KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- As the temperature plummeted on Saturday night in Knoxville, 75,000 layer-clad fans huddled in groups across Neyland Stadium.
The game on the field, Tennessee against South Alabama, was the main draw.
The final result, a 60-14 blowout win in the second-to-last game of the season, was never really in question.
That tends to happen when you score eight touchdowns with two late safeties, when you have a quarterback who tosses two touchdowns on 17-for-20 passing, and when one of those scores comes on an electrifying 96-yard punt return to put the game away before halftime.
But the significance of that aforementioned result -- a sixth win to notch bowl eligibility -- cannot be overstated, at least to the outside world.
More on that later, though. For now, the important information is this: 35 players who transferred out since September 2020. NCAA violations that threatened to jerk this season’s bowl game out from under this team. A coaching change that, when combined with those other two obstacles, would have crippled most programs in what was expected to be the rebuild of all rebuilds.
And yet, here the Vols were, tossing towels into the air, fist-pumping to Rocky Top and leaping into the stands in celebration of a win that earned postseason play, despite everything stacked against them.
Were there mistakes against the Jaguars? Sure there were, considering this was a Sun Belt team that racked up over 300 rushing yards and converted five of seven fourth-down attempts (despite a head-scratching one third-down success on 16 attempts).
After the dust settled, though, the main takeaway — at least to the outside world — is that the Vols have cemented an incredible turnaround by becoming eligible for the postseason. And that’s without even factoring in that this team was a couple plays from a 9-3 record.
For the fans who celebrated with this group, for the media (including yours truly) who cover them, and for those across the country who have made a laughingstock of Tennessee’s thump to rock-bottom just 11 months ago, that type of response can’t be emphasized enough.
But if you ask the members of the team that accomplished a feat worth cherishing?
Well, it was just another game in a long line of them — so much so that, after the game, Velus Jones had to ask Hendon Hooker if the Vols had indeed notched a sixth win.
“Our mindset doesn’t change, no matter the opponent,” Jones said after his question drew a laugh. “We just look forward to the next game.”
“I don’t think there’s anybody in our program that was focused on that part of it,” Heupel added. “(Focus) was truly on South Alabama. It’s big for us because it continues to build the momentum we’ve had here.”
Now, that commentary doesn’t mean Heupel doesn’t appreciate the extra month of preparation he’ll get before the Vols go who-knows-where in late December or January. He acknowledged the importance of it.
But the fact that he didn’t come into this matchup focused on that aspect? That the primary result — a bowl game — has already become a sidebar to the game-by-game mentality Heupel instills in his team?
Such an approach harkens back to the days when bowl games were a regular trend for this team, and when the true question was whether the Vols could end up in Atlanta.
They aren’t nearly as close to that anymore. Not after last week’s thumping against Georgia, which served as an eye-opener for anyone trying to hit multiple fast-forwards on the Heupel era.
If Tennessee continues that “every game is its own season” approach, though, it may not be long before it’s in the discussion again.
And when it is, this moment will be a special one to look back and see.
Hopefully these players — especially the seniors — realize how important this win was, too.
It certainly was for the fans whose breath hung in the cold November air — but whose hopes may be a lot warmer now than they were at the start of this season.
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Nichols: Come for the Rout, Stay for the Bowl Game, and Celebrate the Mindset Within Josh Heupel’s Tennessee Football P - CalBearsMaven
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