Mark Wiedmer

"This is what college football is all about." The words belonged to Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin in the final minutes before his Rebels would take the field at a sold-out, jam-packed, loud-and-proud Neyland Stadium against Tennessee on Saturday night in Knoxville.

It was Friday afternoon, Chattanooga Christian School's Division II-AA East Region football game against visiting Grace Christian Academy of Knoxville still five hours away, when CCS coach Mark Mariakis said of his improving Chargers, "We're just now coming together."

The three University of Tennessee female athletes were discussing their weekend plans through the month of October as they exited the Brenda Lawson Athletic Center a couple of weeks ago.

Could a string of pearls lead to a string of Atlanta Braves postseason victories?

A prediction: By the 2024 season, Tennessee will reach the College Football Playoff. A second prediction: Josh Heupel, currently in his first season leading the Volunteers, will be the 2021 Southeastern Conference football coach of the year.

University of Tennessee defensive lineman Matthew Butler has never been one to choose his words lightly.

My daughter Ella Beth calls them her "birthday team."

First-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel looks more and more like the nation's best hire in college football from this past offseason.

In a few seconds, Tennessee junior running back Tiyon Evans' Tuesday morning session with the media would be over. But first, someone asked him if he'd watched any film of Missouri, which the Vols will visit Saturday at high noon.

Ah, another Auburn football game. Another undeserved gift from a Southeastern Conference officiating crew. Don't tell me that Alabama is always the league's favorite team.

When Skye Moench competed in the 2017 Little Debbie Ironman, the physical demands of the triathlon caused her to walk the final 10 miles to the finish line. Sunday afternoon went a little differently for the Salt Lake City resident.

To watch Tennessee in the Swamp for so much of Saturday night's game against the Florida Gators was to imagine that this so-called rebuilding job may take a whole lot less time than originally predicted for Volunteers first-year coach Josh Heupel.

A packed parking lot. A standing-room-only crowd rimming much of the Silverdale Baptist Academy football field. More folks than not wearing jackets and pullovers by halftime to ward off the slight autumn chill.

What if?

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga golf coach Mark Guhne tried to be philosophical about the school being forced to cancel its Scenic City Collegiate at the Honors Course on Monday due to torrential rains.

No matter the final numbers posted on the scoreboards at Tennessee's Neyland Stadium and Kentucky's Kroger Field on Saturday afternoon, the football teams at Tennessee Tech and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga were perceived as big winners within their athletic departments.

With apologies to Doug Flutie and Boston College in 1984, Jacksonville State's last-second bomb to shock Florida State last week may go down in history as the Hail Mary to end all Hail Marys.

It was 8:20 Central Time on Monday morning when Bryan Robinson received the text from his son Taja during Bryan's shift at the Lodge Manufacturing factory.

To watch the Tennessee Volunteers and the Pittsburgh Panthers play football on television on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks was to feel their Johnny Majors Classic was mere background noise, and soft noise at that, as perhaps it well should have been.

According to ESPN's statistical probabilities regarding which Major League Baseball teams will reach the postseason and which won't, the Atlanta Braves — who entered Tuesday night with a 1.5-game lead over Philadelphia — have a 69.7 percent chance of making the playoffs to the Phillies' 39.2 percent chance.