Tennessee Football has new life

Hello. This is the Josh and Swain Newsletter, a quick roundup of the week’s top stories and topics involving Tennessee and the sports world.

Here’s what we have for you today:

• Tennessee’s updated opportunity to make the College Football Playoff

• The incredible run by Tennessee RB Dylan Sampson

• The latest ridiculous story in the great Tennessee-Alabama rivalry

• An unlikely hero in Tennessee’s victory over Alabama

THE TIDE HAS TURNED FOR TENNESSEE

What a difference a win can make. 

Tennessee football has a enjoyed a great week thanks to its 24-17 victory over Alabama.

The Vols’ win has provided a huge lift to the mood of Big Orange Nation and the potential for UT’s season. 

After Tennessee lost to Arkansas on Oct. 5, oddsmakers projected the Vols outside of the 12-team College Football Playoff. 

Now, updated projections have Tennessee IN the playoff with the possibility of hosting a first-round game. 

◼️ This projection from ESPN has UT as a 9-seed playing at 8-seed LSU
◼️ This projection from Yahoo has UT as an 8-seed hosting 9-seed LSU

Tennessee still has a chance to win the SEC title and earn a first-round bye in the playoff. 

That will probably require the Vols to win out — so Tennessee would need to beat Georgia in Athens on Nov. 16.

But even if Tennessee loses to UGA, the Vols have a great path to a 10-2 record. 

📅 Here’s the rest of UT’s schedule:

• Nov. 2 Kentucky
• Nov. 9 Mississippi State
• Nov. 23 UTEP
• Nov. 30 at Vanderbilt

Is Tennessee guaranteed to win all four of those games?

No. 

But the Vols will be big favorites to win each one. 

Knowing what’s at stake, keeping the players’ focus shouldn’t be difficult. 

➡️ So here’s a big question: Is Tennessee in the playoff with a 10-2 record?

Personal opinion: Yes. 

But there will be other factors to consider. 

1️⃣ How does Tennessee look against Georgia?

If UT plays a competitive game but loses, the Vols will gain credibility in the eyes of the committee. 

If Tennessee looks bad from start to finish, similar to the 2022 game at Georgia, the committee might question if UT is worthy of a playoff invitation. 

The Vols would also like to see Alabama finish strong… at least for strength of schedule purposes.

Tennessee doesn’t have the strongest schedule among SEC teams due to the fall of NC State and Oklahoma.

2️⃣ How deep is the field of playoff contenders?

We have six weeks remaining in the regular season. 

A lot has to play out as several SEC teams are in positions similar to Tennessee. 

It helps that UT has the head-to-head win over Alabama, which needs to win out to finish 10-2 and hope for a playoff shot. 

LSU and Texas A&M have one loss apiece but no losses in SEC play. 

They’ll face each other in College Station, Texas, on Saturday. 

What about schools from other conferences?

Teams like BYU, Clemson, Indiana, Iowa State, Miami and Pittsburgh are all in good positions. 

Remember, teams will suffer losses, some unexpectedly, and the order will shake up. 

Tennessee needs to focus on two things: playing well and winning. 

The win over Alabama was a huge step on Tennessee’s path to the playoff. 

The Vols need to stay on course. 

KNOCKIN’ ON THE DOOR OF UT’S RECORDS

Dylan Simpson isn’t just having a great season for Tennessee.

The Vols’ running back is on a record-setting pace.

Sampson leads the SEC with 17 touchdowns this season and is tied with Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty for the most touchdowns in the country.

Sampson is one touchdown short of Gene McEver’s Tennessee school record for most rushing touchdowns in a season.

McEver’s record of 18 touchdowns has stood since 1929.

Barring injury, Sampson will crush that record.

Sampson is also on pace to rush for 1,436 yards during the regular season.

The single-season rushing record: Travis Stephens’ 1,464 yards in 2001.

What’s even more impressive about Sampson’s dominance this season: he has almost single-handedly kept Tennessee’s offense afloat.

The Vols’ offensive line has dealt with pass protection issues and penalties this season.

Quarterback Nico Iamaleava has experienced growing pains in his first year as a starter, and UT’s receivers have struggled to make big plays.

But Sampson… he’s been terrific.

Aside from his opening-drive fumble against Alabama, Sampson has been the player UT knew it could count on to make a play.

Sampson produced a streak of eight consecutive touchdowns for Tennessee, starting with his second-quarter TD in the first half of the Oklahoma game.

His touchdown streak ended when Chris Brazzell caught Tennessee’s go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter against Alabama.

