Tennessee Postmortem - I'm So Over This

What can I say? What can any of us say?

The inspiration to write anything regarding this last Saturday simply isn't there. I mean, what in the hell am I going to say that anyone who watched that game doesn't already know? Am I going to somehow impact the game's narrative? Am I going to somehow assuage any understandable grief or frustration felt by we fans? Am I going to somehow boost the team and community morale with some rah-rah, "let's go get ‘em slugger" type of shit?

We blew it. There's no better way to put it, and there's no real way to elaborate on that. Our players are at fault for showing little effort, emotion, determination, or sense of urgency on the field (Brandon Bolden, DT Shackleford, and maybe Jerrell Powe are exempt from this). Coach Nutt is to blame for not utilizing the surprisingly effective rushing attack early and often, and for leaving a still clearly rattled and rusty Jeremiah Masoli in the game after the first quarter - no, I do not place any blame on Masoli simply because I think that recovering from a concussion and missing much of a week's worth of practice is what did him in. And Coach Nix...

...let's just say that, for my sanity's sake, it's best that I waited until Monday morning to write this. I'm gonna spare the obvious, the vulgarities, and the vitriol and say that, simply, he should be fired. Today. His secondaries have always been horrible and, during years like this one when his defensive line cannot bail him out, teams pass all over us. Losing Tracy Rocker to Auburn two seasons ago has apparently hurt our defense more than we could ever imagine.

There is literally no credible argument anyone has offered as to why Tyrone Nix should stay aside from the occasional, half-hearted "well, you know he's like, a good recruiter and stuff." Buy him out and send him on to some Sun Belt team where he belongs.

Nobody expected this year's Rebel squad to be good. We knew this season would be a rebuilding one and one which would undoubtedly frustrate us from time to time. But this isn't a simple source of frustration; it's a fucking embarrassment. Here we sit at 4-6 with a loss to an FCS team and two losses to previously winless SEC squads led by rookie coaches. The offense is underachieving, the special teams are inconsistent, and the defense is beyond futile - I mean, damn, should we even field a defense at this point? This squad should, reasonably, be bowl eligible right now. This team should be sitting at six or seven wins, considering the athletic abilities of the players we've got and the, frankly, embarrassingly easy schedule we've faced thus far.

But we're not, and we're staring down a double-barreled test of Rebel commitment and fortitude: ranked LSU and State teams. Back-to-back. Our most hated rivals, one of which hasn't bettered the Rebs since 2007; and the other seemingly gaining sustenance out of continued Rebel miscues.

I have only the slightest modicum of emotion invested in this team at this point and, frankly, that's for the best. As Saturday's loss became increasingly embarrassing, some of my Tennessee friends and I - they were joining the Rebels at "our" bar on Saturday; they were hospitable - quickly forgot about the game, drank Four Loko, and turned an underwhelming afternoon into a damn fine night. That is something which, if you are unable to do, you shouldn't at all pull for the Ole Miss Rebels.

We'll HATE LSU. We'll HATE State. We'll go through the bloggin' motions for the next couple of games. But don't hate me or any of us if it seems we've checked out for the remainder of the season. We've got basketball hopes to bolster, turkeys to baste, snowmen to build, and an exciting holiday season to look forward to.

Bring on HATE WEEK and bring on basketball season. Fire Tyrone Nix, slap Houston Nutt, and Hotty Toddy.