Tennessee Talk

Wednesday means one thing - time for Tennessee Talk.

Vols Roll Tide

It was not always pretty, but with this team it rarely is. The Vols looked poised to put Alabama away several times last night, but eventually did hang on for a 93-86 victory. Tennessee was sloppy, over-matched in the post and shaky from the foul line, but they were also deadly from 3-point range, ferocious with their press and clutch down the stretch.

Alabama showed that Tennessee can be vulnerable to a good, long zone defense. The Tennessee attack struggled to get looks from outside or convert chances inside against the Tide's 2-3 defense. The inside conversions were most troubling. The ball repeatedly went inside to Chism, Crews and Tyler Smith with poor results.

On the other side of the court, the Vols went through defensive stretches of absolute mediocrity. How many dunks and lay-ups did Alabama have last night? The transition defense was poor, the interior defense was non-existent - it was not a championship effort from the Vols D.

The Vols did make some clutch jumpers that broke the elephant's back. JuJuan Smith has absolutely no fear on the court, which is sometimes bad, but usually good. The corner 3-pointer he made in transition was the shot of the game. It was ill-advised, rushed, probably not what Coach Pearl wanted, but it was a dagger.

You could also sense the frustration in the Alabama crowd at Chris Lofton's inability to miss. A couple of his 3's were contested, but he is in the zone right now. I also thought I heard a mock cheer from the fickle Tide fans when their press break finally succeeded in getting the ball across the timeline.

Here is the thing I took from the game last night - I always feel good when the game is tight at the end that Coach Pearl has his guys ready to win. Look at Xavier. Look at Ole Miss. Look at Alabama. They know how to close the deal. That bodes well for the NCAA tournament when every game will be tight.

The tests keep coming - the Vols visit Mississippi State this weekend. The Bulldogs are the only team unbeaten in the SEC so far. Hopefully that will change very soon.

Ainge Wins Meaningless MVP

The Senior Bowl seems to be more about the workouts than the game, but Ainge did win some hardware for leading the South to a comeback victory over the North. Reports from the practices, however, were not good. Ainge's arm strength did not impress and his lack of mobility was also exposed. It does not sound like his week was as disasterous as Andre Woodson's or Colt Brennan's, but Ainge is now being touted as a late-round pick in the up-coming NFL draft.

He really has turned into the second-coming of Casey Clausen, hasn't he?

Lady Vols Beat Duke

I can't pretend to care much about the Lady Vols until the tournament rolls around, but this game got my attention because of Coach Summitt's ill-advised warning to the Duke students beforehand. After being upset with the Cameron Crazies' Wal-Mart taunts of Alexis Hornbuckle (she was arrested for shop-lifting at a Wal-Mart while in high school), Summitt declared that she might not bring her Lady Vols back to Duke if the chants returned this time around.

Oh, please...

Summitt's "I'll take my ball and go home" routine sounded childish and actually brought more focus to the taunts than leaving it alone ever would have. I never read or heard about Hornbuckle's arrest until Summitt brought it up this week. I love Coach Summitt, but don't understand how dictating behavior to Duke's students and threatening to never return to play the Blue Devils has any positive aspect to it whatsoever.

Until next week...

Good Ole Rocky Top
Rocky Top, Tennessee

Different Sport, Same Result - Vols Dominate Dawgs

Which beating was worse - the football Vols' victory over Georgia or the basketball Vols' victory over Georgia?

Last night, the basketball Vols gave up the opening basket to UGA, then proceeded to out class, out hustle and out score the Georgia Bulldogs 85-69. At one point during the second half, my wife pointed out that, "this game is boring."

She was right. Georgia put up listen resistance to the Tennessee onslaught and looked like a December warm-up game more than an SEC conference contest.

The Vols looked especially motivated after the disappointing loss at Rupp Arena as they were physical and aggressive offensively. Kentucky pushed around the Vols in the post, but Tennessee looked like the stronger, more physical team last night.

The biggest difference, however, between the Kentucky game and the Georgia game was Tennessee's offensive execution. More specifically, they actually executed. Instead of settling for 25 seconds of meaningless baseline flex cuts before a forced drive and kick/shot, the Vols got right into their sets and found shooters open both inside and out. Kentucky is clearly a superior defensive team, but there was no mistaking that Coach Pearl spent the days between the games working on getting better shots more quickly.

It was also clear that Chris Lofton is feeling better about his shot after scorching the nets at Rupp. Lofton knocked down seven 3-pointers against Georgia and looked like the Lofton of old. There is no doubt that Tennessee is a much more lethal offensive team when Lofton is working for his shot and putting it up with the confidence he has shown the last two games.

Welcome back, Duke Crews! He looked a little rusty, but played fine in his return to the court after the heart scare. Crews provides depth, energy and scoring for Tennessee. With Brian Williams playing better and better, the Vols can send waves of fresh post players at their opposition.

It was also nice to see Ramar Smith back in the starting line-up. I like Jordan Howell just fine as a back-up, but Ramar takes the offense to another level with his speed and slashing abilities. He is going to turn the ball over more often than Howell, but he is also going to provide much more punch for the Vols.

There were a couple more interesting developments last night. Josh Tabb saw some minutes for the first time in a long time. He even got a quick run at the end of the first half. Tabb looked to be a part of Coach Pearl's plans when the season began, but quickly fell out of favor. He can definitely defend, but Tabb is not much of a threat with the basketball. If he can provide 4-6 minutes of turnover-free, lock down defense, he can help the Vols win the SEC.

