That's how it is. The road we are on.
I don't have anything really DEEP to offer beyond that. It's all pretty well come down to "master-of-the-obvious" rather than "pearls-of-wisdom".
Just take the next one, our game against LSU...
Our Defense is still "a work in progress", to say the least. Except for some glaring ongoing failures (3rd downs?), our D at the very LEAST "held us in" the Mizzou game until AR and the running game finally came around in the 2nd half. That same defense also came back and held its own one more time (finally even made a CRUCIAL late down STOP) to save the day (and the win) after Anthony, late in another off-day passing where at least he and his offensive squad's running game snapped out of its funk in the 2nd half, threw up a bone-headed prayer that bad luck brought to the hands of a Tiger defender (granted--on a terrible "fumble"-call by the officials), giving Mizzou one more chance to get back in it at the end.
This LSU game will require one of Anthony's "UPSIDE" games, I believe. I mean, if he has one, we WIN it going away...This isn't the Tennessee offense we are facing by any means. I believe our defense has developed far enough to ensure that if AR and a balanced offense have one of their better days, score at least 30-some odd points, the Swamp crowd is rollicking with the lead by the time they sing "We Are the Boys" and "Won't Back Down" after the 3rd quarter.
They lay an egg like they did (for example) against UK and all bets are OFF. I STILL can't believe we lost that game, by the way...It really took the proverbial "off day" (the kind we've learned that our young and inexperienced QB-prodigy, at least THIS year's version, is still prone to) to manage it. Had Kentucky not had Levis at that point, we likely would have come out on top after all.
But that is exactly my point here: We live, learn and grow--as a TEAM. Each game is a crucible in which our future is forged. It isn't, hasn't been and WON'T be all that pretty or FUN through most of this schedule--we know THAT much by now. But it is necessary...and valuable:
If we can learn from everything we face, defeats AND victories, we WON'T have to face another season like this one for some time to come.
I don't have anything really DEEP to offer beyond that. It's all pretty well come down to "master-of-the-obvious" rather than "pearls-of-wisdom".
Just take the next one, our game against LSU...
Our Defense is still "a work in progress", to say the least. Except for some glaring ongoing failures (3rd downs?), our D at the very LEAST "held us in" the Mizzou game until AR and the running game finally came around in the 2nd half. That same defense also came back and held its own one more time (finally even made a CRUCIAL late down STOP) to save the day (and the win) after Anthony, late in another off-day passing where at least he and his offensive squad's running game snapped out of its funk in the 2nd half, threw up a bone-headed prayer that bad luck brought to the hands of a Tiger defender (granted--on a terrible "fumble"-call by the officials), giving Mizzou one more chance to get back in it at the end.
This LSU game will require one of Anthony's "UPSIDE" games, I believe. I mean, if he has one, we WIN it going away...This isn't the Tennessee offense we are facing by any means. I believe our defense has developed far enough to ensure that if AR and a balanced offense have one of their better days, score at least 30-some odd points, the Swamp crowd is rollicking with the lead by the time they sing "We Are the Boys" and "Won't Back Down" after the 3rd quarter.
They lay an egg like they did (for example) against UK and all bets are OFF. I STILL can't believe we lost that game, by the way...It really took the proverbial "off day" (the kind we've learned that our young and inexperienced QB-prodigy, at least THIS year's version, is still prone to) to manage it. Had Kentucky not had Levis at that point, we likely would have come out on top after all.
But that is exactly my point here: We live, learn and grow--as a TEAM. Each game is a crucible in which our future is forged. It isn't, hasn't been and WON'T be all that pretty or FUN through most of this schedule--we know THAT much by now. But it is necessary...and valuable:
If we can learn from everything we face, defeats AND victories, we WON'T have to face another season like this one for some time to come.
