Mays, obviously, is referring to the Mexican-American War when over 30,000 Volunteers from the state of Tennessee responded to President James K. Polk’s call for 2,600 Volunteers from each state to help the efforts in Texas.
Without Tennessee, there might not be a
Texas. So it’s gonna be tough for the Longhorns to ever win this “debate.
During a Big Orange Caravan stop in May, Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel was asked about facing Oklahoma, the school he led to a national title as a Heisman Trophy runner-up quarterback.
“Before you said that, I didn’t know they were on the schedule,” Heupel replied.
The joke didn’t linger all the way to SEC media days in Dallas on Tuesday. Heupel answered questions from Oklahoma media about his homecoming in a straightforward manner.
“I’ve got great respect for the university, the program,” said Heupel, who was fired as Oklahoma offensive coordinator in 2015. “(There are) a lot of friends that are coaching on the opposing sideline, former teammates that will be coaching on that opposing sideline, too. So it’ll be unique to be back there, but (I am) excited to be there.”
Indeed, the impact of that game is no laughing matter, and Heupel knows it.
If the Vols win at Oklahoma, they’ll earn respect and bump another potential playoff contender.
If the Vols beat Florida, they’ll get over a critical hurdle that’s required of any Tennessee team taken seriously in the SEC race. Only the 2016 and 2021 Vols defeated the Gators in the past 20 years.
And if the Vols beat Alabama at Neyland Stadium, there will be immediate comparisons to the 2022 season – when Tennessee would’ve made a 12-team playoff.
But winning any three of those four games during that 29-day stretch should keep the Vols in the hunt.
That’s not to downplay Tennessee’s Week 2 game against North Carolina State in Charlotte, which could be a tough test.
And, of course, the Vols’ trip to Georgia on Nov. 16 could carry playoff implications for both teams. But in the era of a 12-team playoff and an SEC title race with no divisions, that game isn’t make or break. An SEC team can go 10-2 and still make the playoff.
