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Wiedmer: Neither Mocs nor Vols can afford another conference loss

Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts (2) dodges the attempted tackle of Tennessee's Micah Abernathy (22). The top-ranked University of Alabama Crimson Tide visited the University of Tennessee Volunteers in SEC football action on October 15, 2016
Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts (2) dodges the attempted tackle of Tennessee's Micah Abernathy (22). The top-ranked University of Alabama Crimson Tide visited the University of Tennessee Volunteers in SEC football action on October 15, 2016 Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts (2) dodges the attempted tackle of Tennessee's Micah Abernathy (22). The top-ranked University of Alabama Crimson Tide visited the University of Tennessee Volunteers in SEC football action on October 15, 2016

By Mark Wiedmer 5 min read

photo Mark Wiedmer
photo Derrick Craine — who was injured on the third possession of the third quarter and did not return — had 55 yards on a pair of receptions to go along with 35 yards on only eight carries.

Read more about the Vols, Crimson Tide game

Starting over.

Isn’t that where the football teams of both the University of Tennessee and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga find themselves today?

Both the Vols and Mocs suddenly need help to reach their goals. Thanks to Saturday’s 49-10 humiliation against No. 1 Alabama, UT now has one more Southeastern Conference loss than Florida, which means some SEC team is going to have to pin a second loss on the Gators in order for the Vols to reach the league championship game as the East Division champs.

Certainly on paper, the likelihood of Florida sustaining at least one more league defeat – UT owns the tiebreaker between the two by virtue of its 38-28 win over the Gators – would appear highly possible, bordering on probable.

And should the opposite happen, if Florida can somehow go undefeated in SEC action the rest of the way against a schedule that includes a neutral-site game against Georgia in Jacksonville, Fla., on Oct. 29, a road game at Arkansas the following week and the rescheduled LSU clash on Nov. 19, the Gators strongly deserve to be labeled the Beasts of the East.