UTC's Dee Virgin tackles UT's Jason Croom Saturday at Neyland Stadium.KNOXVILLE - There may be but one certainty gleaned from Tennessee's 45-10 college football victory over little brother UT-Chattanooga on Saturday afternoon:
On Oct. 11, 2014, beneath a pale gray sky, the Volunteers were 35 points better than the Mocs.
What else was learned from this pounding is in the eye of the beholder. UT supporters will no doubt point to quarterback Justin Worley's two rushing touchdowns -- the first time a Vols quarterback had rushed for two scores in the same game since Casey Clausen scored twice against Michigan in the 2002 Citrus Bowl -- and believe the Big Orange has this running thing all fixed.
On the other hand, Moc maniacs can just as forcefully argue that UTC's five sacks was a season high and that until very late in the fourth quarter the Mocs actually were leading the Vols in rushing yardage.
Or as UTC coach Russ Huesman observed: "You know, they get 340 yards, but that doesn't look like 45 points, so I give our defense a lot of credit."
Even the UT homecoming crowd of 93,097 -- nearly 10,000 below capacity -- hinted at a Big Orange fan base not yet certain of their team's ability to break a four-year streak of losing records. Now 3-3 for the season, Tennessee would appear to have only two more expected victories going forward -- against Missouri and at Vanderbilt to close out the year.
Yet the Vols might also win as many as seven or eight if they can pull off the road upset at Mississippi this Saturday, or at South Carolina two weeks after that. Then there's that home game 13 days from today against Alabama, which suddenly appears to be the weakest Nick Saban bunch since his first season at the Capstone in 2007.
"We're practicing hard, everybody's playing together, everybody's having fun," said linebacker A.J. Johnson. "Nobody's worried about doing anything wrong. That's a big thing."
What could happen to both these 3-3 programs over the final half of each team's regular season could be a very big thing for their individual futures.
Recalling UT coach Butch Jones's words to his team early last week following the bitter loss to Florida, Worley said, "[He] came in on day one after the loss. He was visibly upset, but he said, 'We're moving on. This is step one to get to a bowl game.'"
Conversely, Huesman was more than ready to look past the Vols almost before it ended.
"When they walk out that door, they're going to forget about this one," he said from the visitors' locker-room area. "We've got to get ready for the biggest game of the year in The Citadel."
Yet should they? At least from the Mocs' standpoint? Huesman's right that on one level his Mocs must put this experience behind them, prepare for a dangerous visit to the Bulldogs, keep their focus on earning the school's first NCAA playoff bid since 1984.
But the best postgame quote from UTC's locker room came from running back Derrick Craine, who said, "There was a time out there when I made a short gain and A.J. Johnson was on my back, bringing me down, but we got the first down. As I was walking back to the huddle I started looking around at the crowd and thinking that this is something I'll always remember."
Forget the $450,000 the Mocs made on this one. Or the weeklong dreams of their fan base that a repeat of 1958, that glorious 14-6 triumph in a much smaller Neyland, could occur 56 years later.
That singular sentiment, that this game was something UTC players always will remember, is reason enough to have played it, whatever the final score.
Yet there's also still half a football season to play, and a whole offseason's worth of dreams and goals to realize for both the Mocs and the Vols.
And to that end, each school's coach seemed determined to praise his counterpart on the other sideline.
"Chattanooga is a well-coached football team, and they'll continue to win their fair share of games," Jones said. "I have a lot of respect for David Blackburn and their entire administration and football team."
Added Huesman: "Tennessee plays hard. You don't see any of the trash talking; you don't see any of the late hits; you don't see any of the garbage plays. They play football and play it well. You know, I think they're doing a great job up here and they're going to win some games this year."
Maybe all we know for certain this morning is that these two coaches have joined a mutual admiration society. Given the one-sided numbers on the Neyland Stadium scoreboard, that alone would seem to be a win-win for everyone.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.