A big night for the Big Orange – and Barbara’s baby boy
Tyler Bray's weird non-touchdown at the end of the first half. (AP photo by John Amis)
Her younger son is beginning his third season as Tennessee’s coach, but the sight of Barbara Dooley in orange still serves as a shock to the senses. For the first night of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic, the former grande dame of Georgia football came wearing the following:
Orange jacket. White blouse. White slacks. White sandals with orange piping, or whatever it is you call that mesh stuff on the top of women’s sandals.
Her husband, who once made his red-and-black living trying to squeeze the daylights out of the Big Orange, came more sedately clad. Vince Dooley had on khaki pants, a white polo shirt and white socks with Birkenstocks. (OK, I’m kidding about the footwear.)
“I’m doing fine now,” Barbara Dooley said, speaking 30 minutes before kickoff. “But in two hours I might not be.”
Ninety minutes later, Derek Dooley’s Vols were leading North Carolina State 22-7, having scored 16 points in 38 seconds. And I know what you’re saying: “Sixteen points in 38 seconds — two touchdowns and two two-point conversions, right?” Nope. It was wilder than that.
Get the picture: N.C. State leads 7-6 and, with 1:31 remaining in the longest first quarter in the history of humankind, faces fourth-and-3 at the Tennessee 35. Convert here and State has a chance to establish a working lead, and Wolfpack receivers have already displayed the capacity to shake free of Tennessee’s coverage, such as it is.
But not this time. Mike Glennon, whose quarterbacking brother Sean presided over a famous second-half collapse by Virginia Tech in the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl against Georgia, throws a pretty awful interception. Then Tyler Bray up and hits a Volunteer receiver named Rogers — through not Da’Rick Rogers, the infamous recruit from Calhoun, Ga. — for 72-yard touchdown. (For the record, the Rogers in question is named Zach.)
Some turnaround, huh? Fourth-down interception, first-down touchdown. Wait. It gets wilder. On the Pack’s next snap, Mike Glennon drops to throw and, for reasons unclear, holds the ball and retreats toward his end zone, whereupon he loses the ball, which is recovered by a State lineman but yields a safety. Now the Pack trails 15-7 and has to kick the ball to Tennessee, which again requires all of one play to score.
This time it’s a pretty reverse to the receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, who’d already scored on a 41-yard reception. This 67-yard run puts Tennessee ahead 22-7, and here we pause for both breath and perspective: Three snaps have yielded three Vol scores. Whoa, Nelly.
But wait. It would get wilder still. State scored to draw within 22-14. The Vols moved to the Wolfpack 1 inside the final 30 seconds of the half. Bray sought to sneak for score but was hit in the backfield. He tried to extend the ball over the goal line — breaking the plane, as it were — but saw the ball knocked from his grasp. State recovered.
Replay was consulted, and one angle appeared to show the ball still in Bray’s hands above the plane. But Tennessee wasn’t granted its touchdown, prompting a massive roar from those in orange, who outnumbered those in State red 2-to-1. In all, it was a suitable (not to say clinical) ending to a first half that saw 586 yards gained.
For Barbara’s baby boy, it was a flying start to an important autumn. Derek Dooley had lost 14 of his first 25 games at Tennessee, and last season the Vols could win only one SEC game — that against Vanderbilt, that in overtime. Another halting season could leave Dooley the Younger looking for work.
But Tennessee, it must be said, looked pretty spiffy against an opponent that has been pegged as a potential ACC sleeper. They shrugged off their end-of-the-half gaffe to score twice more in the third quarter, building their lead to 32-14. They ran faster, hit harder and looked, not to put too fine a point on it, like a mid-table SEC team is supposed to look against an opponent from that presumed lesser league.
Through three quarters, Tennessee had outgained State by 141 yards, but the job wasn’t quite done. The Wolfpack scored early in the fourth to draw within 11 points, and if ever teams had reason to believe anything was possible, these two did. Sixteen points in 38 seconds, remember?
