Latest / Champions of Life / Episode 6: GA hangover, annual opponents

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Episode 6: GA hangover, annual opponents · Champions of Life

welcome to the champions of life podcast where 3 orangeblooded Tennessee alums discuss how there's always next year Hey everybody.
Welcome back to the Champions of Life podcast.
Whoa.
There we go.
There's a strong woo.
There's always next year we started off.
Danny, if you're listening, please call us.
We can help you with your logistics to get people into the stadium.
It's not that hard.
We can do it.
We know about process flows.
Call RNS Logistics for all your logistical services.
So welcome back to the podcast.
We're a couple weeks late.
We've had two games, Georgia and the UAB game.
Quick recaps.
Well, man, I'll just say the Georgia game, it was great until it wasn't.
Mm.
And I just left thinking Tennessee has an ability, unlike any other team mm-hmm.
To clutch.
Defeat from the jaws of Victory.
And we've seen it year after year.
Right? That's what, that's right.
That's what we're about.
That's all I left with just sadness.
We should have won.
That is why we do the podcast.
Like that game right there is why we're champions of life.
Yes.
Not on the field but of life.
And there's, like you said, Bobby, in your opening, there's always next to you.
We've lost one, but there's still hope and even the buildup.
The last podcast, we all picked Tennessee, right? Mm-hmm.
Our emotions were there.
Even during the game.
I felt like we were gonna win in the, but I should have known better, right? I should have known better.
Look at the history of Tennessee.
We all should have known better.
Right? But we'll do it again.
Right? We'll be another game and we'll pick it.
Yep.
That's, I feel like Laney, your reaction.
Oh, that's like, you could just copy and paste that for every podcast from here on.
It's just, that's.
Kind of how it is, but as long tenured as we've been when he gunner being the quarterback when he made that throw on the sidelines on fourth and goal, you just had to know I started emotionally bracing myself for a misick.
Um, here's what I'll say.
The atmosphere was incredible.
The fans show up.
It is like clockwork, our dedication, and then they show up again for UAB and it's 400 degrees.
So shout out to the fans.
Um, but you just, you've been there long enough, you start bracing yourself.
You're like, they're gonna get this two point, it's the most open two point conversion in the history of two point.
Yeah.
And then, you know, max, he had a hard day going back to elementary school after that because he's a fourth grader.
Um, wow.
Poppy.
I'm just saying you knew that kick.
We had every hope that he was gonna make it, but history shows us that.
Yep.
Well, and we can't, we can't just say it's on Max.
Like yes, ultimately.
Okay, if you're gonna point the finger, but we don't need to do that because there were multiple chances where if we had just, if we knew how to win, if we knew how to finish, elite teams know how to finish.
Mm-hmm.
And we're just not there yet.
We had multiple times where we should have finished them and we couldn't.
So because we didn't that, you know, all of it leads, there's all the connections.
But I will say, when.
Gunner made that throw.
Another like Tennessee thing just came through my mind of like, there's always a game.
There's always a player where we make them look like a husband candidate.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
They're not on the radar.
Nobody's talking about him.
And then they play us and it's like, whoa.
You know, who's, that was another moment of just like, good grief Tennessee.
Yep.
Here's the silver lining.
You do that at home.
You've got potentially two first run draft picks in your secondary that are missing.
Right.
So.
They held their own, which was great.
Our passing offense looked to be revitalized, you know, throw the ball to 17.
That's probably a good strategy.
Just see what happens there.
Mm-hmm.
Um, the negative would be, and, and again, it's not, it doesn't come down to one kick.
Ultimately it does, but it's not his fault.
When Tennessee's defense gets a turnover, this is it late in the fourth.
Yep.
Mm-hmm.
You've got the ball, you've gotta play the odds.
You cannot exit this possession without getting at least three points to make it an eight point game.
You have to do that.
But it felt Butch Jones conservative esque of let's run the ball of the middle three times and just take the field goal.
