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00:03Great to have Bob Kessling on the legendary voice of the Tennessee Vols and they're coming
00:07off a huge win over Alabama after they had had a tough game in overtime against Florida
00:14in Knoxville.
00:15But I want to go back to start Bob to the game in Fayetteville where they lost and you
00:19would have thought that Tennessee season was going down the toilet because they had a rough
00:25road game to Fayetteville.
00:27Now the fans are crazy.
00:30We know that that's a given.
00:32But the reality is I've always believed that it is so brutal to win on the road in the
00:37SEC and to go on the road.
00:39I don't care who you're playing.
00:41It is always difficult.
00:42It's a nightmare.
00:43And that day was a tough day.
00:46That was the first time someone all season long and really punched you in the mouth and
00:50didn't let Tennessee do what they do where they score a lot of points and their offense
00:55is clicking and they're moving the ball and they're getting possessions and just moving
00:59down the field.
01:00That was a rock'em, sock'em football game.
01:04What did they get out of that?
01:06There had to be something they learned from it other than everybody thought the world
01:09was ending in Knoxville because they are six and one and things are real cherry rosy again.
01:15Yeah, Scott, it's interesting the week before the Arkansas game, Tennessee went to Oklahoma
01:24and had a knock down, drag out fight with the Sooners but figured out a way to win that
01:29game.
01:30And then they go to Arkansas and you think, well, okay, they've got one under their belt
01:34on the road in the SEC and Niko is going to be able to come out and play really well and
01:38they'll be back to the old Tennessee that we know.
01:41And then suddenly Arkansas comes out and plays a similar defense to what Oklahoma did.
01:46And Tennessee didn't score in the first half.
01:48And that was shocking.
01:49I mean, that was really shocking.
01:51And then Arkansas was just more physical than Tennessee was that day and won it.
01:56And I think it kind of knocked everybody back on their heels.
01:59But it also, I think, brought it into the reality that Niko Yamaliaba is still a very
02:04young quarterback.
02:05I mean, he started one game last year in the bowl game.
02:08And so he's really just figuring out how to play in the SEC, especially on the road.
02:13The interesting thing is that Tennessee has not scored in the first half in the last three
02:17games, which when you look at Josh Heupel's record, a lot of times they score on the first
02:23possession and a lot of times in the very first play of the game.
02:26They've done that five or six times.
02:28So not being able to score in the first half has been a little bit concerning.
02:34But then they figured out a way in the last two games to win in the second half and primarily
02:39running the ball and not throwing it.
02:41I mean, everybody thinks about Josh Heupel's offense being these huge chunk plays down
02:45the field, but they run the ball more than anybody in the SEC.
02:48And Dylan Sampson has just been fabulous for Tennessee running the football.
02:53But they're more of a running team right now than they are a big chunk passing team.
02:57So when you were playing in Norman and you're calling the game and you see their struggles
03:03with their quarterbacks and their offense, were you surprised at their weakness?
03:09I mean, they got serious issues.
03:12I know they're not your problems, but you had to have seen it.
03:15And you got a young quarterback as well.
03:17What was it like seeing their problems?
03:20Well, you could tell that they were limited offensively.
03:23But Tennessee still, one of the strengths of this team is its defense.
03:28The front seven has just been tremendous all season.
03:33When you watch Tennessee play defensively, it's like watching a hockey game because they
03:37roll those defensive linemen out like it's a hockey shift.
03:40They'll play three or four plays and here come four fresh guys in.
03:44And that's really been an advantage for Tennessee, especially in the second half of these tight
03:48games that they're fresh and still being able to pressure the quarterback.
03:52But it was obvious that Oklahoma was struggling offensively to move the ball.
03:56But Tennessee obviously didn't help them very much either.
03:59I mean, Tennessee's defense was really good that day.
04:01So you kind of chalk that up to a Tennessee win because of defense.
04:06But the struggles for Tennessee have continued on offense and they're winning games in the
04:1120s now.
04:12When we, around here, the first three years of Jai Shaipal, we're used to Tennessee scoring
04:1750 points in a game.
04:19That's not happening right now.
04:21Well, tell me about the Florida game.
04:24Florida had you dead to rights in Knoxville and you end up beating them in overtime.
04:29What happened there?
04:31Well, the same thing, that Tennessee had gone back to the running game to grab the lead
04:36and then Florida lost their quarterback.
04:40Florida had dominated the first half and then Tennessee was able to come back and get the
04:44lead.
