Prelims are thankfully finished. Plenty of points – 71-0 on Saturday evening, 191-13 in the past three weeks – await analysis. As projected, the Tennessee offense is multi-talented. Defense hasn’t allowed a touchdown since November.
Real game upcoming at Oklahoma, Josh Heupel homecoming, Sooners’ debut in the Southeastern Conference, loud crowd, surplus excitement.
This could be really big, the pivotal happening that leads the Vols toward or away from the playoffs.
Tennessee has improved from an August underdog to seven-point favorite. Saturday kickoff will be at 7:30 on ABC and the Vol Network.
You know what the Volunteers did to the underprivileged – Chattanooga, North Carolina State and Kent State. Oklahoma is bigger time. It lives on football Main Street, cowboy version. It warmed up at the expense of Temple, Houston and Tulane.
Oklahoma scared Oklahoma fans more than the opposition. The Sooners rushed for 75 yards on 29 carries against Houston. It finished stronger against Tulane. Young quarterback Arnold Jackson looks like a winner-to-be. Linebacker Danny Stutsman was a third-team all-American last year.
Tennessee and Oklahoma are historical near-equals but neither has won anything big lately. Bud Wilkinson (1947-1963) is the Sooners’ Robert R. Neyland. Bud had a 145-29-4 record, won 47 in a row, three national championships and 14 conference titles.
Neyland teams went 173-31-12 with four national and seven conference crowns. Bob did some things Bud didn’t do. His 1939 team was the last in NCAA history to hold all opponents scoreless. He missed some football to serve as a general in the U.S. Army.
Oklahoma has some rich people in the oil and gas industry but it doesn’t have Norris Lake or the Great Smoky Mountains or Dollywood. It is known for more than tornadoes and Western heritage. It is famous for fried food – chicken-fried steak, fried okra, fried green tomatoes, even fried ice cream. Of course you can get barbecue.
Route 66 and the Ozark Trail invite a trip back in time. From my limited experience, Oklahoma people are generally friendly, laid-back and good-natured. They think they are really good at hospitality. We’ll see.
An old Tennessee-Oklahoma link left a scar. The Trail of Tears did not begin or end well but 38 tribes survive. The Red Earth Festival is fun.
Football … I almost forgot this is a football column.
You may have heard this long ago: Heupel was a football hero at Oklahoma as a quarterback and assistant coach. He was fired, unceremoniously, without a going-away gift. Saturday will be his first time back in 10 years.
In the beginning, Heupel transferred in to Norman and led the Sooners to a seven-win 1999 season and a bowl game. The next year, Oklahoma was undefeated. It won the Big 12 and the national championship and beat Florida State in the Orange Bowl.
Heupel was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy. He was a consensus all-American and AP player of the year. He remains in the school record book.
Heupel invested 10 years as a Bob Stoops’ assistant. Some thought Josh would eventually be the head coach. Alas, Oklahoma stumbled to 8-5 in 2014 and was trashed, 40-6, by Clemson in a bowl game.
Stoops fired Heupel because his offense was OK but not great.
“Sometimes God moves you into the right situation,” Heupel has said. “Know what I mean?”
I do. Been there and can say amen.
We’ll skip the part about Oklahoma’s defense and Clemson scoring 40 and that Stoops did not fire his brother, Mike, defensive coordinator.
Heupel will say how much he enjoyed almost all of his time at Oklahoma and how many dear friends he still has in the state.
Heupel will not comment on his burning desire to win this game as a stepping stone to better things – or as a payback. It may take extra effort to manage his emotions. Don’t listen to small talk about just another game. This is far more than an SEC opener.
Heupel is trying to stay in the now. He said the Vols did some things well against Kent State. He said “there were some things that we’ve got to clean up.”
I do believe Kent State was the worst team in Neyland Stadium since it was named for Neyland. The athletics department would have you believe 65-0 at intermission was part of the enhanced fan experience. Four touchdowns by Dylan Sampson and team scoring records were a bonus.
The highlight for me happened behind the scene. Tennessee offered to let the clock run in the second half or just shorten the third and fourth quarters by half. Kent State said thanks but no thanks.
“That’s not who we are,” said coach Kinni Burns. “That’s not who we are as a football team. That’s not who we are as a culture. A football game is a football game.”
Burns was pleased that his Golden Flashes did not surrender.
“Coach Heupel said our fight in the second half was impressive.”
Heupel has a heart. His team could have scored a hundred.
Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com.