The rest of the game, perhaps mercifully, was rather tame. State wouldn’t score again. Tennessee would add a field goal. The Vols won 35-21, which happened to be the score of Boise State’s victory over Georgia in this event last season. This game, for what it’s worth, was far more entertaining than that monstrosity.
By Mark Bradley
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124 comments Add your comment
ZinoDawg
September 1st, 2012
6:28 am
Somebody forgot to teach the State defense how to tackle. They were pathetic!
tndawg
September 1st, 2012
6:29 am
A win is a win. NCS is no power house but UT did play a good game over all. I think they are improving and no doubt if they give Dooley a chance will return to glory days. But, I think if they don`t have a decent year Dooley will be canned.
Personally as a Dawg fan living in TN I must say that I hope they never return to glory days! I love collage football but around here in the fall there is so much orange I want to puck. And after a UT win there is even more.
GO DAWGS!!!!
vandy got robbed
September 1st, 2012
6:33 am
Huh? Meknows you have zero indication Joe is a Bulldog from his post. Methinks your a Dawg who poses as others and hates on his own team….Time and time again…
Homepage | MrSEC
September 1st, 2012
6:44 am
[...] 6. Mark Bradley: “For Barbara’s baby boy, it was a flying start to an important autumn.” [...]
Lane Kiffin
September 1st, 2012
6:48 am
Combine both teams and I’ll pound ‘em by 50! Throw in delusional UGA – anyone outside Athens think it’s an ”elite program?” – and I’ll hang 60 on ‘em!
jsmooth
September 1st, 2012
7:01 am
UT, You guys play a 2nd rate Amatuer Coast Conference team and win and all of a sudden, you are world beaters. Great win for Dooley and the program, however, welcome to the SEC!! We will see what this year holds with real football teams with speed and size. Patterson is all we heard about. Bray looked good also, I guess it was the bricks he through this past year. Strengthen his arm!
Vol-ley Ball
September 1st, 2012
7:09 am
Tennessee will smash their hobnail boots in UGA’s face this year. Richt’s thugs will go home crying their eyes out from the spanking their get.
tenn.DAWG
September 1st, 2012
8:15 am
Lets’s face it,any win for utk is big right now,but until they play uf I would wait to anoint them SEC East Champions.Tragic about the fan who died,I assume his family witnessed it,can’t imagine and puts things in perspective.
333
September 1st, 2012
8:26 am
Barbara is a good Mama. Good Mamas pull for their baby boys.
CHDawg
September 1st, 2012
8:26 am
Folks you have to objective. The Vols looked very strong, and SC looked much weaker than expected. It is just one game for both teams, but I was shocked by TN’s talent and play. I thought they beat NCS much worse than the scoreboard indicated. On SC, Vandy could be improving and they could have been flat. Shaw sure put in a valiant effort in the win, so it wasn’t all negative for the Gamecocks. You never know till you see ‘em play. One thing is sure: Vandy and TN both have good teams at the very least.
JakeVol
September 1st, 2012
8:27 am
A win is a win. Yes, the Vols are better.. They will beat someone in the SEC that they should not have beat. Wonder who it’s going to be?
Russo
September 1st, 2012
8:27 am
Let the Vals have their moment. Reality will smack them in the face soon enough.
CHDawg
September 1st, 2012
8:31 am
It is just one game, but I thought the Vols looked great last night. They beat NCS much worse than the scoreboard indicated imho. Go Dawgs.
Webster
September 1st, 2012
8:32 am
“Huh”
1- confused, bewildered
2- could you repeat, I did not hear
So, “Huh” is either “deaf”, or “dumb”
DP
September 1st, 2012
8:39 am
Bradley is such a Georgia homer that Tennessee’s coach isn’t Derek Dooley, it’s “Barbara Dooley’s baby boy”. Is there any other head coach who is primarily identified by who his parents are? Enough already.
