Wadley’s Weekly: WABA
By Will Hadley
As if this season couldn’t get any crazier, what a finish against Florida in the house that General Neyland built.
Now, it’s come to my attention that some of our fans aren’t too happy with our performance on Saturday.
Sure, the offense struggled big time. Nico had some untimely turnovers and missed on some throws that would have changed the trajectory of the game. However, every true Vol fan knows that you can NEVER complain about a win over Florida. Those guys have been a thorn in our sides since the beginning of time.
We’ve seen it all in this series. Everybody knows you lose to Florida when their starter is taken out of the game and their mobile backup enters. Everybody knows you lose to Florida when they come up with a miraculous touchdown in the 4th quarter way behind the sticks. Everybody knows you lose to Florida when a head coach should have gone for 2 but elected to take the XP.
But this week was a sign of things to come. It was a sign of who we are and who they are from here on out. We aren’t scared of these guys anymore. They threw every voodoo trick at us that they could possibly muster up, and these boys took it on the chin. We marched out onto that field in overtime, shut them down in 3 plays, and walked right down the field with ease to crush their dreams.
Now obviously, we could have played better in that game. We left a lot of points on the field, Nico still has growing to do and our liabilities at the tackle position are still haunting us. But at the end of the day, we earned another week to get better. We stayed alive in the playoff hunt and have another opportunity for this offense to click. And we are so close.
Now let me just tell you right here and right now. I’ve seen it. I know what’s happening.
We are beating Alabama.
This isn't your daddy’s Crimson Tide team rolling into Knoxville tomorrow. These boys are weak, undisciplined, and lack direction. Everyone came out of that Vanderbilt game thinking it was a fluke. But the further we get from it, the more it seems like that first half against Georgia was the fluke. These boys have struggled big time against some pretty weak opponents and now they expect to walk into the toughest place to play in college football and waltz to a win against THIS Volunteer defense?
Neyland Stadium needs to be an absolute insane asylum tomorrow to help will these boys to a win, so we can’t get our spirits down. You’re going to hear every line in the book tomorrow to discourage you, so right now is the time to nip it in the bud and change your mindset for good.
We are beating Alabama.
Everytime they talk about our offensive struggles, remember WABA.
When they want to obsess over a receiver for being 17 years old, remember WABA.
When the negavols hide at the first sight of pushback, remember WABA.
It’s time to show the world who the hell we are. And this time, the goalposts remain intact. This isn’t going to be anything special for us. It’s just us being us and taking care of business. Alabama is simply the next school in our way of bringing home a national title.
-Will
WABA
