Pits at the Peach?

Of course I’m disappointed with our loss. Of course I wanted, nay- expected, to win. Of course I’m not happy with the events that went down last night.

But it wasn’t inexplicable. Like one poster on VolNation pointed out: a ranked team beat an unranked team? Shocker. But more than that, last night wasn’t a shoddy effort on anyone’s part. It wasn’t a ‘we wanted a better bowl’ let down, or a ‘we weren’t ready to play even though this team is inferior to ours in every way.’ It was a beat down, it was painful to watch, but there are extenuating circumstances to be addressed.

Please note: the following are not excuses. Any of the following can be, and have been, overcome. But that shouldn’t give free reign to beat up on the Vols and disregard their efforts this season or this game.

This year’s Peach Bowl was an utter mismatch. Conferences that have divisions make it tricky to easily rank the standings, so for the sake of transparency, here’s how I determined it: I scooted over to ESPN and ranked by conference record. In the case of a tie, I used overall record. If the tie remained (or if there was an extra loss due to a bowl game), I used bowl game prestige to break the tie. In that system, the Peach Bowl put SEC 5 against ACC 2. That’s not great parity to begin with. But let’s throw this in: Virginia Tech was #11 in the nation; Tennessee hasn’t been ranked since the 2008 preseason. To shed some further light, Coach Beamer has been with the Hokies since 1987 and the last staffing change was made in 2005; the Vols are helmed by a brand spanking new coach not just to our program, but college ball overall and has had major staffing changes every season since 2005. Oh, and UT is starting a slew of walk-ons and freshmen (many on the offensive line) against a team that lost one player from its Orange Bowl Championship team. Forgive me if I’m not willing to wail and gnash my teeth over this loss.

Furthermore, it gave us a look into our future. The players who will be graduating or drafted were practically non-factors in the game. Vol fans, and more importantly coaches, saw exactly where the holes that need desperate filling are. We were forced to contend with how little talent and depth we have. Next year could be Lane Kiffin starring as the little Dutch boy at the dyke.

However, we also saw how much heart we have. Not enough to overcome the mismatch, but enough to be playing from whistle to whistle. Last year, the game would have been over when we got down by two scores, and the final could have easily been 30-3. But the team fought back earning every bit of the fourteen points we scored, and never gave up. Even with less than a minute left, down by twenty-one points, every player was giving their all. As a fan who has sat through too many games where I cared more about the outcome than most everyone on the field, the effort on every play is the buoy to my currently sunken spirits.

Lane Kiffin is honest about how far we have to go. He never throws a player under the bus, but he never ignores our mistakes either. He’s preparing the fans for whatever is to come, and knows the work we have to do. He also knows the work ethic that will be required from the players. He’ll be on the road Monday, recruiting those respectable, talented, persevering, team players to represent our university.

Our season is over, but our hopes have just begun.