What about Ryan Childress? He did not get off the bench until the end of the ballgame. It looks like Duke Crews will be taking Childress's minutes, though frankly Childress has made that switch an easy one. He has looked completely overwhelmed in the post throughout the year, often looking to the referees when he is clearly getting pushed around because he lacks the strength and speed to compete against most SEC players. He has taken poor shots, continued to try to finish inside with one-handed dunks (that have not worked) and generally slowed down the Vols attack. I have always liked Childress's ability to stretch the defense with his outside shooting, but he looks to be the odd man out right now.

The Vols next contest is Tuesday night at Alabama on ESPN. The Tide beat rival Auburn by 20 points over the weekend, so the Vols can expect more resistance than they got out of Georgia.

Sports & Politics

IUPUI basketball coach Ron Hunter will work barefooted tonight against Oakland University to raise awareness and shoes for Samaritan's Feet, a charity devoted to putting shoes on African children. It is a wonderful story that raises some interesting questions:

How much obligation do athletes/coaches have to be forces for social change?

Do we, the sports-watching public, want to see political gestures from our athletes?

What is an appropriate political gesture vs. an inappropriate political gesture?

We often hear about athletes forming charities, reading in elementary schools, visiting hospitals, etc., but rarely see one doing something publicly on the playing field to make a political statement or raise awareness for a cause.

William Rhoden explores this issue in his book Forty Million Dollar Slaves. His thesis is that athletes stay quiet because of the big fat paychecks coming from their bosses, much the same way slaves kept quiet in order to avoid punishments back in the Southern cotton fields. Rhoden specifically points to Michael Jordan as someone who avoided being controversial throughout his career, despite the power and attention he possessed, because he benefited financially by doing so.

I have not heard one critical word about Hunter's gesture because it is so purely selfless and for such a noble cause. What if, however, Hunter went shoeless to raise awareness about the paltry minimum wage? What if Hunter left the game during the 2nd half to protest late-term abortions? What if Hunter ordered his team to forfeit games until troops were brought home from Iraq? It is easy to support a social/political agenda that is safe like shoes for kids, but what about one that is less safe and more controversial?

Of course, there are several historical examples that demonstrate what happens when athletes make overt political gestures during sporting events/ceremonies. Tommie Smith and John Carlos were kicked out of the Olympic Village and largely panned for their racism protest at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf famously refused to stand during the national anthem because its "history of tyranny" violated his Muslim beliefs. He was jeered by NBA fans and criticized for his actions. Carlos Delgado was booed for his decision to sit during the playing of "God Bless America" in protest of the Iraq War.

These are all largely the same actions Coach Hunter is taking tonight, but the causes in these respective situations were more divisive.

With the NBA All-Star game coming to New Orleans this season, what would happen if the players vowed to skip the game unless all Katrina areas of the city were addressed? What would the public reaction be in such a situation? Do athletes have any obligation whatsoever to use their enormous clout in matters similar to the way Coach Hunter is bringing attention to the plight of shoeless African children?

Let's face it - if Hunter is raising this much attention at IUPUI, how much attention could a Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant or David Beckham garner for a similar cause? What if Woods decided to play The Master's with a pink golf ball to raise money for breast cancer? Would it be appropriate? Would we be willing to live in a political sports culture for the sake of hungry Africans, dying AIDS patients and battered women or do we want to keep the separation of sports and politics.

I have to believe there are athletes and coaches across the country today thinking, "If he can do something like that for shoeless Africans, what could I do to help someone else?"

While I applaud Coach Hunter's beautiful gesture, I wonder whether it is opening a Pandora's box of public political statements from professional and amateur athletes across the country and wonder what the reaction will be if it occurs.

Tennessee Talk

I expected to write this week's entry with a big smile on my face, but Patrick Patterson, Rameel Bradley and Joe Crawford left me in a sour mood this morning. How is that team 8-9? Like Henry Rollins, I'm going to rise above and churn out another exciting edition of "Tennessee Talk" despite my Kentucky hangover.

Vols Still Can't Win in Rupp

Despite leading by double-digits twice last night, the Tennessee Vols could not put away a physical, gutsy Kentucky team and lost a tough one to the Wildcats. It sure looks like the Kats are starting to drink the Billy Gillespie Kool-Aid of defense, physical play and pounding it into the post. Having lived in Houston for the past three years, I saw plenty of Texas A&M basketball when Gillespie was the head coach. It looked identical to what we watched last night. It is dull, but effective. He uses a short bench, rides his studs, plays a very physical style of basketball and keeps his team in the game until the end.

Rameel Bradley could be Gillespie's A.C. Law this year, though he is not a pure point guard. I have watched Kevin Love and DeAndre Jordan this year, but there is no better freshmen post player than Patrick Patterson. He is long, strong, has great hands and a soft touch. He worked over Wayne Chism last night.

Enough about Kentucky - let's talk Vols. It was a disappointing loss for several reasons, but also heartening for a few as well. Let's start with the bad news - the Vols looked soft last night. They got pushed around on the boards and in the post. J.P. Prince has the reputation of a soft player and he earned it last night. Ditto Ryan Childress, JuJuan Smith and Brian Williams. The Vols could not play through the bump, got whipped on the boards and failed to open their offense with what could be described as "matador" screens.

This is a tough thing for Coach Pearl. He wants his team to be fast and loose. To be so, they cannot play as physical a style of basketball as Kentucky played last night. There is a reason Kentucky scores in the 60s and plays a halfcourt game. Pearl does not want to do that. However, his team was exposed as being vulnerable to physical play last night. What is the answer in this situation?

The other disappointing aspect was the Vols inability to get good looks in the halfcourt. The ESPN announcers continued to point out the "shadow" aspect of the Kentucky defense (which was nothing more than basic help half the time, but I think they were getting a commission for the word "shadow" last night) and how it hindered drives to the bucket. Fine - run your offense and get looks off screens or find space from the help defenders by running your sets. The Vols could not do it. They were not patient enough, not efficient enough and not physical enough.