1eyedJack
September 1st, 2012
8:41 am
Tennessee looked better to me than either SC or Vandy, but to put it in the proper perspective, it was against an ACC school.
juice sourcer
September 1st, 2012
8:48 am
I thought the Georgia/Boise State game was very entertaining. Small little school in Idaho comes into the heart of SEC country and knocks of Georgia with all their 4 and 5 star recruits. Who doesn’t love a story like that.
ngacane
September 1st, 2012
8:55 am
I don’t post to these things much. But after one game the BS has started. Guys, there are 11 games left. Enjoy the ride. Don’t be like the media picking the Champ after one game. They are like a YO -YO.
Yeah, right
September 1st, 2012
8:55 am
“Fulmer is a Christian man.”
Tell that to Johnny Majors.
GT
September 1st, 2012
8:58 am
Vince Dooley had the skill of playing over rated teams that made the record look good, I think Younger has inherited that skill. It wasn’t just Vince, Dodd could do the same thing. Steve Spurrier catches it for calling out an over rated team but to me it shows he has a eye for detail. The SEC has had less opportunity for this shot selection in recent years as they have kept the play outside their conference limited. Where people miss the value of this skill is the fact these guys can beat a team they are suppose to beat. Richt tried this with Colorado a couple of years ago and got beat. Give Richt credit he ran an easy schedule last year and got better results. Vince never played Alabama much when Bear was there either. Winning against anybody is the name of this game of college football. Derek just did that.
NCDawg
September 1st, 2012
9:00 am
The Vols were inconsistent. They can’t run the ball between the tackles. Bray has ball security issues. The defense was ok but not nearly to the level of the contenders. Tennessee will give some teams a run for their money but in the end a bowl trip will be the marker of a fair season. I think it should be enough to save Derek Dooley’s job for one more year, which may not be any kind of mercy at all. Next year the Vol fans will demand a SEC East title regardless of the realities of SEC football. I feel for the man. He was handed a bag of meadow muffins and after two mediocre seasons he is expected to win big again. He needs a stellar recruiting class or two to get to where the Orange maniacs expect him to be. I’m afraid he won’t be given that time.
Let's laugh
September 1st, 2012
9:02 am
a win is a win is the most ignorant phrase a football fan can blather. No, for the game to have merit, TN should have won by 4 touchdowns. To beat NCST by 14 is a measure of both teams.
Mark knows this, but his job is to create something out of nothing.
Huh?
September 1st, 2012
9:09 am
Let’s laugh….TN should have won by 4 touchdowns…interesting, since the line on the game was 3 points.
Huh?
September 1st, 2012
9:09 am
Yeah Right…what exactly did Fulmer do to Johnny Majors?
Winners and Losers
September 1st, 2012
9:15 am
If you are a fan of an SEC school and you are pulling for an outer conference team against a SEC team then you deserve to have your SEC Membership Card pulled.
A great deal of sad pathetic losers posting on here who are too dumb to realize it affects your schools BCS standings.
Huh?
September 1st, 2012
9:18 am
You can tell that UT must have done something pretty good last night….all the UGA fans are now on here blasting UT.
Apparently, it’s not ok if a UT fan judges their team after a victory, but it is ok for UGA fans to predict that UGA will destroy UT, even though their team has yet to play a down this year.
catlady
September 1st, 2012
9:22 am
What would be great is if every team that had to throw a rogue player or two off the roster wins, and wins big, to show that it doesn’t need to be recruiting such …
catlady
September 1st, 2012
9:24 am
It might show the coaches not to recruit such players as those from the start. Send them to Alabama State or wherever.
Let's laugh
September 1st, 2012
9:26 am
Huh? And Alabama was favored by 21 over LSU? No. Was a 21 point skunking a statement? Absolutely.
And anybody that watched the previous matchup of these teams knew Bama was a better team. But LSU got the win. A win is a win, horssh__. yeah right.
Mobile Dawg
September 1st, 2012
9:27 am
Just for openers, Congrats to UT, I hope Dooley restores a little of the pride there. Some pretty good opening weekend games already played and a few more to go.
