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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — They all could have left. No one would have blamed them. Instead, they Volunteered.

On a gorgeous autumn day in Knoxville stands the Tennessee Trio who make up the heart of the suddenly vaunted Big Orange defense. They are leaning against a railing that overlooks the Vol Navy, fielding shouts of encouragement from the orange-clad, well-imbibed folks docked along the banks of the Tennessee River.

“Thank you, guys!” a woman bellows from a houseboat adorned with a giant inflatable Smokey hound that, wait, is it also holding a drink? “Thank you for finishing the job!”

“You’re welcome!” responds senior defensive lineman Tyler Baron, Nashville-raised, but a graduate of nearby Knoxville Catholic.

He will make his 38th appearance in a Tennessee uniform this weekend at Alabama. Standing to his right is the man who also lines up with him on that “Trench Mob” line, fellow senior Omari Thomas, a Memphis native poised to play in his 37th game for UT.

Off Baron’s left shoulder is linebacker Aaron Beasley, a fifth-year senior, preparing for his 38th contest. His first appearance came in this very game, at Alabama on Oct. 19. 2019, a whopping 1,463 days before this weekend’s 105th edition of the series known as the Third Saturday in October. He recorded his first career tackle in that first appearance. He has added 206 more since, with a total of 11 over his first four Bama games, including a crucial pair of strikes during last year’s SEC sea-changing 52-49 victory over the third-ranked Tide, a win that ended a 15-year losing streak to Alabama and was the pillar of 2022’s long-sought comeback season for a long-suffering historic program. That 11-2 group from last year is now referred to as the “Revi-Vols” and is looking for more at 5-1 and ranked No. 17 heading into a showdown with the Crimson Tide.

“It’s real humbling for me,” Beasley says of the gratitude he and his veteran teammates now receive on a daily basis, riverside and elsewhere. “We’ve been through a lot and to come out the way we have, it’s bittersweet almost. Because this is my last year, my last couple months here. So, to finish how we are about to finish, it feels good for sure. We’ve come a long way.”

A long way, as in an orange-clad Sisyphus pushing a boulder up Rocky Top.

This is the Class of COVID. All three arrived in Knoxville just before the coronavirus crashed into our lives. They spent an entire season playing games in front of either no one or reduced crowds, with the rest of their time spent quarantined in their apartments and meeting rooms. Then Jeremy Pruitt, the head coach who recruited them, was fired under the shadow of an investigation concerning how they were recruited in the first place. The same coach who led them to only three since-vacated victories, and that was only three seasons ago.

The transfer portal had also just been kicked into overdrive, opening an exit door that was taken by a seemingly endless number of teammates. They could have followed them and no one would have thought less of them for doing it. In fact, such a move would have seemed pretty smart considering their new coach, Air Raid maestro Josh Heupel, had long been criticized for placing too much stress on his defenses at UCF.

They could have found better NIL deals elsewhere among more stable college football grounds. They could have tried to get a jump on the NFL, which looms just over the horizon for all three.

They did none of the above. Because, despite what we all read during the infancy stages of this new college football universe, a place of transiency where loyalty gets obliterated by delusions of playing time and paycheck grandeur, there are still those who believe in building something.

Especially this trio.

“I just go back to when me and O were being recruited,” Baron said of the fall of 2019. “That was the biggest thing we were preaching, was just wanting to get Tennessee back to what everybody knew it to be. Back to what it should be and is.”

“When we came in, we wanted to be a change, we wanted to be something, we wanted to be a part of change, all of us,” Thomas said, nodding as he talks about himself, Baron, and the other 10 members of that class — seven on defense — who chose to stay in Knoxville. “We had so many opportunities where we could go join programs that were already solidified. But we wanted to be something. We wanted to be the face of the program. We wanted to be the face of the change. All three of us, I know we are happy and blessed to be a part of the change here.”