The positive signs that night came from Chris Lofton and Ramar Smith. Lofton always plays well against Kentucky because they snubbed him out of high school. Lofton looked like his old self last night, making tough 3's, driving to the basket and being aggressive offensively. Ramar Smith also looked his old self - driving, passing and finishing inside. He did get sloppy with the ball for a stretch and his shot is ugly, but he offers more all-around than Jordan Howell (who strikes me as the worst passing point guard in college basketball).

I once heard John Calipari tell his Memphis Tigers that a win at Arizona would be huge, but a loss would not. Sounds strange, but I buy into the idea. Last night would have been a huge win for the Vols, but losing at Rupp to an improving Kentucky team is not devastating. Disappointing, but not devastating.

Lofton Becomes 3-Point King

It didn't mean much at the time, but Chris Lofton sank two late 3-pointers to become the all-time SEC leader in the category. I think he is the best shooter I have ever seen in Knoxville, including Allan Houston. Congrats to Chris.

More Football Problems

Freshmen running back Daryl Vereen was arrested this week for being publicly drunk, fighting, ignoring police, kidnapping, tax evasion...you get the idea. He was actually only charged for public intoxication, but apparently was fighting as well and did ignore the police (when you are as drunk as he was, how can you be expected to obey the cops?). Fulmer had the entire team run sprints at 6 a.m. after the second embarrassing off-the-field incident (after the Gerald Jones situation).

I heard an interesting conversation about Fulmer's discipline style and its effectiveness. Apparently Fulmer is of the Red Auerbach philosophy of not sitting guys during games as punishment since that hurts the entire team. Instead, he prefers making guys run, etc. Personally, I side with Fulmer and Auerbach in this regard, but it is troubling to see so many Vols getting into trouble away from the field. The other question here is just how much Fulmer should be held accountable for the actions of teenage kids away at college. Most of us did stupid stuff at college like drink beer and smoke weed (the two offenses of the past two weeks), so why would these kids be any different just because they are also good at football.

I hate it when these things happen because it is embarrassing and potentially dangerous to the athletes I root for, but I also tend to downplay the "there's no discipline in Knoxville" cries that emerge whenever some such incident occurs. Show me the football coach with 100+ kids under his umbrella that does not deal with these issues and I might change my tune.

Good ole Rocky Top
Rocky Top, Tennessee

Vols Look Sluggish, But Still Avenge Buckeye Loss

The new #1 team in the RPI is the Tennessee Vols and I'm not talking about women's basketball. The Vols have vaulted to the top of the country on the computer's with recent wins over Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and most recently Ohio State.

The Vols fought off a game Ohio State team that actually led by seven points in the second half before a patented Vol surge moved Tennessee back ahead and eventually to another victory.

To revisit a recent column, the Vols' flaws were once again evident on Saturday. Chris Lofton just doesn't look like Chris Lofton. He missed open shots, including an airball from the wing, and failed to convert back-to-back free throws. Jay Bilas talked about Lofton on Saturday morning, pointing out that he is doing everything well except for his shooting. It is true - his defense is solid, he takes care of the ball and makes good passes. His shot, however, seems like a lost cause.

The Vols' shot selection is what it is. Pearl has given his guys the green light, which means he is willing to live with some ill-advised launches to get the streaks of lights-out shooting. I still think he might reel in the Vols a bit as the conference season progresses, calling a few more sets throughout the action, but for now Tennessee is going to let 'er fly for 40 minutes.

The Tennessee big men were once again exposed on Saturday. Wayne Chism picked up early fouls and Ryan Childress was worked over by Ohio State's post players. Brian Williams played huge for the Vols as he got extended minutes and was on the floor for long periods of time. Here is hoping the return of Duke Crews will help the struggling defensive frontcourt.

If there is one more trouble spot to watch, it is the poor free throw shooting from the Vols. The Buckeyes would have long been defeated if only Tennessee could make its freebies. It often looks like the Vols lack concentration from the line, especially JuJuan Smith who should not be missing his free throws. Everyone still talks about Ramar's 0-12 shooting from the line against Prarie View A&M, but watch his focus now when he approaches the stripe. It is different from several other Vols who ought to be converting more often.

Nit-picking aside, the Vols picked up another impressive win over a quality opponent on Saturday. The tests keep coming, however, as Billy Gillespie and Kentucky await the Vols tomorrow night.

Vols Roll Over Vanderbilt

I know Vanderbilt is a good basketball team, but I just haven't seen them play like it yet. For the second straight year, the Vols owned the Commodores in Thompson-Boling Arena and blew out an over-matched Vandy squad.

With the exception of the opening moments of the game, Bruce Pearl had to pleased with the development of last night's ballgame. First, A.J. Ogilvy picked up early fouls and was a non-factor for most of the game. Second, the Vols were able to get out and run because the Commodores could not withstand Tennessee's on the ball pressure and quickness in the passing lanes. Tennessee was finding three-pointers in transition and getting big buckets from unlikely sources like Jordan Howell, Ryan Childress and especially Wayne Chism.

The star of the night was Chism who played with energy on the boards, blocked shots and scored inside and outside. He finished with 18 points and 18 rebounds on the evening.

As the Vols prepare for the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday afternoon, I'm going to throw a little rain on the orange parade. This Tennessee team has a Final Four swagger about it, but also has some troubling flaws that must be addressed.

