Mark WiedmerAlso Read
Three-quarter domination helps Mocs stay undefeated
As University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach Russ Huesman's postgame press conference was wrapping up Saturday evening after the Mocs' 52-31 win over Mercer, someone asked him if he was looking forward to this weekend's showdown at The Citadel against the undefeated Bulldogs.
"I'm sure some people will be excited," Huesman said. "I probably won't."
Within our Tennessee Valley, almost everyone who cares anything about college football - be it the FCS or FBS variety - is almost certain to be excited about Saturday's Alabama-Tennessee game in Knoxville as well as the Mocs' Southern Conference clash in Charleston, S.C.
Bama-UT is every Big Orange fan's penultimate game every year, regardless of what's at stake. As for UTC-Citadel, while it might not always get the competitive juices flowing, this year's contest figures to not only decide the SoCon champ but valuable seeding for the 24-team FCS playoffs.
In fact, the winner is almost certain to receive a first-round bye, and should UTC win and The Citadel win out - the Bulldogs travel to North Carolina the same weekend the Mocs figure to take a loss at Alabama - it would not be inconceivable for both UTC and The Citadel to receive byes.
Yet as much as Mocs Maniacs will both nervously and excitedly eye Saturday, for Volniacs the nation over, any serious talk of making the College Football Playoff probably rests on the results of the Alabama game. Yes, UT could still reach the Southeastern Conference championship game and possibly win a rematch against either Bama or Texas A&M, which would certainly give it a chance to make the playoff.
But its best hope would seem to be to beat the Crimson Tide now, which would likely all but assure UT of an 11-1 regular season. That would also deliver a guaranteed spot in the SEC title game as the Beast of the East, since it would own all tiebreakers against the rest of the division, regardless of what transpires with the mess that has become the LSU-Florida game postponed due to Hurricane Matthew.
And for anyone who says UT can't or won't beat Bama for a 10th straight season, this argument must be made: When you can commit six turnovers and still force overtime at Texas A&M - as the Vols did on Saturday in their 45-38 loss - you can beat anybody. Anywhere. Anytime.
At some point it would be nice, if not necessary, for coach Butch Jones and his team to quit falling behind by double digits, as they did throughout Saturday's game.
Yet the toughest thing to create in any athletic program, and particularly one residing in the SEC, is the steadfast belief that you are never out of a game, that your will to win is greater than your opponent, no matter how dire the circumstance.
Say what you will of Jones, but he has done that with this program, and done it while the health of his team has crumbled around him. Had you told any Volniac in August that Jalen Reeves-Maybin would be out for good by Florida, that Cam Sutton would miss at least two-thirds of the season, that Darrin Kirkland Jr. would barely play, that Jalen Hurd would miss half the Georgia game and all of the A&M game, that Chance Hall wouldn't see the field until Florida - it's doubtful anyone would have predicted better than a 4-2 record at this point.
Throw in the fact that the Vols would trail by double figures in five of six games and that assessment might fall to 3-3 or 2-4. Instead, they're not only 5-1, they're about to finish a run of four straight games on CBS, which is probably all but unheard of.
Said Jones of his team's remarkable resolve following Saturday's loss: "We've had individuals stepping up all year long. Not many teams can recover from the amount of injuries or missed games that we've had. This football team has great resolve and resiliency. They just believe they're going to find a way to win. They never crack, they never waver."
Now they must find a way to win against Tide coach Nick Saban, who has never lost to UT while clad in crimson, owning nine straight wins against the Vols, including four inside Neyland by an average margin of victory of 24 points.
Yet even against Bama, Jones has made significant strides. After losing his first game in Tuscaloosa by a 45-10 score, his first game inside Neyland against the Tide ended in a 34-20 score, followed by a narrow 19-14 loss in Tuscaloosa last season against the eventual national champs.
So there's great reason for the Big Orange Nation to feel hopeful.
As for UTC, this is almost assuredly its deepest and most balanced football squad of the past 35 years. The Mocs can certainly lose at The Citadel, but assuming they don't, the biggest concern for UTC fans might be losing their coach to an FBS program, given his alma mater's steady, heady climb under his watch.
But that's at least a month away. For now, both the Mocs and Vols would do well to heed a fundamental truth raised by Jones late Saturday night.
"We've got to start playing with more details (fundamentals) to give us an opportunity to win the football game," he said.
If the Mocs and Vols are at their fundamental bests this week, almost every college football fan in the Tennessee Valley may have a Saturday to fondly remember for years to come.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.