Tennessee’s Top Four Games This Season
By Mark Nagi
Folks, you might not realize it yet, but football season is right around the corner.
SEC Media Days will invade Nashville next week, giving us the ultimate combination of bachelorette parties and Alabama fans. Just imagine the enlightening, philosophical discussions taking place between those groups. Within a day I’m sure that they could solve all the earth’s problems.
After that we get the opening of Tennessee’s Fall camp, where fans will look at some practice clips of receivers few of us have ever heard of and immediately anoint them the second coming of Carl Pickens.
Then the season opens on the surface of the sun, when the Vols face Virginia at Nissan Stadium in Nashville at 11 a.m. local time. Bring sunscreen and drink plenty of water, people.
But for now, let’s look ahead to what I believe are Tennessee’s biggest four games of the 2023 season. You might have different selections, and that’s fine, it’s a free country. These are in chronological order as they fall on the calendar.
On September 16 the Vols should be 2-0 when they head to Gainesville to play Florida. Hard to believe, but it has been 20 years since the Vols last won a game at The Swamp. That’s understandable during the Urban Meyer/Tim Tebow/approximately 876 players on the roster got arrested seasons, but not getting at least a win or two when they face Will Muschamp or Jim McElwain is inexcusable.
Tennessee’s starting quarterback Joe Milton has been quoted as saying “I don’t lose in Florida.” You’ve gotta like the confidence. Casey Clausen got the job done with a similar level of cockiness, leading UT to wins in 2001 and 2003. We’ll find out if Milton can join Clausen in Tennessee lore.
Two weeks later, the Vols host South Carolina on September 30 at Neyland Stadium. This might be the rowdiest atmosphere that Knoxville sees all year. As all Tennessee fans remember, the Gamecocks ended any chance for the Vols of making it to the College Football Playoff with a resounding 63-28 victory in Columbia. That was the same game that UT QB Hendon Hooker tore his ACL, ending his chances of earning an invite to Manhattan for the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer has done a real job resurrecting that USC program and hasn’t been afraid to boast about the win over UT, nor have their fans. This has always been an odd and interesting rivalry since the Gamecocks first joined the SEC in 1992. This year’s meeting will be the last time that the Vols and Gamecocks meet on an annual basis. Expect mustard bottle toss levels of loud at Neyland for this game.
On October 21st the Vols take on Alabama in Tuscaloosa. This is a rematch of arguably one of the greatest college football games of all time, Tennessee’s 52-49 win over the Crimson Tide, a game that made Hooker and wide receiver Jalin Hyatt legends forever in the eyes of Vols fans.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban has been whining ever since they got left out of the playoff, using losing to Tennessee and LSU on the final platy of the game as reasoning why they should have been in the Top 4. That whining earned them a spot in the Sugar Bowl and eventually a final ranking higher than Tennessee for reasoning that no rational person can make.
They certainly have not handled losing to UT for the first time in 15 years well. Bryant-Denny Stadium will be rocking.
And finally, Tennessee hosts two-time defending national champion Georgia on November 18. If things go right for both teams, this could be the game that decides the SEC East title. Tennessee hasn’t beaten the Bulldogs since the “Dobbnail Boot” game in 2016. What better time than now to end that streak.
Georgia keeps racking up top 5 recruiting classes and has NFL talent all over the field. This won’t be easy for the Vols, but with Josh Heupel’s offense clicking, don’t bet against them in this game.
Can’t wait for the games to come…