1) Where is Chris Lofton? Obviously, Lofton is the first item on the Tennessee scouting report and he gets more attention from opposing defenses than anyone else on the floor. He is listed at 6'2, but he looks 6'0 at best and is usually covered by someone with several inches on him. With teams guarding Lofton so tightly, other Vols like JuJuan Smith and Tyler Smith are stepping up their scoring. There are giant holes in the opposing defense when teams refuse to get to helpside away from Lofton or refuse to help off of him when others penetrate.

All that being said, Lofton needs to be a bigger focus of the offense and needs to get his offensive game going. The two troubling things about Lofton right now are how rarely he is getting good looks and how shaky he looks trying to knock those few looks down. Last year, he was automatic when open and found a way to score even when he was being blanketed. Maybe he does not need to do the latter with this year's team, but he is missing open looks and free throws (he isn't getting to the line nearly as often either). He just does not look like the same guy he was a year ago.

When it gets into March, the Vols are going to need a guy to knock down shots against the best defenses in the country. Is that guy going to be Jordan Howell? J.P. Prince? JuJuan Smith? I like these guys, but I don't trust them to consistently hit the big shot like I do Lofton. Or did Lofton. We need Lofton to get going if we are going to make a March run.

2) Shot Selection - Bruce Pearl's team looks great in transition, but somewhat shaky in the halfcourt. The opening moments of the Vanderbilt game included a plethora of forced and awkward shots, many with 20+ seconds still left on the shot clock. I'm afraid with a deeper rotation of guys who have the ability to score, there is a certain element of "I'm going to get mine" at times for the Vols. Returning to last year's team, they could execute in the half court with much more consistency than this team. Too often, these Vols are content to run their flex baseline screens for 20 seconds, then see if someone can make a move to the basket or hit a contested three. In the second half last night, Pearl turned to the ball screen as his offensive weapon of choice and it worked well.

Here is the thing - transition and passing lane turnovers are great, but against a good team will be tough to come by. Do you see UNC or Kansas throwing us the ball like Vanderbilt did last night?

3) Post Defense - There is depth on the block with Chism, Childress and Williams, but they are all flawed defenders. Chism is the best of the bunch, but he gambles too much and picks up cheap fouls too often. Childress is too slow and Williams is too green. Getting Duke Crews back will help, but he is only 6'7 down there. What happens when the Vols meet a good post scorer? We got an idea about that last night with A.J. Ogilvy. While the early foul trouble hurt him, he was flat out working us over inside in the early part of the second half. I worry about our ability to defend a Roy Hibbert or Tyler Hansbrough down the road.

In the big scheme of things, those are all minor problems for a team with just one loss (to an excellent Texas team). As happy as I am with the current Vols squad, they still don't have a win that absolutely impresses me. Vanderbilt is close, Gonzaga and Xavier were nice and Ole Miss seems better all the time. Each of those teams, however, ought to lose to Tennessee. While it is important to beat teams you should beat, I'm anxious to see the Vols beat someone they should not.

That test is coming on February 23rd against the Memphis Tigers. We will get a much better idea if these Vols are another Sweet Sixteen team or a Final Four team when they travel to FedEx Forum in a little over a month.

Can you believe we are talking about the Final Four and Tennessee basketball?

Tennessee Talk

With so much stuff going on in Knoxville these days, we're starting a new weekly article called "Tennessee Talk" where I will write (though "Talk" makes a better title) about all things University of Tennessee.

(Before I get to the Vols, I must admit to being in a perpetual funk ever since the Cowboys loss on Sunday. I can't remember a loss hitting me this hard in a long time...it still hurts. That is my team, man. That is my quarterback.)

Arian Foster Returns

Color me surprised. When Foster graded out as a 2nd round pick, I thought he was gone. As much as I like him, I don't see 2nd round pick in Foster. He is big, fast and has big play potential. He also has a knack for making the first guy miss. On the other hand, he runs high and reminds me of a less-powerful Eddie George. For a guy his size, he never runs anyone over and sometimes seems a little soft.

Forgetting all that, I'm excited that he is back. With an inexperienced quarterback in the pocket, Foster will be a huge asset for the Vols offense. Add Montario Hardesty and Lennon Creer and that is a mean backfield. Add new offensive coordinator Dave Clawson and new running backs coach Stan Drayton...things are looking good on the ground next year in Knoxville.

Gerald Jones Smokes Weed

(sigh)

Not only was Jones rolling around town with teammates and marijuana, but also with a football recruit. Do you think that kid is coming to Knoxville now? Let's hope Jones learns from this and we do not have another LaMarcus Coker/Duke Crews situation on our hands.

Ryan Mallett

It isn't looking as good to get the Michigan transfer these days. Papa Mallett did not sound enthused by the Clawson hiring, hinting that the new coach might run the spread offense. Really? That is the first time I have heard any history of the spread and Clawson. That also sounds like a weak excuse for nixing Knoxville after Fulmer did not hire Michigan OC Mike DeBord. I don't expect to see Mallett in Big Orange. The strongest rumor is Arkansas, so not only are we not getting Mallett, but he is going to a team that we play every stinking year.

At least we don't have to tackle Darren McFadden and Felix Jones next year.

Vols/Vandy Thursday Night

Bruce Pearl's Vols dominated South Carolina on Saturday and, for the first time this season, looked like a Final Four team. The Xavier and Gonzaga wins were great, but the Vols looked like a team that was infinitely more athletic and talented winning on that rather than outplaying their opposition. Against the Gamecocks, the Vols were dominant. They got into passing lanes, made open shots, passed the ball well and played 5x harder than Dave Odom's troops.

