KNOXVILLE - In one of those sports moments that deserves to be little noted nor long remembered (Thanks, Coach Abe), the Orange officially beat the White 70-63 in the University of Tennessee's 56th spring football game Saturday afternoon.
Or as Tennessee coach Butch Jones said afterward, his words delivered with as straight a face as he could muster: "All I know is that Tennessee won. Life's good."
And once you get over arguing about whether there's a bigger waste anywhere of a carbon footprint than 67,027 college football fanatics burning a sizable amount of fossil fuel to watch what amounts to little more than a half-baked scrimmage where the Vols barely hit each other - and never hit the quarterbacks - life is good for the Big Orange Nation.
At least where football is concerned.
Though Jones withheld no fewer than 24 players from this game, Tennessee showed plenty of reasons to believe it will certainly contend for the Southeastern Conference championship this fall and just might have enough talent, depth - assuming most of those 24 return - and experience to make a run at its first national championship since 1998.
Whether it was starter Josh Dobbs winning the "Quarterback Competition," or his backup Quentin Dormady throwing the game's prettiest pass on a 39-yard strike to Preston Williams down the sideline, the Vols clearly have depth at the position that can cripple a team the quickest if it doesn't.
Likewise, backup running backs John Kelly (15 rushes for 65 yards) and Jayson Sparks (11 for 34) proved starters Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara shouldn't have to be ridden too hard, especially against overmatched foes.
And the defense looks as if it could be salty enough to bring a smile even to the frozen frown of former Vols great Al Wilson, who was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame on Saturday and brought perhaps the loudest roar from the crowd when introduced.
In fact, redshirt sophomore linebacker Gavin Bryant surely reminded a few folks of Wilson when he shot the line and dropped Kamara for a 3-yard loss just before halftime.
"We got a lot of guys who've bought into Coach (Bob) Shoop," senior linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin said of UT's new defensive coordinator. "He's going to get everybody coached up."
Along with Dobbs, Kamara and Cam Sutton, Reeves-Maybin, knocked out of spring practice by a shoulder injury, was elected a permanent captain for Team 120. Dobbs, Reeves-Maybin and Sutton have been there from the beginning, but Kamara is a transfer whose career began at defending national champion Alabama before he left the CrimsonTide after one season for junior college.
Asked about that season at Bama, Kamara replied, "I'm a character, but I was immature (with the Tide). You've got to make people around you better."
Later, as he posed for pictures with fans, he was asked if he'd be the man he is today without his struggling season with the Tide and said, "Definitely not. I don't regret anything. Your experiences make you who you are."
Look across those four - the beautiful mind that is Dobbs, the quiet, determined warrior that is Reeves-Maybin, the colorful character Kamara, the serious student Sutton - and it's hard to imagine a better quartet to steer Team 120 to greatness.
"We hold ourselves to a high standard," Reeves-Maybin said. "We'll police ourselves."
Said Jones as he discussed why he felt Kamara, despite having played for the Vols only one season, was elected by his teammates: "He's been in a couple of other programs. It may mean more when he says, 'You guys have it pretty special here. You better understand that.'"
What everyone knows is that the Vols' 2016 season begins 139 days from today against Appalachian State. The Battle in Bristol against Virginia Tech is a week after that. Florida brings its 11-game win streak against the Vols to Neyland Stadium on Sept. 24. Road trips to Georgia and Texas A&M followed by a visit from Alabama take up the three weeks after that. Unlike the spring game, that's a carbon footprint worth making.
No Tennessee team in history has faced a rougher four-game stretch over four straight weeks than Florida through Bama this fall.
"We have a long way to go," Jones said Saturday. "We have to get stronger, work on our football endurance."
Mostly, the Vols have to get those 24 players back, not lose any new ones and have everyone make everyone around them better.
But along the way, if this season doesn't quite pan out the way the Big Orange Nation hopes, some other words from Reeves-Maybin also are worth repeating.
Of Jones' first three seasons at UT, which were also Reeves-Maybin's first three seasons, the Clarksville, Tenn., native said, "It's been fun to see it all grow, make that climb from the bottom of the league."
If those experiences have made the Vols who they want to be, Team 120 just might deliver the school its first SEC championship since that 1998 dream season, which would make life good for most in the Volunteer State from Morristown to Memphis, Jackson to Jasper and all points in between.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com