KNOXVILLE – At its conclusion, it was nothing more than a lot of noise signifying nothing. But, oh, what magical noise.
With 11:02 to go in Tennessee’s 27-24 victory over South Carolina on Saturday, UT quarterback Josh Dobbs stood at midfield, right arm cocked, Josh Malone streaking for the end zone in a tie game. With the kind of velocity and accuracy that might make even Peyton Manning jealous, Dobbs let loose, sending a perfectly spinning oblong bullet through the damp air.
The ball briefly nestling in Malone’s hands as he reached the middle of the end zone, Neyland instantly unleashed a seismic roar certain to challenge the decibel record set earlier this year against Oklahoma.
Only Malone made a mess of the moment. He never controlled the ball. Incompletion. Eventual field goal. Another “What if?” memory for Team 119 in its “What If Season.”
But unlike a similar play that did in Georgia near the close of its loss to the Volunteers inside Neyland in early October, a perfect pass from Bulldogs quarterback Greyson Lambert that Reggie Davis couldn’t hold onto, the Vols won anyway.