The Vols survived a game Ole Miss team last week and face another tough home test this week when the wounded Vanderbilt Commodores come to town. Vandy suffered its first loss of the season at Rupp Arena last weekend to the suddenly decent Kentucky Wildcats and come into Thompson-Boling Arena looking to rebound. The Dores are led by the top two scorers in the SEC in Shan Foster and Andrew Ogilvy as well as one of the most under appreciated coaches in the country Kevin Stallings (who infamously turned down the Vols after the Kevin O'Neil debacle). The winner of this game sits in the driver's seat of the SEC East as these are the two top team in the entire conference (I'm not buying Ole Miss or Florida yet). It should be a great one on Rocky Top.

Chris Lofton

Anybody seen him? I know he is being tightly guarded off the ball and I know he misses Dane Bradshaw's ability to get him the ball, but I am shocked by Lofton's bust of a senior year thus far. He rarely touches the ball and, when he does, he looks uncomfortable with it. He has the look of a guy who better shoot it because-I-might-not-get-it-again. That is not what I expected from the All-American this year. We are winning without him, but it worries me that our go-to-guy has been ASAP all season.

Demetrice Morley is Back

Old news, but I'm still excited about it. Eric Berry, Brent Vinson and Morley in the secondary next year...that looks good to me.

Good ole Rocky Top,
Rocky Top, Tennessee

Big Dud in Big D

(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Bill Simmons wrote a piece last fall about the Boston Red Sox that included a conversation with his father about knowing the Sox's flaws and finally seeing them exposed. For obvious reasons, that paragraph stuck in my head as I watched the Dallas Cowboys falter at home yesterday against the New York Giants. The Pokes were a flawed 13-3 team with some squeaked-out wins and pathetic losses.

The Giants exposed them yesterday.

What were the fatal flaws the doomed Dallas yesterday? They had nothing to do with trips to Mexico or bags of popcorn, but simple football flaws that were not overcome when the game mattered the most.

1) Penalties - the Cowboys committed stupid penalties frequently yesterday. Throughout the year, the Cowboys have been able to overcome false starts and defensive off-sides by making big plays afterwards. Not against the Giants. New York's first touchdown drive was aided by a questionable off-sides call on DeMarcus Ware on 3rd down. The crucial touchdown drive before the half was aided by a 15-yard face mask call. These are the same silly mistakes the Cowboys have made all year long.

Offensively, it was the same story. The offensive line looked out of sync all game long, undoubtedly affected by the Giants' pass rush. For whatever reason, there were problems with the snap, problems with the snap count and problems staying set. Tony Romo also made a horrible decision during a 4th quarter drive while sitting in the pocket with little pass rush to fire a pass to nobody and earn an intentional grounding call.

Overall, the Cowboys committed 11 penalties for 84 yards.

2) Running Game - Once again, the Cowboys became completely one-dimensional in the 2nd half and forgot all about running the football. Marion Barber III looked fantastic as a starter and really hurt the Giants in the first half. The second half? He was barely used as Tony Romo threw the ball again and again. Even trailing 21-17, there was plenty of time to run the football. Instead, Romo dropped back again and again, getting hit again and again. Jason Garrett might be the hot young assistant in the game right now, but he has a tendency to forget about the running game as soon as his offense falls behind (remember the Philadelphia game?).

3) Defense - the numbers do not back it up, but my eyes tell me that the Dallas defense is not as good as advertised. The 3-4 continues to fail, outside of DeMarcus War, in regards to pressuring the quarterback. It continues to fail to stuff the run. Roy Williams and Jacques Reeves cannot cover anyone. Though the Cowboys got a couple of big stops in the 4th quarter, the Giants were able to move the ball with ease throughout much of the game. The statistics do not back this up, but that is mostly due to the Cowboys 10-minute drive in the 2nd quarter. Anyone who watched the game knows that the Giants picked up chunks at a time on the ground and had people open all the time on pass plays.

These problems have been present all season long, but overcome with superlative quarterback play, big catches and runs by receivers and bend-don't-break defense. For these reasons, the Cowboys 13-3 record felt like it was built with sand. The Giants washed away the sand yesterday along with Dallas' Super Bowl hopes.

Tony Romo did not play poorly, but he did not play well either. He missed a touchdown opportunity to Terrell Owens when the ball seemed to slip out of his hand as he moved up in the pocket. He also took a couple of sacks when he could have thrown the ball out of bounds and then committed a terrible grounding penalty for no real reason. Romo has been fantastic in the two-minute drill all season, but twice failed to get the Cowboys into the endzone late in the game.

The Cowboys missed a couple of chances to make big plays as well. Specifically, Patrick Crayton missed chances to make big plays. His drop of a perfect Romo pass was one of the biggest blunders of the ballgame. With the entire field in front of him, Crayton had a first down and possibly a touchdown if he simply caught the ball, but it deflected off his hands and harmlessly hit the Texas Stadium turf. On the final drive of the game, Crayton seemed to slow his route and was subsequently overthrown by Romo in the endzone on a critical third down. For a player who started running his mouth this season, he failed to live up to his self-created hype with a pair of pathetic plays.

Finally, the Cowboys defense bent and broke at critical times. New York took its opening drive down the field for a touchdown. It ran its two-minute drill perfectly before the half, aided by a stupid Dallas penalty. After giving up field position with poor punt coverage, the defense could not keep New York out of the endzone and gave up the lead. Poor tackling, poor coverage and no forced turnovers allowed the Giants to reach the endzone three times yesterday. The defense showed up late, but not consistently throughout the game.

After the Romo botched hold in Seattle last year, it was hard to imagine a loss hurting more. This one did. The Cowboys looked poised to challenge the Patriots in a marquee Super Bowl match-up, but instead were sent home by Eli Manning and the G-Men. When Brandon Jacobs fired the football into the play clock to celebrate his 4th quarter touchdown, he might as well have been firing it into the collective gut of Cowboys fans across the country. Yesterday was certainly a punch in the stomach for Big D.