Just take a shot, throw, throw a fade, throw a back shoulder.
It's either out of the end zone or it's a touchdown, or you'd a pass interference, which they were calling a ton.
Throw to the tight end.
Do something.
Yeah.
And don't take it outta your quarterback's hands.
Your quarterback had gotten you there the whole game.
Right, right.
And then game's on the line, finish it.
And you don't let him do it.
You don't let him come through like he had been for the rest of the game.
We were scared and didn't know what to do in that position almost.
Mm-hmm.
Felt like maybe out coached a little bit.
First 20 plays of the game.
The script.
That's great.
You came out firing and it it worked.
Yeah.
And then when situational game awareness, you have an opportunity to take down an opponent you haven't beat in almost a decade.
You gotta go for it.
You gotta swing for it.
We were playing not to lose, not to win though.
Mm-hmm.
That's where I wish our coaching staff, they're, phenomenal.
They're doing a great job.
It's amazing that we're here where if we have not been able to have these conversations in a decade, but I wish there was a little bit of like, you could go to the, if you follow the NFL, the Dan Campbell, coach of the Lions, like go to his school of.
Decision making 'cause he's going forward on fourth down.
He's gonna be aggressive.
He's got an underdog as a quarterback.
We got an underdog as a quarter.
He's got an aggressive defense.
We got an just roll the dice every now and then.
That's the other thing.
Do you go forward on fourth and two instead of punting it? Well we, we lined up, right And then Kirby calls a timeout come out.
I agree.
That was also a sign to the team and the fans of like, even if you, I'm okay if you don't get it, but you go for it.
That tells me we are here to win.
We're not gonna play field position.
I mean, Georgia's gonna figure it out.
They're gonna make the adjustments as they did.
Mm-hmm.
In the third quarter.
Mm-hmm.
Well, we should probably put the Georgia game to rest almost two weeks later.
Right.
The transition here is the bummer with the new SEC schedule.
I don't know if we'll get to play them again, and that's a bummer.
Well, for the next I, we will play 'em at some 0.4
years, but.
You know, they're not gonna be on our reoccurring Yeah.
Opponent schedule.
So I looked at the, it's like a five year, you know, window that they, that they showed, I can't remember when we played Georgia.
They're on there, but yeah.
I mean, we don't play Florida next year.
Hmm.
Which is so, that's crazy.
It's gonna be so bizarre.
But look, am I happy about Kentucky, Vandy, and Alabama? Yes.
I will take it now.
You know Texas LSU Ole Miss If Lane Stay is like, eh.
There are some games in there that are gonna be tough, but I'll take our three annual opponents for the first, what, three years? And then they change 'em up? Yep.
I think so.
I think you're right.
But Vandy this year though, scaring me.
It's the powerhouse.
No cakewalk right now.
They're gonna start doing posts like we're the best school in Tennessee.
Oh yeah.
You know, they were been Memphis that did that.
Yeah.
Memphis, a couple years ago.
They were, they had a better record than everybody.
Yep.
Well, hey, Memphis had a big win.
Big win.
Yeah, they did.
Yeah.
They, that was one of those almost movie esque for him to fumble.
Mm-hmm.
Talk about grasping defeat out of the jaws of victory.
Yes.
That was Arkansas.
That was us in 98.
Yeah, we got lucky there.
Yeah.
Um, I think Van, uh, their coaches got them believing that they can compete and the quarterback refuses to believe anything differently too.
So I do, I think I'm great with Vandy and.
You gotta preserve the rivalries.
But the good news is if, if he keeps doing well, some other big school, just like Penn State did a couple years ago with Franklin, somebody's gonna come in and he's gonna be gone.
They're gonna start over again.
He is a Vandy guy though.
He played there, so, oh, okay.
He may have some more loyalty than maybe money can, but money can change.
Change man's heart.
But you mentioned UAB, you wanna talk about it? Good game.
