In South Carolina, the verdict is published by the Clerk of Court. In other words, when a jury has reached a verdict, the Clerk of Court, not a member of the jury, announces the verdict to the courtroom.
But in every jury trial – whether criminal or civil – there is no mistaking that the jury, and only the jury, is the finder of all facts.
Starting in August and running throughout the season, I will be writing a weekly column called The Verdict - presented by the Goings Law Firm. And much like a jury, I will try to base my findings and opinions on facts. But unlike a jury, I want to hear from the gallery, both what I got right and what I got wrong.
This week’s Verdict is in: Tennessee is the biggest game of the season.
I circled this game back in January. This is the biggest game of the season.
Two weeks ago, I went on Twitter and on the message boards, and I would chuckle. Not because of how right I was or how wrong I was. Not because I thought I knew more than everyone else. But because the overwhelming majority of comments and posts and Twitter polls and tweets stressed the notion that Kentucky was the most important game of the season. Some (including some I respect) even called it a “must win.”
Kentucky was never going to be the most important game of the 2021 season. Kentucky has passed Carolina by as a program. Kentucky has spent years building their program to a point where there was no way they were going to lose that game to Carolina.
Yes, they turned the ball over. Yes, they only scored 16 points. But think about all the breaks that went against them and they still won that football game. Kentucky imposed their will against Carolina. Carolina was not mentally or physically prepared to beat Kentucky. It has taken Mark Stoops years to get to this point, but he has built Kentucky his way and it is working.
Tennessee is not Kentucky. Tennessee is on their fifth head coach since 2009. Tennessee has not won double digit games in a single season since 2007. Think about that. Now consider this: since 2007, every single SEC program has had at least one season where they have won 10+ games except for Tennessee and Vanderbilt. (If you need to, re-read that last sentence.)
Tennessee has finished below .500 eight times since 2007. Tennessee has finished a season ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll just twice since 2007. Their coaches are mocked and ridiculed whether it be “Dooleyisms” or Butch Jones’s “Champions of Life” or literally anything involving Jeremy Pruitt.
This is not the Tennessee of old. This is not the Tennessee of yesteryear that Carolina fans should fear. In their last 16 matchups, Carolina is 8-8 against Tennessee. Despite what Vol fans may tell you, Tennessee is not a better program than Carolina. (In fact, back in January, I would have argued to you that Carolina was a better program than Tennessee.)
In 2005, when Carolina upset Tennessee in Neyland Stadium, Steve Spurrier was asked on the field following the game what this win meant for his program.
“We made history tonight,” Spurrier responded with that classic Spurrier squawk. When asked about what the Tennessee win meant moving forward, Spurrier responded that they had just beaten one of the “big three” and that maybe they could upset another “big three” opponent later in the season.
What is the “big three”? At the time it was Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee. In other words, the three best programs in the SEC East.
Back in January and February of this year, I spent multiple podcasts talking about the arms race Tennessee and Carolina were in to try and claim that third spot in the “big three.” Kentucky, as previously mentioned, has done a great job at holding the third spot in the SEC East for the time being. But that’s all Kentucky is (at least for the time being) – a place holder.
Tennessee and Carolina have the recruiting blueprint, the football buy-in, and the football facilities needed to build established powers. Yet over the past few years neither program has been able to establish itself.
That is why the Tennessee game is so important. Tennessee, at least on paper, was in a world of hurt heading into this season. The Volunteer fanbase was not excited about the Josh Heupel hire, and on top of that, Tennessee was facing possible sanctions for a slew of infractions committed by Jeremy Pruitt and his staff. Over the summer, I would tune in to the Tony Basilio Show in Knoxville, one of the better sports talk radio shows in the Southeast, and at one point I heard Basilio say “people outside of Knoxville just don’t get how bad things really are here.” It seemed as if Tennessee was an injury or a bad break away from packing up shop and ending the season.
But then the season started, and after strong performances in weeks one through four, Tennessee put on a historic offensive clinic against Missouri. The Vols rushed for 458 yards and averaged 15 yards per reception in an absolute rout, winning 62-24. Of course, this offensive onslaught came just a week before the Carolina game.
All day Sunday and all day yesterday, I tried to reconcile the fact that on the one hand, I labeled the Tennessee showdown as the game of the season while on the other hand realizing there is a dang good chance South Carolina could lose and lose badly. I didn’t think heading into the season that the Tennessee game would be an easy win for Carolina, but I certainly thought Carolina could (and maybe even should) win the game. I even broke my own rule and at various times labeled the Tennessee game a “must-win game.”
I’m a fan. I like to think the hours (and hours and hours) of time I spend reading, and talking, and watching SEC football makes me a knowledgeable fan, but at the end of the day that’s all I am. And as a fan, I get just as caught up as any other fan in my desire for Carolina Football to win games.
Gosh, nothing would be better than for Carolina to roll into Neyland – a place we have won at only three dadgum times – and leave with a victory. It’s about time we get the run game going, and get after the Volunteer quarterback, and remind the SEC East that Carolina Football isn’t going anywhere, and that Coach Beamer is building a winner in Columbia.
But I don’t think that is going to happen. And despite it being the biggest game of the season for Carolina, like I have said for weeks now, we must have patience with this program. Some of the things I have heard behind closed doors from very reputable and plugged-in people has only grown my appreciation for how tough of a job Shane Beamer has in front of him.
I’m going to be disappointed if I drive up to Knoxville and Carolina loses. I’m going to be concerned if I drive up to Knoxville and Carolina looks uninterested and disconnected. In terms of building this program, Coach Beamer had to instill a resilient, fighting spirit into that locker room. And right now, it looks like this team has some fight to it.
What happens this weekend against Tennessee? If Carolina fights like hell and loses, I can live with it. That’s progress over last season. In the biggest game of the season, Carolina just can’t fold like a cheap tent.
That being said, Beat Tennessee!
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