Today On Rocky Top: Peyton Wins The Manning Bowl & More

Sep 15, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) shakes hands with New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) after a game at MetLife Stadium. The Broncos defeated the Giants 41-23. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

From NY Daily News

"Sunday afternoon’s showdown with the juggernaut Denver Broncos at MetLife Stadium was supposed to be a chance for a statement win, and a chance for Eli Manning to finally defeat big brother Peyton. But the idea of the Manning Bowl wound up as a footnote in the Giants’ locker room after a second straight debacle, this one a 41-23 loss at the site of the Super Bowl that this team so desperately wants to play in.Never mind that Eli fell to 0-3 against Big Bro. These Giants spent the entire postgame trying to convince everyone that they’re a better team than their record, and that these two ugly, season-opening losses could have been wins."

From Bleacher Report

"Burn the game film. Erase the cross-country trip from memory. Pretend it never happened.These are three things Tennessee must do after the mighty Oregon Ducks handed the Vols their worst loss of the modern era, 59-14.Take a deep breath, UT fans. After the season’s first two games, there wasn’t enough evidence that this was a good football team. After Saturday’s embarrassment, there’s not enough evidence that the Vols are this bad, either.It’s still possible Tennessee can beat Florida next week. Or South Carolina down the road. Or several other ranked teams it plays.Oregon was just on a different planet than the Vols from a talent and speed perspective."

From The Tennessean

"Tennessee still has a long way to go before it can end its recent history of frustration against ranked opponents.After victories over Austin Peay and Western Kentucky gave Tennessee cause for optimism, No. 2 Oregon handed the Volunteers a cold slap of reality Saturday. Oregon’s 59-14 victory represented Tennessee’s most one-sided varsity loss since 1910 and revealed how much work remains in new coach Butch Jones’ rebuilding project.“This will not be tolerated,” Jones said. “We can never, ever accept this performance‘."

From FanSided

"After a 2-0 start while outscoring the likes of Autin Peay and Western Kentucky by a 97-20 margin, it was starting to look as though the Tennessee Volunteers were on the verge of becoming a respectable program again, but that thought was quickly halted when the Vols surrendered 687 yards of total offense to second-ranked Oregon, who used eight consecutive touchdown drives to annihilate UT by a 59-14 margin.Reality is really going to set in over the next month, as the Vols face a brutal stretch of games that includes at Florida next week, and then an October stretch that will see them face three top-10 teams in Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama."