Vols Offer Wyoming Transfer Isaiah Neyor

According to Isaiah Neyor's twitter Tennesse has offered the wide receiver transfer from Wyoming.

According to is twitter page he has also received offers from  Baylor, Southern Cal, and Utah. Neyor just finished his freshman year and would have three years of eligibility remaining. He would make an excellent addition as you can see from his stats below.

Beating Alabama Still Matters the Most Part 2

On New Year's Day, I wrote why beating Alabama is still matters most. In that post I showed the success of each team on their respective winning streaks. Today I will break the numbers down solely from a Tennessee perspective.

Since 1967, Tennessee is 18-32-1 against Alabama for a .363 winning percentage.

In the 18 seasons that Tennessee beat Alabama, the Vols overall record in those seasons was 171-44-5 for a .788 winning percentage. Tennessee won 5 SEC Championships and 1 National Championship during those 18 seasons. The Vols also appeared in 2 SEC Championship Games in which they did not win.

In the 33 seasons that Tennessee did not beat Alabama,  the Vols overall record in those seasons was 239-165-8 for a .589 winning percentage. Tennessee won 2 SEC Championships during those 33 seasons. The Vols also appeared in 1 SEC Championship Game in which they did not win.

When Tennessee beats Alabama they won a SEC Title about once every 3 seasons. When Tennessee loses to Alabama they won an SEC Title about once every 16 seasons.

While I understand that beating Florida and Georgia are important, beating Alabama still matters the most. History suggests that if Tennessee is good enough to beat Alabama, they are good enough to beat their SEC East rivals.

Beating Alabama Still Matters the Most

When the SEC went to divisions in 1992, divisional games became more important than the non-divisional games. Today a lot of Vol fans say beating Florida and even Georgia is more important than beating Alabama. For me, beating Alabama has always been more important.

Those that know the history of the Tennessee Alabama series know that it is a very streaky series. But what you may not know is what the overall success each team enjoyed while on those streaks. Since 1967 Tennessee is 18-32-1 against Alabama.  Below is the history of this series since 1967 and the overall success of each team during their respective streaks.

Tennessee won 4 in row from 1967 to 1970, the Vols won 83% of their games and Alabama won 60% of their games. Tennessee won 2 SEC championships, while Alabama won none.

Alabama won 11 in a row from 1971 to 1981, the Tide 88% of their games and The Vols won 61%. Alabama won 9 SEC championships and 4 national championships, while Tennessee did not win a SEC or National championship.

Tennessee won 4 in a row from 1982-1985, the Vols won 69% of their games compared Alabama's 65%. Tennessee won 1 SEC Championship, while the Tide did not win any.

Alabama was 8-0-1 against the Vols from 1986 to 1994. During this time Alabama won 79% of their games and Tennessee won 72%. Alabama won 2 SEC titles and 1 National title, while the Vols did win 2 SEC titles as well.

Tennessee went 10-2 against the Tide from 1995 to 2006. Tennessee won 78% of its games and the Tide won 59% of their games. The Vols won 2 SEC titles and 1 National Championship, while the Tide did  win 1 SEC title.

Alabama has now won 11 in row since 2007. During this time the Tide have won 86% of their games, while the Vols have managed to win 52% of their games. Alabama won 5 SEC titles and 4 National Championships over this span. You probably know Tennessee has not won a title during these years.

When Tennessee has enjoyed a winning streak against Alabama, Tennessee won 77% of their games, while Alabama won 60% of their games.   When Alabama enjoyed a winning streak against Tennessee, Alabama won 85% of their games and Tennessee won 61% of their games.

Here's what all these numbers tell me, that the team that is on a winning streak enjoys a high level of success, winning a combined 23 SEC Championships, while the team on the losing streak won just a combined 3 SEC Championships. The team on the losing streak wins about 60% of their games overall.

For Tennessee and Alabama winning The 3rd Saturday in October has always mattered the most and always will.

Vol Players Help Build House

Vol football players are helping build a house today. I doubt this will get much publicity outside of Knoxville. Let one of these guys break the law and it's all over SportsCenter and Twitter. It is a shame when athletes to positive things in the community, it doesn't get much attention.

Check out @UTCoachStrip's Tweet: https://twitter.com/UTCoachStrip/status/739096292635385856?s=09

My Three Favorite Vols

Today, The Big Orange Report has a guest author, my 13 year old son Nicholas Rhodes, tells us his three favorite Vols of all time.