Another Clawson in Knoxville?

It looks like Richmond head football coach Dave Clawson (pronounced just like Casey and Rick Clausen) will be the new offensive coordinator at Tennessee. Yesterday's reports were that it was a two-man race between Clawson and Michigan offensive coordinator Mike DeBord and that Vols AD Mike Hamilton told an audience that it would know who the next coordinator would be sometime today. Today, reports are the Clawson has told Richmond folks that he is gone.

I cannot pretend to know anything about the Richmond Spiders, but it is hard to find a blemish on Clawson's resume. He coached Brian Westbrook at Villanova and Brian Finneran at Fordham before moving to Richmond. The Spiders were eliminated in the semifinals of the FCS playoffs by eventual champion Appalachian State. His offenses have racked up big numbers over the past few years on the ground and through the air. Clawson himself has been named Coach of the Year of his conference twice in the last three years.

Why would Clawson move from head coach to coordinator? It appears that he is under the impression that being a coordinator at a big-time school will accelerate his move into a head coaching position at one of those schools more than continuing to win at Richmond. The bad news, as far as that goes, is that Clawson is probably going to be sending out his resume every year for greener pastures. Of course, in 2008, that is the story at every school in the country.

The other potential bad news about the hire is the future of Ryan Mallett. Was Mallett hoping to follow Coach DeBord to Knoxville? We don't know the answer to that and it might not persuade/dissuade Mallett from transferring to Tennessee. Vols fans also have bad memories of the last time the university hired a coach to get the package deal of a great player (that would be the Wade Houston era of Tennessee basketball).

Frankly, it is hard to get overly excited about an unknown, but I am intrigued by the pick of Clawson as new coordinator. Will he be groomed to become the next head coach at Tennessee? Can he recruit? What will the offense look like?

Here is what intrigues me the most - Clawson seems like the tough pick between the two. If Debord wanted the job, it would have been easy to hire him. A former Michigan coordinator who runs a pro-style offense and might bring along a top-tier quarterback would have been a simple sell to the Tennessee faithful. The fact that Fulmer turned to Clawson instead makes me think he might be something special.

Jerod Mayo Gone

Reports speculate that Jerod Mayo will announce his intention to turn pro early today. The junior was named 2nd team All-American this year.

Damn. I wasn't initially sold on Mayo as a professional prospect, but he played great over the last few weeks of the season.

Apparently Arian Foster is also still deciding about his future. I have a hard time believing he will skip his senior season as well unless I am totally wrong about his professional possibilities.

Two Coaching Decisions Influence Playoff Wins - And Norv Turner Got It Right

If you listened to the pundits last week discussing the Chargers/Titans game, you heard the same idea over and over again:

Norv Turner was a liability to the Chargers' hopes of winning the playoff game.

Turner has been a favorite target of analysts since the moment he was hired last summer. No one seems to doubt Turner's abilities as an offensive coordinator, but his history as a failed head coach in both Washington and Oakland have led to an inordinate amount of criticism as the coach of San Diego.

Turner made a critical decision yesterday at a critical moment that helped his team advance to Indianapolis next week. The Chargers were faced with 4th and goal from just outside the 1-yard line, trailing the Tennessee Titans 6-0. The crowd wanted to go for the touchdown. The team wanted to go for the touchdown.

Norv Turner kicked the field goal.

Was it the correct decision? The proof is in the pudding - the Chargers dominated the game from that point forward and defeated the Titans 17-6. The decision to get the points, keep the momentum and ignore the cat calls from the crowd and players was a difficult, but important one.

As an offensive guy, you know Turner wanted to score the touchdown. You know he had a list of plays in his head to get it done. He also had the sense to make the right call. The Titans defense was stingy all afternoon and points were tough to come by. The Chargers' all-world tight end and favorite red zone threat Antonio Gates was out with a toe injury. And what if the Chargers had been stuffed on 4th down? Momentum swings back to the Titans, the Chargers come away with nothing once again and are forced to play from behind (limiting Tomlinson and exposing Philip Rivers to the Titans impressive pass rush) in order to advance.

Compare Turner's decision to the one make by Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin against the Jacksonville Jaguars. With the Steelers down 28-23 and over 10 minutes left in the game, Tomlin decided to go for two points to make it a 3 point game. With so much time left in the game, the Steelers were likely to get two or maybe three more possessions, so there was absolutely no need to gamble for two points.

To make matters worse, the Steelers were penalized for holding on the initial try (which they did convert) and were moved back 10 yards. Tomlin's decision? To try for two points again.

Huh?

The Steelers failed on the attempt, leaving them down 5 points. They then scored the next touchdown of the game, making the score 29-28. Now Tomlin was forced to try another 2-point conversion just to get the score where it should have been with two simple extra points. If Tomlin had not panicked, his team would have led 31-28. Instead, up only 1 point, Josh Scobee's field goal gave the Jags a 31-29 victory over Tomlin's Steelers.

It is easy to pick on Norv Turner, but for one important afternoon he made the right decision in a key moment that gave his team the best chance to win. It is not easy to pick on Mike Tomlin, a popular coach who made a terrible decision that hurt his team's chances to win their playoff game.

Pig Fooey - Time For Arkansas to Leave SEC

My buddy texted me this message on Monday night after Auburn clipped Clemson in overtime:

"SEC Baby!"

At that moment, the Southeastern Conference was 4-0 in bowl games with four more on tap including LSU's bid to become National Champions. The Tennessee Vols handled Wisconsin in the opening New Year's bowl game to put the SEC at an impressive 5-0. For us Southern folk, this was more vindication for what we've been preaching for years - the South is where the best college football is played on this here planet.

