Around the SEC, “it just means more,” is a saying most fans believe in. So much so that a big rivalry game can dictate a coach’s success at a school. Tennessee’s Josh Heupel may have just garnered the attention from all over the nation and cemented his way into a lifetime contract.
The Volunteers sent the college football world into a frenzy after upsetting longtime rival Alabama 52-to-49 for the first time in over 15 seasons! Knoxville practically burned down as fans rushed the field and carried the goalpost all over downtown and eventually into the Tennessee river.
What’s the significance besides one of the greatest games of college football on display, or just another rivalry game in the Southeastern Conference- which was founded in Knoxville in 1933.
This was only year number two for head coach Josh Heupel-Tennessee’s fifth active head coach in within a decade. After a decent “pick me up” to end his first season, Heupel and company had gained much hype for year two. Going seven-and-five in a coach’s first season is not terrible by any means (bowl bound, greater than .500), but it leaves fans wanting more.
And Vol fans got exactly what they wanted. As the fifth ranked Crimson tide came into Knoxville, the sixth ranked Volunteers were ready. College Gameday was ready. Alabama, however, was not.
Hendon Hooker absolutely throttled the Crimson Tide defense, but that wasn’t the most exciting part of the day. Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt put on a Randy Moss type performance with only six catches for 207 yards and five touchdowns! Bru McCoy had one of the most important catches as he was able to help secure the ball the get the Vols into field goal postion in the final 15 seconds of the game. From there, Chase McGrath kicked his only field goal of the day, a 40 yard bomb, to walk off and send the Crimson Tide back to Tuscaloosa.
Whether or not this was the stars aligning in Knoxville or a resurgence of a former great, the only thing Tennessee fans can do is believe the “heup.”
Brandon Shown 