My Three Favorite Vols

By Nicholas Rhodes

3. Jalen Hurd- Jalen Hurd is my favorite current vol. This man will soon be one of the best
running backs in the SEC and nation before long. Hurd picked up 899 yards this season and
122 yards in the Taxslayer bowl. Hurd is only a true freshman and if he this good as a freshman
just imagine how much better, stronger, and faster he might get when he has more experience
as a junior or senior. Hurd has a great future ahead of him and looking forward to watching him
next season.


2. Eric Berry- Eric Berry is currently battling cancer but before he was the star safety for the
Kansas City Chiefs. Berry has 8 career interceptions and 284 tackles as a Chief. As good as
Berry was on field he is an even better person. He has great faith and a good mind. Both will
help him in his fight against cancer and hopefully will be able to play in the NFL again soon.
#BerryStrong


1. Peyton Manning- Peyton Manning might be one of the best to play the game of football – if
not the best. On Sunday Night Football in week 6 of the regular season Manning and the
Broncos played the San Francisco 49ers. Manning was 2 touchdown passes away from tying
Brett Farve’s most touchdown passes in a career and 3 from breaking and he did. It seems like
Manning breaks a new record every other week but he also shows class about it. When he
broke his streak of at least one touchdown pass in a game he said, “I don’t need to break
another record.”

Speechless Spurrier

Tennessee's win over South Carolina was significant very a variety of reasons. It was the first road win outside the state of Kentucky since 2006. It was a statement game for the future of the program. It was a defining moment for Joshua Dobbs, and game where the quarterback of the future arrived. It was a game in which a young team can build on. But, perhaps the most significant reason was a win over coach Steve Spurrier.

Steve Spurrier, left Tennessee out of high school to attend Florida, has been a thorn in the side of the Vols for years. He beat Tennessee as the coach Duke of all places. His Florida teams kept Tennessee for winning multiple championships in the 90's. The ole ball coach, the man who would take a shot at Tennessee any chance he got, didn't have much to say after the game last night.

Surely Vol fans remember, you can't spell citrus without UT and I know why Peyton Manning came back for his senior year, so he could be a three time MVP of the Citrus Bowl. Even this past off season after losing to the Vols, he still could not help himself by saying, "Alabama and Tennessee like each other, I don't know why Tennessee would like them though."

After last nights 45-42 win over South Carolina the head ball coach had very little to say. In fact his post game press conference lasted all of 42 seconds. For as much as Spurrier likes to talk, he was pretty much left speechless. He ended that conference by saying, "So, I don't need to take any questions. You guys watched it, and I need to just get out of here." Ironic isn't it, the coach who goes out of his way to jab Tennessee, walks out of his press conference without taking questions. He left speechless.

Butch Jones is now 2-0 versus Spurrier and his teams have out played and out coached the head ball coach. Two years in row Spurrier has been left with very little to say.  Being from Tennessee, Spurrier loves to beat the Vols. He has lost two in a row in both times losing late leads.

One has to wonder how much longer Spurrier coaches. When he does decide to walk away on it might just end the same way his as last night, with him saying, "So, I don't need to take any questions. You guys watched it, and I need to just get out of here."

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It's True We Don't Like Kiffin

It's true we Tennessee fans don't like Lane Kiffin much. However, it has nothing to do with what the national media would have the rest of the nation believe. The national media would have everyone believe it is because he is a good coach. Check his record, he failed with both the Raiders and Trojans. There's nothing to suggest he is a good head coach. I do think he is a talented play caller, but not a head coach. So despite what Herbstreit or Finebaum would tell the rest of the country, we don't like Kiffin because we think he's a good coach.

The real reason Tennessee fans don't like Kiffin is how and when he left. First, they way he left was classless, literally in the middle of the night. His staff contacted Tennessee early enrollees set to start the next day the night he left instructing them not to go to class, using Tennessee paid cell phones no less. But really at least to me it was when he left. He left after only one year on the job, now based on what happened at USC, there's no doubt in my mind his tenure would have ended with him being fired. At the time, no one would have known that. Leaving a program after one year in mid January was devastating to Tennessee. It hurt recruiting and who's going to leave their job to take the Tennessee job that would be any good. That's exactly what happened Tennessee hired quite possibly the worst coach the SEC has seen in the modern era. Kiffin's decision to leave Tennessee set this program back 5 to 7 years. Only now are the Vols starting to dig out of the debacle that was Lane Kiffin.

Yes it's true we don't like Kiffin, but not for the reasons the national media would have you believe. It's not because he's a good coach, it's how and when he left that ultimately set this program back years that only now is Butch Jones starting to bring back.

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