Drewhead is a friend of mine despite being a Clemson graduate. The Clemson Tigers trashed my beloved Tennessee Volunteers at the Peach Bowl while I was on vacation. The Volunteers were expected to win. Both teams were on winning streaks, but Tennessee was the higher ranked team, had played a tougher schedule, and had more experienced players. Yet Clemson won fairly easily. I think the reason for this is a lesson for us all.
Clemson is a young team who went through a lot of problems this year. They overcame a lot to get to the Peach Bowl and they were excited to be there. Their players gave it their all and earned my respect.
On the other hand, Tennessee expected to go to a better bowl. The Volunteer players were upset that lower ranked teams went to more prestigious bowls (e.g., even the Outback Bowl ignored the Volunteers and asked the lower ranked Gators who the Volunteers had beaten to play instead). Unfortunately, Tennessee has a habit of only playing well when they feel like it. The Volunteers love challenges and will play their hearts out when they are underdogs. They did it this year when they upset the Miami Hurricanes in South Florida. They did it a few years ago when they beat FSU for the national championship. However, they tend to sulk like children when they are disappointed and dont put much effort into games in these situations. They slacked off last year against Maryland also at the Peach Bowl because they also were upset about being passed over by more prestigious bowls. As much as I love the Vols, this aspect of their character is disheartening. They could learn a lot from the Clemson Tigers whether you are playing for a national championship or just playing for a pride, you should always play your best. Clemson did, and the Tigers deserve the upset victory.
There is a certian element of truth to that. But they wern't all bad calls. The Vols frankly couldn't get it together at the end of the game. One simply has to live with the subjective nature of the Refs in College football. I for one still think Youngblood got his toe down before he stepped out of bounds ... even after seeing it in slow motion after the game. But hey, that's how things go sometimes. BTW, we were due. Accounts of the last game in '76 that I read mentioned Clemson's loss by 2 being a function of questionable refreeing. I have a picture somewhere from the Hotel that Tiger Band was staying in where the Holliday Inn markee was 'rearranged' to recomend a no so tasteful dietary suggestion to the Vols. :)
Games always feel diffrently when you are there in person. From where I was sitting (and the color orange I was wearing) the Vols just never got back into the game after the initial quick start by the Tigers. They put together some drives, but Clemson always came back with an answer.
I will pay this complement sincerly. The Vol fans were some of the nicest I've been around. Deb and I marched 5 years in school, held season tickets since '95, and missed three bowls since we graduated in 93/94. So I consider this an informed opnion. There's nothing wrong with cheering for your team and being passionate about your school unless you cross the line of being rude to those of the other team. Every faded orange shirt I had occasion to run into was a touch of class.
Also you're band blew us off the field.
Thanks for the kind words about Volunteer fans (and the awesome Pride of the Southland Band). I was raised on college football (going to UM Hurricane games before they were a powerhouse; I was at the game where they won their first national championship) and have been to many games across the States. Like all teams, the Vols do have some obnoxious fans, but I think the overwhelming majority of Vol fans are nicer than most.
While the referees were amongst the worse of any bowl game I saw this year, I don't think that would have changed the outcome of the game. They cost each team a touchdown (yes, Youngblood did get the toe down first, but it took ESPN three replays to see it). Some referees are just good and some should not be allowed in bowl games. However, there is one way I would say the referees may have cost the Vols the game. As the ESPN announcers said before the game started, they should have kicked Coleman out of the game for his pre-game behavior. I've seen both ACC and SEC refs do this and the rest of the players behave much better afterwards. However, the refs were from the Big East and they seem to be more lax in that conference.
At any event, enjoy the victory. Good luck to Clemson next year. With Miami joining FSU, the ACC may start rivaling the SEC for strength of schedule.
Perhaps Clemson deserved to win. Perhaps not. We'll never know, thanks to biased refs.
For those that don't know me, I don't squeal "kill the ref" after every loss. But surely I can't be the only one that thought "what?" about some of those calls.