So what could spoil our Southern fun?

The Arkansas Razorbacks.

The Hogs barely showed up in Dallas for their Cotton Bowl showdown with Missouri. Not only did they get stomped 38-7 by the Tigers, but they gave up a record-setting rushing day to tailback Tony Temple.

I know what you are thinking - isn't Missouri supposed to be a passing team?

That question got me to thinking about the embarrassment that is the University of Arkansas. Why is my SEC joy and pride always rained upon by the folks of Fayetteville? What can be done about these pathetic pigs?

Here is my solution: kick them out of the SEC.

(Yes, I know that Florida also lost its bowl game, played in Florida no less, to an 11-point underdog Michigan team. I know. Florida, however, has brought the conference a Heisman Trophy and three national championships (2 basketball, one football) in the last two years. They get a pass.)

Drastic? Extreme? Unnecessary? Let's look at the evidence against the University of Arkansas before we dismiss this idea faster than Houston Nutt can find a job in the same division of the same conference as the team that let him go.

What team was that, you ask? You know.

Exhibit A: Hiring Bobby Petrino The entire world hates the guy after he bailed on the already decimated Atlanta Falcons with three games left in the season, after he told the team owner he was not going to leave and after he told the team about it with a note.

A note! 7th graders leave notes on lockers to break-up. I leave notes on the fridge to remind my wife to thaw meat for dinner. Petrino thinks it is sufficient to abandon a group of men he promised to lead! That is the man picked to lead the Razorbacks. He actually made Les Miles look like a stand-up guy with his shenanigans. Rich Rodriguez seems like a saint compared to Bobby Pe-see-ya.

Why would Arkansas be looking for a new head coach?

Exhibit B: The "firing" of Houston Nutt I know, he actually resigned. And I don't plagiarize my articles off Wikipedia! Nutt was forced out of Fayetteville for having the audacity to bench freshmen quarterback Mitch Mustain and take the play-calling reigns from Gus Malzahn so that the best running back in the country might touch the ball more often.

Wait, isn't that what a head coach is supposed to do? Make those kind of decisions? I guess they didn't work. I guess that Arkansas team didn't make it to the SEC Championship game and nearly beat the soon-to-be National Champion Florida Gators.

Oh, wait...

Exhibit C: Freedom of Information Act When John Locke argued for government by consent of the governed, he clearly had not visited Little Rock, Arkansas. The good people there used their democratic freedoms to attain phone records on Coach Nutt in the hopes of either saving him some money on long distance or finding some type of dirt to get him gone.

That's right - the Hog faithful figured out that Nutt is technically a state government official subject to the mentioned law. Pretty smart, I guess, but also pretty slimy. Hard to imagine what kind of guy would be willing to work at Arkansas when you are surrounded by the type of scum that would do this (see: Exhibit A).

Exhibit D: Stan Heath Your team plays its way into the NCAA tournament and what is your reward?

A pink slip.

It sure seemed like those kids were playing their butts off to keep Coach Heath around as the rumors swirled, but I guess that didn't occur to the Powers That Be at Arkansas (they might have been too busy researching Coach Nutt's texting habits). Back-to-back 20 win seasons apparently didn't get their attention either.

Exhibit E: Dana Altman It sure didn't take him long to realize that Arkansas was not the place to be. About 24 hours to be exact. Of all the people involved in this article so far, Altman seems like the most respectable of the bunch (including, sadly, yours truly) and he bolted quicker than it has taken me to write this article. It is circumstantial evidence, but I'm throwing it out there.

Exhibit...what are we up to now? Oh yeah - F: Nolan Richardson This one was not the university's fault, but embarrassing nonetheless. Richardson, who led Arkansas to 3 Final Four appearances, went on a crazy tirade about racism, Frank Boyles and exactly what happens to his 40 Minutes of Hell pressure in the event of overtime and got himself canned. Weird.

Only at Arkansas.

Exhibit G: Geography Is Arkansas even an Eastern state? It is located west of the Mississippi River which makes it a Western state in my book. In fact, before entering the SEC, Arkansas played in the SWC - the Southwestern Conference. That is the opposite of Southeastern! Well, opposite would be Northwestern, but that is a school and not a conference, so this is the next best thing in terms of building my case. How can you be West one day and then East the next?

You can't.

Exhibit H: School colors Sorry, but you look too much like Alabama and Mississippi State. It is bad enough that we have two Bulldogs and two Tigers, but three similar shades of red?

This isn't my strongest argument.

Exhibit H: Nobody hates you Sorry, but it is true. Nobody considers Arkansas to be their "big rival." The closest thing to a big Razorback rival is LSU, but that is really just because the teams always play on the Thursday or Friday of Thanksgiving Day weekend. I have never actually heard an LSU fan rant about hating Arkansas. They hate Nick Saban and Alabama, not Bobby Petrino and Arkansas.

Nobody hates Arkansas, but nobody likes them either. They are a disgrace to a conference that sets a high bar for disgraces. We are the conference of Tommy Lewis, Adolph Rupp and Colonel Reb. We are the SEC!

And we want you out.

Heck, I didn't even mention that Arkansas lost to The Citadel in football (you weren't the first, Appy State) while a member of the conference or the episode when Danny Ford was caught endorsing harm on the Tennessee football team at the end of a defeat or even the Hog-loving Clintons and their inability to translate presidential popularity and a booming economy into any sort of lasting social or political change.

Now that Arkansas is gone, who should replace them? We can't have 11 teams. That makes no sense whatsoever. No conference would have that weird amount of teams, no matter how slow, over-rated and gutless when scheduling out-of-conference games that conference might be.