04:45And then when Graham Mertz, the Florida quarterback, went out, the whole game changed.
04:49He went out with that leg injury and then the whole thing changed because Florida had
04:53to go to the freshman quarterback, Lagway, who's a very talented player, but he's very
04:58inexperienced.
04:59But he led them down the field.
05:01And at the end of the game, with under a minute to go, threw a bullet for a touchdown.
05:06I think Florida at first was going to go for two to take the lead and with about 29 seconds
05:13left.
05:14But then Tennessee called a quick timeout and then Florida decided to kick the extra
05:17point, go to overtime.
05:19And then Tennessee's defense had Florida going backwards.
05:22Florida missed a long field goal and then Tennessee just went to Sampson and they just
05:26marched it down the field to win in overtime.
05:28But that was a tough game and it was a really difficult game for Tennessee to win.
05:32And then this past week against Alabama, those are always slug fests.
05:36I mean, you go back down, they played 107 times, Scott, so they've been battling for
05:41a long, long time against each other.
05:43And again, Tennessee did a really good job on Jalen Milrow, who is, Milrow is the big
05:50star of the Alabama offense.
05:52He runs the ball more than anybody on that team.
05:54And Tennessee held him to 14 carries and 11 yards.
05:58And that was really a key and they pressured him.
06:00So he threw under 50%, I think, from the field and just wasn't very effective.
06:06And Tennessee's defense, I think in the second half especially, put a lot of pressure on
06:10Milrow.
06:11And Alabama made some mistakes, threw a couple of interceptions, missing field goals.
06:16And that could have been a different game.
06:18But then Tennessee, opening drive of the game, Tennessee takes it down the field and Dylan
06:23Sampson fumbles, his first fumble all year.
06:26And that stopped the Tennessee drive.
06:28So neither team played really clean football in the game, but Tennessee figured out a way
06:32to win it.
06:34I mean, this kid, Dylan Sampson, was unbelievable, 139 yards, two tutties.
06:41I thought the vols up front were just giving him massive holes.
06:46I don't think I've ever seen a tied defense pushed around like that in the trenches in
06:54a long time.
06:55I mean, I'm talking about way before Nick Saban.
06:58I've never seen holes like that or a team, an Alabama team, get kind of just beaten down
07:05by Tennessee.
07:06I thought Sampson had nice work, but it looked easy to me with some of the holes he got.
07:13Well, when you watched Alabama come out on the field and warm up, they didn't impress
07:19you like they have in the past with those big uglies, especially on the defensive line,
07:24where they would just kind of maul you at the line of scrimmage.
07:26They have a couple of guys that are really good players up front, but they don't have
07:29the overall depth in that defensive line where they can just dominate.
07:34I mean, South Carolina, the other game, started the second half and held the ball for eight
07:40and a half minutes against them, and that used to never happen against Alabama.
07:45Sampson has been a story because of the fact he's run for 100 yards now in six of Tennessee's
07:50seven games.
07:51Right.
07:52And a lot of his yardage, about two-thirds of it, is after contact.
07:56So that means he's breaking tackles, and when there's not a hole, he creates one.
08:01And the one thing that separates him, he's got sprinter speed.
08:04I mean, he was the sprint champion out of Baton Rouge, and if he gets by that first
08:09line of defense, he's a home run hitter.
08:11So he's just been really good.
08:13Last year he got to play some, but Jalen Wright was the featured back last year, and Wright
08:18was a 1,000-yard rusher, and Wright had a really good season.
08:22So Sampson had to pick and choose some of his spots where he had a chance to play, but
08:26he played well when he did.
08:29But this year he's the featured guy, there's no question.
08:31They're riding him right now.
08:32He's the workhorse.
08:33He rushed for, what, 26 times, I guess, against Alabama.
08:37And so they're giving him the ball, and he's doing a really good job with it.
08:41Honestly, they held them to 89 yards rushing.
08:44That was embarrassing as well.
08:46I'll say this, you don't play again until the 2nd of November, so you're off until you
08:50play Kentucky in Knoxville.
08:52But boy, do you have brutal games at Georgia on the 16th, and at Vanderbilt, who's been
08:57a huge surprise this year, ask Alabama.
09:01That game's on the 30th of November.
09:03So I really like their schedule.
09:05Those are brutal games.
09:07I like where they stand at 6-1, way better than where Alabama's looking right now for
09:11the college football playoff.
09:13Bob, always a pleasure, my man.
09:15Always great having you on Coast to Coast.
09:16Thank you very much.
09:17Thanks, man.