Vols Overwhelm Bulldogs

A feeling of nostalgia came over me as I sat and watched Tennessee dismantle the Georgia Bulldogs today. I felt like we had gone back in time, back to the time when the Vols would bury any visitor that dared to enter into Neyland Stadium and challenge Tennessee on the gridiron. Of course, Florida is an exception to the rule, but from 1996-1999 Tennessee only lost once on hallowed Shields-Watkins field.

Today felt like it use too, the band playing Rocky Top a hundred times and the Tennessee fans just having a good ole' time. Tennessee fans started out rather quiet, but by games end Neyland Stadium was rocking at the sight of every big hit and every big play made by the offense.

The Volunteers have a tough road ahead, beginning in Tuscaloosa in two weeks, but you got the feeling today thoughts of the matchup with the Crimson Tide would just have to be put on hold for a couple more days. Tennessee fans just wanted to bask in the glory of the big Southeastern conference victory over Georgia.

The performance by the Volunteers today left many of us in the press box asking each other, who was wearing that no.8 jersey for the Volunteers? and who were those receivers who were open play after play? It was not the performance that any of us expected, but it was one that has to help the confidence of the players.

The Good:

What can you say about Jonathon Crompton? In my opinion he made one really bad pass that was returned for a touchdown, but some of the blame should be laid at the receivers feet. The thing I liked most about Crompton today was his ability to come back and perform after adversity. Crompton led the Vols to scores on each possession following a Bulldog score. Crompton was 20-27-1 for 310 yards and four touchdowns. By far his best performance as a Vol. Congratulations to Jonathon on an outstanding game. He moved well, showed great leadership ability, and found the open man.

Monterio Hardesty again put on a show. Several times Hardesty finished off runs by carrying Bulldog defenders on his back. He also showed his great speed by outrunning a safety and a cornerback to the end zone for a touchdown.

Aaron Douglas, the freshman right tackle had maybe his best game yet. Once he adds some much needed weight to that body of his, he could be a force to be reckoned with in the SEC. He is already good and going to get better. Did a great job in pass protection today, also showed a knack for finding the un-blocked linebacker.

Gerald Jones showed his playmaking ability today, something that has been missing most of the season. Gerald came up big today, he caught 5 passes for 105 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Denarius Moore played an outstanding ballgame and gave us a play good enough for the ESPN play of the day award on his 33 yard reception for a touchdown.

Luke Stocker caught four balls for 68 yards, he found himself wide open over the middle all day, forcing the linebackers and safeties to keep an eye on him, something that would hurt the Bulldogs in the 3rd quarter when Crompton connected on a 51 touchdown pass to Gerald Jones.

The Vols racked up 472 yards of total offense. A good day considering the competition, Georgia may be no Alabama, but they are not Western Kentucky either.

The Vol defense limited Georgia to 241 yards of offense, and much of that came long after the game had been decided.

Tennessee linebackers played well, Rico McCoy recorded 9 tackles, and freshman Savion Frazier totaled 7 total tackles.

The Bad:

Kick coverage continues to be a problem for Tennessee this year. The Vols have allowed an opponent to return a kickoff for a touchdown in two of the last three games. Something needs to be done about this now.