this article from cfn gives a good rundown about this newly bitter hateful spiteful angry game. can hardly wait to witness this spectacle. surely phat phil wont be capped from some gump neck in the top row but nothing would surprise me. if so then we LSU fans need to top it to regain our title. Perspective Piece Tennessee vs. Alabama, Oct. 22 By Matthew Zemek We interrupt this SEC season for a game that’s all about hatred. Yes, the Alabama Crimson Tide are pursuing an SEC West crown (and with it, the chance to obtain bigger prizes), and sure, the Tennessee Volunteers are—just like the good ol’ days—playing for the Citrus (well, Capital One) Bowl, but when they step inside Bryant-Denny Stadium this Saturday, it’s going to feel like the SEC Championship Game for a state that wants retribution, and a Tennessee coach who will want this game for very personal reasons. The Vols and Tide have never liked each other, but this year, there’s extra vinegar and venom surrounding their collision, which should be played at 11:55 p.m. Friday night for two reasons: A) the game would not start on the fourth Saturday of October, a sacrilege for a rivalry that has a revered place on the third Saturday of the tenth month of the year—the 21st will be the “Third Saturday” five minutes earlier; B) the hatred between these schools has become so violent, fueled by the soap opera entangling Fulmer, former Bama coaches and boosters, and a lot of messy interactions with Ye Olde NCAA, that a back alley at midnight seems a more appropriate place for staging this confrontation, where the term “Crimson flood” does not apply to any Christian hymn-song, but to the river of fluid Bama fans want to see ooze from the broken, busted bodies of a beaten Tennessee team. Remember how Georgia fans—upon getting Steve Spurrier Between the Hedges for the first time in ten years—wanted the biggest, baddest bloodletting they could possibly imagine in September, when the Gamecocks traveled to Athens to meet the Bulldogs? It’s much the same principle in this game, as Fulmer—who has dominated the Crimson Tide during his stay in Knoxville—just might face a reckoning of massive proportions... at least if Rick Clausen can’t display the heroics that brother Casey did two years ago. In 2003, an improbable overtime win for the Vols was made possible by “The Ice Man” and a 4th and 19 completion in the third overtime stanza that saved the Children of the Checkerboard against a Bama team reeling from the Mike Price scandal and ably coached on that day by Mike Shula. The quality of Shula’s coaching performance that day gave Tide fans hope that Don’s Son would be able to lead Bama back to the promised land... and back to the winner’s circle against Tennessee. But injuries would have something to say about that. The 2004 campaign was hardly an indictment of Shula’s coaching ability, but out-of-control Bama fans (who, by the way, are anything but alone in their impatience; there seem to be zero college football fans who possess that great human virtue these days, including those from Tennessee and just about anywhere else) just couldn’t accept the fact that injuries, and not coaching, hurt their team. Against Tennessee, Shula had to toss a very inexperienced and not-tremendously-talented Spencer Pennington into the Neyland Stadium pit against John Chavis’ wolves. Predictably enough, the Vols chewed Pennington up and spat him out, preserving yet another Vol victory on a day when the Big Orange offense could do precious little. The 17-13 defeat seemed to many to be a wasted opportunity for Shula, and even an outrage in some quearters, given the Tide’s dominance on defense. But as coaches always say, “you are what you are,” and Alabama was just not equipped with enough healthy, top-shelf skill position players to be able to win that day. This year—against Tennessee and, for that matter, the rest of the SEC—is different in Tuscaloosa. It’s funny what a healthy stud quarterback will do to change perceptions of a head coach, and that’s exactly what has happened with Brodie Croyle and Mike Shula. Having his main gunslinger back, renewed and focused in 2005 makes Bama—at least on that thing called paper—a clear favorite in this game. But being a clear favorite against Phil Fulmer-coached teams—a scenario that hasn’t existed very much to begin with—is a scary proposition for the school that has had to listen to the Vols sing “We Own Alabama!” all too many times over the years. For one afternoon, Shula, Croyle and the school supported by the Million Dollar Band want to walk off the field and feel like a million bucks, singing “Sweet Home Alabama!” with relish and conviction. After all that Fulmer has done to affect the health of their program, and after all the hard knocks they’ve taken from the Vols over the years, there’s nothing the Tide want more than to deal their Orange enemies a biblical dose of unforgettable retribution. Folks might say it’s all about winning the SEC for Bama—and that it’s all about staying in the East race for the Vols—but that would be patently false, a smokescreen you could decipher in a heartbeat. In a rivalry that’s always been something fierce, Tennessee-Bama now becomes even more vicious, nasty and brutal. It’s a Tide team that wants a bloodletting against a proud, defiant Tennessee coach who’d like nothing more than to turn around a dismal season by defending his turf against the school he dragged into the muck. This Saturday is the reason those Southern Marshals escort coaches on and off the field at the beginning and end of games. The new level of intensity associated with Vols-Tide makes Phil Fulmer’s entrance and exit almost as intriguing a spectacle as the game itself. Tennessee-Alabama. It’s no longer a fixture on the Third Saturday of October, but the hatred is hotter than ever. That’s what makes this Saturday’s game crackle with so much life and intrigue. http://www.collegefootballnews.com/2005/Columnists/MZ/Week8/PP_Tenn_Alabama.htm
Other than LSU/AU, this is the game I'm most interested in watching...I expect some brutal hits in this game. Some arrests as well.
phat phil is gonna have more police escorts than a jfk funeral. im predicting one trips and he follows suit.
