You know, if I'm being totally honest, in the early weeks of the season I thought "just beat Florida, and I'll be happy". And it wasn't until the final UF pass was intercepted that I believed we had actually done it.
Next, I thought "LSU is beatable, it will be tough at their place and Brian Kelly is a very seasoned and high dollar coach.. will be tough". I was on vacation the week leading up to the LSU game so didn't really get exposed to any of the hype leading up to it... I just watched the game on my iPad when my wife was kind enough to drive back from vacation while I did so.
Honestly, I was shocked at how good we looked against LSU. I couldn't remember a time when we looked THAT well prepared and flat out executed every phase of the game and just whooped a "real" SEC team. But when we did so, I thought "oh man... this sets up a huge stage".
I don't want to say I dreaded it, but I was just in knots all week. I didn't want to bring my mind to the point where I fantasized about winning this game. It seemed I'd be just setting myself up for a huge letdown. Throughout the week, various friends and acquaintances in passing would say "we gonna do it Saturday?". I'd just say "boy, it'd be nice". But, cmon.. beat Bama in year 2? Just felt like I was asking a bit too much.
Yesterday when I kissed my wife goodbye to go pick up Dad and head to the game, I thought "could this really be the day?" Still, I pushed that feeling back down and just enjoyed Dad's company. On the way, we talk about the matchups and different memories of past games. We talked about how well we played at LSU and how stunning it is to watch our offense. About how we've never seen so many open receivers. It's incredible. But I don't think neither one of us were going "there" yet.
I knew this game from a atmosphere perspective would be different, even from Florida. When we got to campus, it was confirmed. Just.. TN fans as far as the eye can see. "Look at the stage that is set, MAN if we could win.."
So, the game started and Heupel does what he does.... receivers running open, Hooker in command and scoring at will. I thought at first "whoa, we're gonna kill them!" Bama was making so many mistakes, and it seemed like the breaks were all going our way. Video reviews that have, in the past, gone against us inexplicably... went our way! I felt in my gut... something is happening today. But of course Bama came back and then pulled ahead. When they returned that fumble for a TD is when I thought "welp". But good gracious, we come back swinging AGAIN.
I knew when they missed their FG we were about to win in regulation. I just had complete confidence Heupel had the right plays drawn up to get us the yard needed.. and boom, boom. Done and time out. I just knew the FG was gonna be good, too.
Absolutely incredible what Heupel has done. Less than 2 years ago, we were at rock bottom. And now, we have talking heads saying we should be #1! I never thought I'd see the day where we had a QB even being mentioned in Heisman talks again.. I thought "if Peyton can't win it, it'll never happen" and just gave up on that award. But if the award were given today, it'd be Hendon!
Whenever Danny White was hired, we were elated. When he hired Heupel, I for one was like "ehhhh...." Heupel was probably not in my top 5 choices. I can't remember who all those top 5 choices are but I know some of them aren't doing well at all.
We've caught lightning in a bottle with this guy, and it feels so good.
