfortunately, he missed a golden opportunity. In the second overtime, the Panthers scored a touchdown to make it 23-22. Now, it was clear watching the game that Northern Iowa was getting a little tired and worn down because of the physical nature of the football game. With that pretty apparent, Farley should’ve gone for two. He should’ve whipped out the best two-point play he has in the playbook and gone for it. Instead, Farley decided to kick and the game moved to triple overtime. Northern Iowa was forced to a field goal, and Iowa State came back and ran it down the Panthers’ throats to win 29-26. It was a chance for an FCS over FBS upset, but Mark Farley missed his shot to end it.
150 Corner
It’s the 150th anniversary of college football’s beginning, so this portion of The Hangover will highlight some of the best moments in this great sport’s history. For opening weekend, how can we not highlight the greatest upset ever to happen in college football?
On September 1, 2007, fifth-ranked Michigan hosted perennial FCS power Appalachian State. The Mountaineers jumped out to a 28-17 halftime lead thanks to impressive play from quarterback Armanti Edwards, and then held on for a 34-32 win after blocking a field goal in the final seconds. This upset jump-started what became the craziest year this sport has ever seen and, since then, Michigan hasn’t quite been the same. It’s one of the best moments ever witnessed in the sport, bar none.
Random Rankings
We here at RR HQ love dips. Not that kind, you degenerates, but the kind that you can scoop out with Fritos or those superb Tostitos Scoops. The lake provides us with a chance to taste a myriad of dips so, if you haven’t had these, go find them. *Disclaimer*: per usual, once Random Rankings are posted, they aren’t changing. So don’t get any ideas. I’m very stubborn. If you have comments or questions, shoot me a tweet at @gray_robertson.
- Sausage Dip (from Catherine’s Market at Lake Martin, specifically)
- Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Queso Dip
- Guacamole
- Crab Dip (specifically from The Happy Clam in Fredericksburg, Virginia)
SEC Power Rankings
The Hangover loves the SEC but, admittedly, Week One was rough for the conference. The SEC East did not look good, although the West was much sharper. The biggest weekend news–South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley is out for an extended amount of time with a foot injury, so Ryan Hilinski will take over for the next few weeks. How will the Gamecocks respond? Unclear, but Will Muschamp better get his house in order soon because Alabama comes to Columbia in two weeks.
- Alabama
- Georgia
- LSU
- Auburn
- Texas A&M
- Florida
- Kentucky
- Mississippi State
- Missouri
- South Carolina
- Ole Miss
- Arkansas
- Vanderbilt
- Tennessee
So Who’s Ready for Next Week?
Next weekend is HUGE! Here’s what we’ve got coming up in Week Two.
Cincinnati at #5 Ohio State, 11 am CT on ABC
Army at #7 Michigan, 11 am CT on FOX
West Virginia at Missouri, 11 am CT on ESPN2
#12 Texas A&M at #1 Clemson, 2:30 CT on ABC
#6 LSU at #9 Texas, 6:30 CT on ABC
Arkansas at Ole Miss, 6:30 CT on SEC Network
Miami at North Carolina, 7:00 CT on ACC Network (if you get it)
California at #14 Washington, 9:30 CT on FS1
#23 Stanford at USC, 9:30 CT on ESPN
That’s it for the first edition of The Hangover! Here’s to a wild and crazy college football season. See you next week!
