NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It came without a bow, and it looked like a blindfolded three-year-old wrapped it.
Though the gift of a bowl game came to the Tennessee faithful boxed inside an ugly 24-17 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday, the disheveled packaging should not detract from the importance of what it means.
Making a bowl game is tangible, on-the-field evidence of progress for a football program that has spun its wheels in the mud of mediocrity since 2007.
Tennessee remains far from national relevance, and even farther from national prominence. In fact, nothing screams mediocrity quite like struggling to beat a lifeless Vanderbilt team.
But the 2014 season should be regarded as a success for the Vols, because, as a whole, it indicates that second-year coach Butch Jones and his staff may be strong enough to pull UT out of its rut.
It is still uncertain if Jones possesses the wherewithal to direct the Vols to the top of the SEC, but at least the hope that he will is no longer grounded in blind faith or recruiting rankings.
Instead, it is grounded in something concrete that happened on the football field. It is grounded in the fact that UT will participate in the postseason for the first time since 2010.
A six-win season is more than just another “brick” in the verbally created “brick-by-brick” campaign to rebuild Tennessee football.
It is an actual foundation that is not hinged upon interpretation of Jones’ words or the accuracy of Rivals or 247Sports in ranking the athletic ability of teenagers.
UT’s 2014 season does lend credibility to one of Jones’ oft-used catchphrases, though.
He says that, “winning is fragile.”
If Vanderbilt quarterback Patton Robinette had directed his offense to the end zone in the final minute of Saturday’s game and led the Commodores to an overtime victory, this would be a column questioning the legitimacy of UT’s coaching staff.
Or if Joshua Dobbs had not redeemed the Vols from a 14-point deficit with under five minutes to play at South Carolina on Nov. 1, Saturday’s game would have been meaningless and this would be a column about the UT basketball team’s near-upset of Kansas.
But the UT football team persevered against all odds to win that South Carolina game, and it survived several late-season injuries, along with the suspension of team leader A.J. Johnson, to accomplish something with substance.
If it was just a narrow win over a listless Vanderbilt team, the Vols had no business parading joyfully around the field after the game as if they had won a championship.
But ugly as it may have been, that win over Vanderbilt was more than just a win over Vanderbilt.
It was a haphazardly packaged indication that more meaningful wins may be on the horizon.
Extra point: Jones has said on multiple occasions in the last few weeks that many people predicted UT to finish with 2-4 wins. Does anyone know who the heck he is talking about? Plenty of pundits – myself included – predicted five wins for this team, but no one with an ounce of credibility said UT would only win two games. Give it a rest, Butch.
David Cobb is a senior in journalism and electronic media. Contact him at [email protected].