Paul in NH
September 1st, 2012
9:28 am
A good win for UT last night. Winning 35-21 in the Chik-fil-A beats losing 35-21.
Maxwell the chihuahua hunter
September 1st, 2012
9:30 am
Hey Let’s Laugh…shut up and go cut the grass…
Wet Willie...keep on smiling
September 1st, 2012
9:32 am
UT will score points on most folks but #11 has to catch the ball better. #84 is a playa no doubt. Sal has done a great job with the UT defense but the problem is he has no depth at all in the defensive line and it showed. Not one fresh face to give the starters a break and this will be UT’s big problem as they progress this year. The jury is out on NCS and it really takes about 3/4 games to see just who is a playa and who is a pretender. I would say NCS is and will be average at best.
Best of luck to all your favorite teams….all but auburn…the most corrupt program in history. I hope Dabo blast the ghetto tigers from lee county.
Destin Dawg
September 1st, 2012
9:34 am
SEC East will be exciting !!! Tenn is improved , Vandy has high expectations, S.C. Clucks not so much with Shaw already beat up and no backup .. we’ll find out if we’re as good as advertised vs. Missouri at night in columbia… GO Dawgs !!
Let's laugh
September 1st, 2012
9:35 am
Maxwell, idiot screenname. Do you think it is funny. You’re are a clueless idiot.
I not gonna spend time flagging you but somebody will. What you wannt bet your posts disappear.
Huh?
September 1st, 2012
9:41 am
Let’s Laugh…I never said a win is a win…However, what does last year’s Bama/LSU game have to do with this? You said that UT should have won by 4 touchdowns. I said that the line on the game was only 3, so I am not sure why you said that.
Bottom line is, UT had a nice win. NCS is not a world beater, but not a patsy either. UT had over 500 yards of offense, 4 picks, 200 rushing yards, and made Vol fans forget about Duh’Rick. Plenty of things to work on, but still a nice win.
SEC Fact Finder
September 1st, 2012
9:45 am
If anyone is a fan, graduate or student of an SEC school and you are pulling for an outer conference team to beat one of SEC schools you need your SEC Membership card pulled. 3 Words…Strength of Schedule
It affects our teams and personally like them or not( even Auburn) as I a Bama Fan I will pulling for Every SEC team to lay beatings on everyone the SEC plays tonight.
Uh Huh
September 1st, 2012
9:45 am
It is what it is… two middling teams playing one another. Someone had to win.
NCDawg
September 1st, 2012
9:47 am
GT… the SEC has always had rotating schedules. Please actually know what you are talking about before you post horse hockey non-sense like this. UGA played Bama every year from 1958 to 1965, when UGA beat defending National Champion Alabama 18-17. The two teams didn’t meet again until 1972. Who do you think made that happen? It sure wasn’t 3rd year head coach Vince Dooley running from his first big victory. The two teams played each other 72 thru 74 and 76 and 77. The teams didn’t meet again until 1984… after the Bear had retired.
Prior to 1992 the SEC played 6 conference games… 5 permanent and 1 rotating. I’m sure you thought you were spouting pure wisdom from your point of view but as you can see your drivel about scheduling is just that…
7576DAWG
September 1st, 2012
9:50 am
Usually I don’t pull for an ACC team over an SEC team but the reason I was hoping that NCST’s defense was good enough to handle Tennessee was because Tyler Bray should not have been playing last night after the stunt he pulled . He would have missed two games if he was at Georgia.
Dooley was desperate and wanted to make such Tennessee started with a win. I will agree Bray looked good but who is running this team Dooley or Bray.
Let's laugh
September 1st, 2012
9:53 am
You used the line as an argument, correct. TN was favored by 3 and won by 14. I used the line as an argument. Neither Bama nor LSU was favored by 21 in the NC game, correct. For Bama to win by 21, was that a statement?
TN’s 14 point win over a lowly ACC opponent was not statement, but rather an ut oh.
