Sometimes the difference between winning and losing a football game is a matter of inches, but in Tennessee’s case at Tiger Stadium on Saturday it was a matter of inexperience.
After Tennessee failed to convert on 4th down and less than a yard late in the fourth quarter, the Tigers marched 70 yards in the final 5:41.
With the ball on the Tennessee 2-yard line and the clock running down, a botched snap over the head of LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson appeared to give the Volunteers the win.
But Tennessee was flagged for too many men on the field, cutting short the premature celebration.
After the penalty move the ball to the Tennessee 1, Stevan Ridley scored the game winning touchdown on an untimed play giving 10th ranked LSU an improbable 16-14 victory over the Volunteers.
In a game that most considered the Vols to be decided underdogs, they had several opportunities to win the game but couldn’t capitalize.
Despite committing four turnovers, LSU was able to squeeze out a win because the Tigers made the big plays when they needed them most.
Unlike LSU, the Volunteers inexperience in close games cost them dearly. A missed field goal, the failed 4th down conversion and two penalties in the final minute of the game were Tennessee’s undoing.
When the Vols had LSU in a 4th and 14 situation with 1:21 left, the Tigers converted. When LSU was completely discombobulated with the clock winding down, Tennessee was just as confused – even more so considering they had no idea what personnel package needed to be on the field.
The Vols had 13 players on the field when the errant snap over Jefferson’s head seemingly gave Tennessee an unlikely victory. Twelve men on the field is bad enough, but 13?
Immediately following Ridley’s game winning touchdown, Vols coach Derek Dooley threw his headset in frustration. That’s an emotion every Vols fan will have to get used to for the remainder of this season.
Tennessee is a young team that’s played three top 10 opponents within the first five weeks of the season, and they’ve taken their lumps in the process.
The Volunteers have shown improvement since the 48-13 shellacking they took against Oregon in early September, but the SEC is college football’s most unrelenting conference and more hard lessons are sure to come.
Perhaps the most important lesson Tennessee can learn from Saturday’s game is how to come back from a heartbreaking loss.
Even more important is for the Vols to learn that the difference between winning and losing games often doesn’t have anything to do with talent or depth, but the ability to stay focused and make plays when they’re needed most.
Dooley has the Volunteers on the right path and in a year or two this will be a team to be reckoned with, but for now Tennessee will have to use a gut wrenching loss as a lesson learned.