Good win.
We.
Obviously played a lot of third and fourth string.
Mm-hmm.
And the score never should have gotten up as high as a day like that.
What, 24? Mm-hmm.
We should have scored at least one more touchdown there at the very end.
That was tough.
Um, I mean, it's fine.
We won, we needed to win.
We bounced back, whatever.
But I, I thought our defense was a little, eh, and then we're on the road, right? Yep.
Cowbell lands Four clock more cowbell.
I feel good in that.
I don't know how, how big is Mississippi State Stadium can find out? Internet.
The, we are currently looking.
Okay.
So they're gonna be quiet while our defense is on the field.
Mm-hmm.
Right? Mm-hmm.
And I feel the least confident.
I feel Okay.
But obviously the least confident about our defense, especially with key injuries.
Mm-hmm.
Certainly McCoy's not gonna be back.
Gibson's probably out the rest of the year.
Yeah.
But they'll have a little bit less to worry about noise wise.
Whereas when they play at Neland, obviously that's when our stadium is the loudest when they're on the field.
Mm-hmm.
So I'm hoping that that will be a help.
And then how does Joey come out? How does our offense respond when the cowbells are going? Mm-hmm.
Ugh.
I would not want to go, I don't care if somebody gave me free tickets.
I would never.
As of 2022, it's 60,311.
That's capacity.
Wow.
Okay.
It's a big high school stadium.
A big high school.
Yeah.
That's large high school.
Bobby, not in Texas.
Yeah.
First true road game.
They are scrappy.
They had a horrible year last year.
They're much better this year.
I think it'll be a good.
Initial test for this team coming out.
Um, but I love the way that our offense is looking.
I love the way Joey's got a command of it.
He acknowledges he can get better, which I think he can.
So I'm more optimistic for the rest of the season coming out of the Georgia game, which I know I predicted them to win.
I didn't actually think that we would beat Georgia.
Um, just wanted us to, so I'm even more optimistic, coming out, seeing the potential this team have.
I think you, all your goals are right in front of you here.
Yeah.
I think we're gonna get tested pretty good, but I think we're gonna win.
And are we still saying playoffs top 12? I mean, I think so, so far.
Yeah.
I mean, offensively our numbers are the best right now in the SEC up there.
Our defense still gotta catch up, but yeah, I think we'll win.
We need to come out and jump on them first.
Mm-hmm.
If they're able to shut us down, we go three and out.
Or you know, they win the toss, maybe they take it and they score quick.
That would be the worst because then their crowd is even more into it and you're starting in a deficit.
Hopefully that's not what happens, but, right.
We can't have the defense on the field all game.
It's not good.
Not a good formula.
Yeah.
You think back to Vandy last year, they're playing for.
That's their Super Bowl we're playing to go to the playoffs.
They come out and jump on us.
What? 14? Nothing.
And it was like 17 to three and we came back and got 'em pretty good.
And so high's got me believing that we can rise above some of that stuff.
Teams of the past, I would say, yeah, you get 14, nothing at Mississippi State, you know, just pack it in.
But I think this team is a little bit different, I think.
Even looking ahead of the schedule, Oklahoma and Florida and Bama are the, the ones that you're really got circled.
Oklahoma's quarterback is having surgery on his hand, so he is gonna be out for a month.
He's supposed to come back right before our game at home.
Florida is unraveling, uh, it looks like their quarterback's got a knee issue.
Who knows where Billy will be and then Alabama.
Who knows? So I do, I think there's still a lot of potential for the rest of the season.
So before we transition to the last subject, I just wanted to tell y'all I had the best conversation with a Florida fan I have ever had.
Last week, one of the warehouses, Cody.
Okay.
Massive Florida fan.
Yep.
He starts talking to me about how, you know, oh, this season, this game, like our defense is great, but offense, whatever, da, da, da.
And then he says.
You know, I'm just really excited about basketball season.
We're really gonna be there again.
