Nebraska, Tennessee is a matchup for the ’90s
Tennessee vs. Nebraska: What a matchup. For the 1990s. The Music City Bowl should be televised on the History Channel.
Both the Vols and Cornhuskers were nationally prominent a couple of decades ago. When the teams last met after the 1999 regular season in the Fiesta Bowl, UT was a year removed from a national championship, and Nebraska was separated by just two years from its most recent national title, which it secured by clobbering the Vols in the Orange Bowl.
Nebraska hasn’t won so much as a conference championship since 1999. Tennessee hasn’t won an SEC title since 1998.
Actually, this matchup wouldn’t have looked bad in early October, either. Both teams were 5-0 at the time and seemingly on their way to division championships —Nebraska in the Big Ten West, and Tennessee in the SEC East.
To say “things didn’t work out well after that” would be an understatement.
You still can read this headline on the Nebraska athletic web site: “Huskers disappointed in unexpected downfall.” No headline is needed to sum up UT’s plummet from 5-0 to 8-4. One score will suffice: Vanderbilt 45, Tennessee 34.
On the same weekend that the Vols were being upended by their historically inferior in-state rival, Nebraska was getting waylaid by Iowa, 40-10, to finish the regular season 9-3.
That wasn’t Nebraska’s worst loss. Ohio State, which was selected to the College Football Playoff on Sunday, beat the Cornhuskers 62-3 and knocked star quarterback Tommy Armstrong out of the game as well.
The Vols can relate to that. Alabama, which also was selected to the fourteam CFP, defeated them 49-10.
So don’t bother trying to discern which team enters the Music City Bowl with an edge in momentum. Nor do the polls help with projecting a clear favorite.
The Cornhuskers are ranked 21st in the coaches poll and 24th in The Associated Press poll. The Vols are unranked in either of those polls, but mysteriously wound up 21st in the CFP rankings. Maybe those guys were so intent on selecting the top four teams, they lost sight of everything else.
Another mystery: UT finished two places ahead of Pittsburgh in the CFP rankings. Both are 8-4, but Pittsburgh beat two of the top five teams in the country, Clemson and Penn State.
But enough about playoff rankings. Let’s get back to a bowl matchup that should foster optimism in both camps.
UT’s defensive statistics should brighten the mood of any offense, even one that managed only three points on Ohio State and just 217 yards against Iowa. The Vols gave up almost 2,000 yards in their past three games, all against unranked teams.
Nebraska’s conference affiliation alone should boost Tennessee spirits. Two of UT’s most impressive performances in four years under coach Butch Jones have come in bowl games against mid-level Big Ten teams.
The Vols ran away from Iowa while winning the TaxSlayer Bowl after the 2014 season. And the game wasn’t nearly as close as the 45-28 score.
Last season’s bowl victory was even more impressive. The Vols beat 12thranked Northwestern 45-6. Immediately afterward, expectations began to soar for Tennessee’s 2016 season.
The soaring is all done now. There will be more speculation about coaching changes on Jones’ staff than on a bowl trip that will amount to nothing more than a drive halfway across the state.
But at least the Vols won’t have to worry about returning home with a loss to Vanderbilt in tow.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com.