NCST threw 4 picks. What good QB does that. And what were points off of turnovers.
Huh?
September 1st, 2012
9:53 am
Funny how UGA fans are now throwing dirt at UT. It’s pretty predicable though. UGA fans always do that when an SEC team looks like they might be could beat UGA. Sure sign of concern.
Paul in NH
September 1st, 2012
9:55 am
A 14 point win in your first game sure the heck beats a 14 point loss in your first game.
Huh?
September 1st, 2012
9:58 am
Let’s Laugh…You can say that NCS is a lowly ACC opponent…time will tell. I do know that they were predicted to make noise in the ACC this year.
Again, I don’t know what the Bama/LSU game has to do with it. I guess you could bring up any game where the line isn’t what you think it should have been after the fact. Most people thought that the UT/NCS game was going to be very close, but UT won by 2 touchdowns. Why do you care?
Bobby
September 1st, 2012
10:02 am
Overall a good game, but I hate that Chick-fil-gay sponsors the game.
Sid
September 1st, 2012
10:04 am
Congrats Vols!
Let's laugh
September 1st, 2012
10:06 am
NCDawg, you mention 58-65. Why? Vince first met the Beat in 64. You also fail to mention that the 65 game was an upset, Bear had a few, GT in 80 or 81, Miss St in 80 or 81. In fact, GA only won 2 SEC games that year. Obvious, Bama was not prepared for the lowly GA team.
You also fail to mention that the Bear was 4-2 against Dooley.
By the way, what was Bama’s rank at the end of 65 and was GA’s?
Dooley and Bear in the same post, sorry Bear for the dishonor.
Columbus
September 1st, 2012
10:08 am
Tide Rising needs to worry about the Tide because he obviously knows nothing about the rest of the SEC, particularly how they are going to mop the field with Tenn and Vandy. Vandy isnt sneaking up anyone and Tenn cant hang. Tide Rising better worry about LSU, Arkansas and Auburn because they was I see it is Bama DONT make the SEC Championship game AGAIN this year and DEFINITELY will not get a chance to play for the NC.
UGA WILL WIN THE EAST THE NEXT 5 YEARS TIDE RISING IMO AND DEFINITELY WIN IT THIS YEAR BARRING SIGNIFICANT KEY INJURY AND YOU CAN TAKE THAT TO THE BANK. BAMA WILL BE LOOKING FOR A NEW DC CAUSE SMART IS LIKELY. THERE IS A NEW TEAM IN THE TOP TIER OF SEC TEAMS AND IT IS THE GEORGIA BULLDOGS AND THEY WILL REMAIN SO FOR AS LONG AS RIGHT IS COACH. UGA FOOTBALL PROGRAM HAS NEVER BEEN IN AS STRONG SHAPE LOOKING AT THE FUTURE AS IT IS RIGHT NOW AND IT ONLY GETS BETTER NEXT YEAR AND THE NEXT AND THE NEXT AND THE NEXT…UGA WILL BE THERE.
NOT SAYING UGA IS BETTER THAN LSU OR BAMA, BUT THEY WILL BE RIGHT THERE BESIDE THEM EACH AND EVERY YEAR AND WILL GET A NC IN THE NEXT 5 YEARS…MUGHT BE THIS YEAR WITH THE DEFENSE AND WITH AN OFFENSE THAT CAN PUT POINTS UP…THERE IS A CHANCE……AND THE SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME WILL DECIDE IF IT IS THIS YEAR
Dawg Tired
September 1st, 2012
10:09 am
Speed kills. It will be interesting to see ow the Vols do against teams with as much, if not more, speed. NCSU was just way too slow to keep up at an SEC pace. Vols certainly looked formidable last night. They may be for real. Time will tell.
Maxwell the chihuahua hunter
September 1st, 2012
10:11 am
Hey Let’s Laugh…I recognize your kind…typical UGA fan…GED, big truck, big mouth, little man…sthu…