Here are my candidates:

Notre Dame - This works on so many levels. First, the ratings. I know nothing about ratings and care nothing about ratings, but I hear from time to time that Notre Dame brings ratings. They must mean something to somebody, so the SEC might as well get them.

Next, they are Catholic. If you have never been here to the South, we don't care much for Catholics. According to my grandparents, Catholics are all burning in hell right next to the Mormons and Vegetarians. The kind of vitriol that Southern Baptists feel towards Catholics is second only to the hatred Auburn Tigers feel towards the Crimson Tide. They say that football is a religion in the South; now we will literally add religion into our football in the South.

Finally, they are Irish. If you have never been here to the South, we don't care much for Irish people. According to my grandparents, Irish people are burning in hell right next to the Blacks and Republicans. The intensity that adding Notre Dame to the SEC would bring is scary. Literally scary.

The problem, besides the scary hatred I just mentioned, is that Notre Dame is not in the South. It is in Indiana or Illinois or Iowa and none of them are Southern. It isn't really in the East either, but it does play basketball in the Big East so there is a precedent there. I'm afraid, however, that it isn't strong enough to bring the Irish to the SEC.

Colorado - The Buffs football team has been on probation, accused of holding sexual parties for recruits and vilified for the horrific treatment of a female kicker. All together, it would be less embarrassing to have them in the conference than Arkansas.

Appalachian State - I mentioned them earlier in a subtle bit of foreshadowing. Not so subtle now though. The Mountaineers beat Michigan, making a Big 10 school look slow and prodding - they will fit right into the SEC! They also have won back-to-back FBS championships. They stink at everything else, however, and would be the only North Carolina school in the conference. The SEC is also more of a "raging drunk" conference rather than a "stoned-out-of-our-mind" one, so this does not seem to be a great fit.

Memphis - Hmm, this one is intriguing for reasons other than the fact that I own a degree from the university. The Tigers are stuck in the terrible Conference USA after all the good teams jumped ship to the Big East a few years ago. They are a basketball powerhouse, have natural rivals in Ole Miss (45 minutes away from Memphis), Tennessee, Auburn and LSU (another Tiger - see?) and are decent enough at football to hang. The problem with adding Memphis is...what is the problem with adding Memphis?

Oh, yeah - we are stuck with Arkansas. I guess that Memphis is Exhibit X or something like that. Arkansas was given a golden opportunity to join the greatest conference in collegiate sports back in 1990. It has brought the conference a few highlights, but too many low lights. Yesterday's Cotton Bowl was the last straw for me.

Pig Fooey - addition by subtraction is razoring those Hogs right out of the SEC.

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Tennessee Wins Outback Bowl

If one game can epitomize a season, the 2008 Outback Bowl epitomized the Tennessee football Vols' season.

At one point in the first half, it looked like Tennessee was poised to blow out the Wisconsin Badgers as the offense was clicking, defense was steady and momentum was cloaked in orange. Then, suddenly, the Vols could not move the ball, could not stop the run and seemed to be staggering on the ropes against the Badger assault.

That, my friends, was the 2007-2008 Tennessee Vols.

The key play of the game was a weird 4th down call by Wisconsin that Tennessee ate up. With just a yard to go and a running game that was getting chunks at a time, the Badgers dialed up some type of quarterback roll-out that resulted in absolutely nothing besides another nearly lethal hit on Tyler Donovan. It was a odd play call in a game full of them (Cutcliffe - take that sneaky little run play with you to Duke).

Besides a few odd play call decisions, David Cutcliffe called an excellent game in his Vols finale. I am excited and anxious about what comes next after Cutcliffe. There is reason to be excited as the Vols will likely be more explosive and creative, but reason to be anxious as well after the Randy Sanders Experience.

Much was made this week about Cutcliffe and Ainge finally fessing up to injuries forcing the Vols offense to reel in much of what they wanted to do. Everyone knew about Ainge's finger problem, but a shoulder injury was kept secret (how does that happen in our age of internet information?) for the entire season. It apparently made it difficult for the Vols to go vertical, though the lack of experience among the receivers also played into that. Taken as a whole, I think this answers the major questions about the Vols offense this year - why no vertical game? Why so quick in the pocket? Why nothing more explosive?

Answer - an injured Ainge was better than a healthy Jonathan Crompton.

What does that mean for next year? Let's not worry about that yet.

Back to Ainge, he finished his college career with one of his best, most confident performances. There were still instances of throwing off his back foot, dumping the ball too early and occasionally being less than accurate, but he made the big throws (especially on 3rd down) and got the Vols down the field on multiple occasions. After the LSU fiasco, I'm happy for Ainge.

A few more Outback Bowl notes:

* Anybody miss Lucas Taylor? Not with Denarius Moore playing like he did today. He was a goat of the LSU game, but was huge against Wisconsin.

* Anybody miss Demonte Boldin? Big guy, if you want to call people out after losses, you deserve some major heat for not taking care of your grades. Our defensive line played pretty well all game, especially getting some heat on Donovan.

* Anybody miss Rico McCoy? Boy, I like Ellix Wilson.

* COME BACK JERROD MAYO!

* Are the Wisconsin coaches a bunch of wusses or what? Helmet-to-helmet hits? When? Since when can you not try to tackle a quarterback when he is about to score a touchdown? When did that become a cheap shot? I though the Big Ten was supposed to be the "tough" conference...

* Montario Hardesty had his best game as a Vol. He finally looked like something special in the backfield, breaking tackles and picking up tough yards. With Foster and Hardesty in the backfield next year, the Vols could get back to being a powerful running team.

I never get too excited about bowl games, but it sure feels better to win one that lose it. Time to get ready for UAB...