Tennessee played 14 quarters — or 3.5 games — of football with Sampson being the only Vol to score a touchdown.

That kind of production has to put Sampson in contention for SEC Offensive Player of the Year.

What about the Doak Walker Award, which goes to the nation’s top running back?

Jeanty is the clear favorite right now, but anything can happen in the next six weeks.

The Vols’ second off week comes at a good time for Sampson, who has to be feeling the toll of the season.

Tennessee will make sure Sampson gets the rest he needs this week.

Because everyone knows how important he will be the rest of the way.

SPORTS NUGGETS

🏈 Jay Busbee explained why beating Alabama now is a big step toward a bigger goal for the Vols.

🏈 VFL Eric Berry has been named to the SEC Football Legends Class.

🏈 Here’s a look at big games and storylines for the upcoming CFB weekend.

🏈 Army and Navy are both undefeated. Read how they’re thriving without using NIL or the transfer portal.

🏀 Mike Wilson takes a look at Tennessee’s roster and lineup before the Vols’ home exhibition game vs Indiana on Sunday (UT’s regular season opener is Nov. 4 vs Gardner-Webb).

🏀 Zakai Zeigler received preseason All-America recognition from Jay Bilas at ESPN.

⚾ Here are 10 storylines to follow as the Dodgers and Yankees begin the World Series.

🎧 David Ubben of The Athletic told us what impressed him the most seeing Tennessee beat Alabama in person last weekend.

CAN YOU HEAR THE ANIMOSITY?

We’ve seen a lot of silly storylines involving Tennessee football over the years. 

The latest one from Tennessee’s win over Alabama ranks up there with the best of them. 

On Monday, a video clip of Alabama play-by-play announcer Chris Stewart hit Twitter. 

In the clip, Stewart is seen and heard saying that Tennessee pipes in crowd noise at Neyland Stadium.

“Second-and-16 is not what you’re looking for, especially with the noise level being what it is here,” Stewart said during the radio broadcast. “You’ve got 100,000-plus (fans) and they also pipe in crowd noise as well.”

This gained traction on social media, as you would probably expect, and Tennessee fans were NOT amused. 

Stewart and the Crimson Tide Sports Network heard about it from UT fans, and Stewart was asked about the subject on Wednesday when he appeared on 3 Man Front on WJOX.

Stewart did admit he misspoke, but he also appeared to double down on his point.

There was also this post from Patrick Greenfield of AL.com.

There’s no evidence that what Stewart said or Greenfield posted is true. 

In fact, eye (ear?) witnesses said otherwise. 

Jayson Swain, the Vol Network’s sideline reporter, denied Tennessee uses those speakers for crowd noise. 

“They’re for music,” Swain said. 

Cole Cubelic of ESPN/The SEC Network said the same. 

“I’ve walked by those (speakers) 100 times during games,” Cubelic tweeted. “Never heard crowd noise from them.”

Josh Pate, who was on the sideline for the Alabama game, echoed what Cubelic and Swain said.

So there you have it.

This story is a couple of things:

1️⃣ Absurd
2️⃣ Great  

One thing that makes college football special is the craziness. 

The football by itself is wonderful — the games are the backbone of the sport. 

But the storylines keep us talking about college football 52 weeks out of the year. 

The Alabama-Tennessee rivalry is one of the best in college football. 

Both teams are good again, giving us competitive football on the field.

And the hate from each side to the other is alive and well.

Good.

BROOKS WAS EVERYWHERE

Tennessee’s win over Alabama was secured when defensive back Will Brooks intercepted Jalen Milroe’s pass on Alabama’s final possession.

That’s Birmingham, Ala., native Will Brooks.

You might have heard by now that Brooks arrived at Tennessee as a walk-on.

If you knew that before the season, you might have also been surprised to learn he would start for the Vols.

“Wait. Tennessee has all these scholarship players and a walk-on is starting at safety?”

That would have been a fair response.

But dig deeper and you’ll learn about the work Brooks has put in at Tennessee and the respect he’s earned from his coaches and teammates.

Brooks was huge against Alabama.

His interception received the most attention, but his tackle of Milroe in the first quarter probably saved a touchdown.

Brooks had eight tackles against Alabama and earned Week 8 Burlsworth Trophy Walk-On of the Week honors.

We gave Brooks an attaboy on Josh and Swain Monday; he more than earned it.

Listen to what Jayson Swain, a fellow Alabama native, said about the performance of Brooks on this week’s show.

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