All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee Football: Are these Vols Another Team of Destiny?

By Caleb Calhoun

Oct 1, 2016; Athens, GA, USA; Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) is carried off the field by team mates after catching the game winning touchdown pass against the Georgia Bulldogs on the last play on the game during the fourth quarter at Sanford Stadium. Tennessee defeated Georgia 34-31. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 1, 2016; Athens, GA, USA; Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) is carried off the field by team mates after catching the game winning touchdown pass against the Georgia Bulldogs on the last play on the game during the fourth quarter at Sanford Stadium. Tennessee defeated Georgia 34-31. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Tennessee football’s 34-31 Hail Mary win over the Georgia Bulldogs has peaked the curiosity of fans. Are these Volunteers another team of destiny?

For the past decade, it seemed like all the decks were stacked against the Tennessee football program. Every time things went wrong, the Vols would panic. They would roll over. The game would be over.

All of this came to fruition last year with four close losses. But ever since then, Tennessee has been the hottest team in America. And now everything has turned on its head.

It reached a peak on Saturday.

Tennessee football has already made a habit of coming back from double-digit deficits in Butch Jones’s fourth year. They’ve now done it in four of these five games.

More from Vols Football

But against the Georgia Bulldogs, it seemed like playing with fire finally burned them when Jacob Eason threw a 47-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds left.

That’s when the Vols showed that they have even more magic than just coming back. Joshua Dobbs hit Jauan Jennings on a 43-yard Hail Mary pass as time expired to give the Vols the win.

So now comes the real question: is this a team of destiny? After years of turning their backs on Rocky Top, are the football Gods finally looking over the Vols?

Right now, with four comeback wins, one of which came in overtime and another of which came off a Hail Mary, Tennessee football is looking like the 2013 Auburn Tigers.

Better yet, they are looking like the 1998 Vols, who won two games off a missed field goal in overtime and a fluke fumble late in the fourth quarter.

The real question, though, is this: is it destiny, or is it mentality? The term ‘Good fortune is often with the man who doesn’t include it in his plans’ never seems to ring true in college football.

But it can’t be a coincidence when certain teams keep getting all the breaks. Remember, Vols fans thought they got the worst of luck at the beginning of last year.

And they’ve had some awful luck this year. Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Darrin Kirkland Jr., and Cameron Sutton all being hurt on defense are killers.

Jacob Eason’s 47-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds to go seemed just as lucky as Tennessee’s Hail Mary.

So its not like bad luck hasn’t hit Tennessee. But the Vols keep responding. They have made their breaks. And when breaks come their way, they have taken advantage.

All of this leads me to believe that the luck is a result of a winning mentality for Tennessee football. As a senior quarterback, Joshua Dobbs is no stranger to clutch performances.

After all, in his first game as the full-time starter, he led a 14-point comeback with three minutes to go on the road.

Now, he is keeping everybody poised when things look to be at their worst.

Butch Jones is doing the same thing as a coach, even if he is blowing way too many plays.

And the rest of the players are responding. So this Tennessee football team may very well be a team of destiny.

But if it is, it’s only because of the mental approach that this team has taken to games.

Home/Vols Football