You know, I think we're gonna repeat, and I said, can we just pause the conversation? Can I just say that we are not even four weeks into the football season and there's a Florida fan already talking about basketball.
Yes.
I love it so much.
He's a Kentucky fan.
He doesn't even know it.
Wow.
Yes, yes, yes.
They're gonna become a basketball school.
Yes.
So, speaking of basketball.
Mm-hmm.
Some big breaking news this week was.
Stevie, come on down.
Oh, Bruce Pearl.
Taking a break.
Taking a break.
Taking a break.
Yeah.
You know he's gonna be back at some point.
Gotta be in five, 10 years.
Oh yeah.
Have they said what he's gonna do yet? I think he's going into politics.
I think he's been putting himself out there more.
He's been on some major news networks.
He's got Tommy Tuberville.
Right.
To follow in the footsteps of, I mean, I, I think.
He, denied that, but I think it's gonna come back around.
That's what he's doing.
Yep.
And yeah.
Who knew that Steven would get in a five year deal? That's, that's wild to me.
Unproven, right? I mean, he's, yeah, he's been assistant, he's coached at any level other than coaching as an a.
I guess the timing wise too, making sure all those players were here and locked in.
So when they, when he left, they didn't jump ship.
Yep.
I don't think they can right this.
No, they can't.
Now they're locked.
Okay.
And you have no other option but to take an assistant coach and elevate 'em.
Now I heard on the local radio station that he apparently had shopped this out to multiple schools over the last couple seasons to Louisville.
Um, I can't remember the other school.
But he ba they were recruiting, they wanted Bruce.
And he was like, yeah, you know, let's talk.
I want a condition in my contract that Steven would be the successor.
And they all said, no, get outta here.
We're not doing that.
Wow.
And Auburn's the only one that was like, yeah.
Okay.
Interesting.
Wow.
You gotta think back.
When was the last time Auburn was, is Charles Barkley? Maybe.
You know, they've been irrelevant for decades.
That's true.
And Bruce has got them at a high level.
I don't blame 'em for.
Making a deal that they did.
But Bruce is on the loose.
Bruce is on the loose.
Who knows what he'll do.
But yeah, I can see him in politics.
I'm glad we got Rick.
Yep.
Yes.
Definite upgrade.
Have some classes with Steven.
You did too, right? Uh, I think so.
I know.
Our high schools played each other when he was a student athlete at West.
That's right.
West High Reds represent.
Uh, yeah.
I think we, we had some classes together too.
Um, we wish him the best though, right? Yes.
We wish him actually not against Tennessee, right? Yeah, not against Tennessee.
Absolutely not.
Wish him the best.
We hope that he has a wonderful five years there at least, and that he.
Doesn't get any of our recruits and loses us to us every year.
Yep.
Alright, well on that note, anything else for this episode? No.
Hey, Joe's soccer team, I mean, they're still cranking out wins.
They have not slowed down.
I don't know if anybody else is keeping up with us.
The ladies? Yep.
Soccer team.
They were, I think they only had one loss, but then they bounced back in one after that.
They're still top five, I believe.
Yeah, they were number one for a while.
Incredible.
And Caroline went to the game Sunday and loved it.
Mm.
Big Lady Balls recruit.
Yeah.
Hopefully one day we're back.
We're back.
Adidas is bringing us back.
It's good timing.
Next year when the World Cup comes, everybody's gonna be a soccer fan.
Just watch.
Yeah.
Wait and see.
I'll, I'm in on that.
All right, well that's it.
Champions of Live podcast.
Let's go.
Balls beat the Bulldogs.
Hmm.
Right.
Bull.
Bull.
Yeah.
More bulldogs.
Yeah.
More bulldogs.
No less bulldogs.
Less.
I just huddle.
I thought you were talking about Georgia and I was like, have we've done that? Okay.
More bulldogs.
All right.
Thanks for listening.
Catch us next time.