Change, as in winning only three games three years ago and then backing that up with records of 7-6, 11-2 and now 5-1. Change, as in winning that game against Alabama one year ago, a game in which these three were a combined 0-10, to create recruiting momentum that has yet to slow down. And, oh yeah, change where those critics of Heupel never expected to see it.

In 2022, Tennessee’s defense allowed nearly 24 points and 400 yards per game. This year it has slashed those numbers to 17 and 303, respectively. During the entirety of last season, Tennessee registered 27 sacks. Barely past the halfway point of 2023, the Vols have 24.

Those improvements have been crucial for a team whose quarterback, Joe Milton III, has struggled mightily to reconnect with the downfield passing game that was the Vols’ bread and butter in 2022. See: Only 20 points against Texas A&M, the first time in six years as a head coach at UCF and Tennessee that Heupel won a game when scoring fewer than 30 points. Prior to that he was 0-9.

“I think it is easy to look at our team and really the history of Tennessee football and become distracted by offense,” Heupel said. “Whether it be Peyton Manning or Hendon [Hooker] or even back in the day, all of the great wide receivers and running backs. But this is also the school of Eric Berry, Reggie White and Al Wilson. When we make the Vol Walk to Neyland Stadium we march right by the banners of those guys, and Doug Atkins. So, there is a lot of pride on that side of the ball. And leadership. There always has been, and that’s what our seniors provide now.”

It’s no coincidence that those legends of the past have started hanging around Knoxville a lot more over the past three seasons. They have been invited by Heupel and many have come back to be honored in front of 102,000 at Neyland, as Berry was last weekend. But they have also been returning of their own volition, eager to experience the rediscovered Big Orange confidence. The legends of the 1990s packed the stadium luxury boxes one year ago, eager to help cheer their alma mater to do what so many of them had done years ago, beat Alabama.

They also pay frequent visits to the Tennessee practice fields to visit today’s leaders, to thank them for what they have done, and to remind them that their responsibilities won’t end when they take their final snaps at Vols this winter.

“The guys we have now, the young guys that we have come in, they make it easy for us,” Beasley said of the influx of five-stars and Power 5 transfers who have flooded the locker room over the past two springs and falls, the newcomers he and fellow seniors are charged with coaching up on this new old-school Tennessee culture. “They’re very mature for their age, very detailed oriented, very talented …”

“They expect to win,” Thomas said.

“Yeah, they do,” Baron added. “And they expect to do it the right way.”

“Leave this place better than you found it,” Beasley continues as all three nod in unison. “That’s what Tennessee challenged us to do. That’s our challenge for those who come here next.”

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Panthers handle Leafs, seal 3rd ECF trip in row

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Panthers handle Leafs, seal 3rd ECF trip in row

TORONTO — A three-goal second period broke open a tight game, quieted a raucous crowd at Scotiabank Arena, and powered the Florida Panthers past the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-1 in Game 7 of this Eastern Conference semifinal series on Sunday night.

Though it wasn’t the typical marquee names you see on the Florida scoresheet, Seth Jones, Anton Lundell and Jonah Gadjovich combined for those tallies, giving the Stanley Cup-champion Panthers a 3-0 lead headed into the third period. It was plenty of room for Florida to shut the door in the third period and seal a berth in the Eastern Conference finals for the third consecutive season. Florida will take on the Carolina Hurricanes in Round 3 beginning Tuesday.

The Maple Leafs, 2-0 winners in Game 6 Friday night in Sunrise, Florida, could not find enough time and space to operate in the Panthers’ zone. With 10 minutes left in regulation, Toronto had just 14 shots on net, with its season on the line, as boos rained down from the capacity crowd.

Eetu Luostarinen and Sam Reinhart chipped in with third-period goals for Florida, giving the champions a 5-1 lead after Toronto’s Max Domi scored at 2:07 of the final frame to briefly give the home team hope. Florida’s Brad Marchand added an empty-net goal to conclude the scoring.

“We’re excited about the opportunity,” Marchand said during the game broadcast on SportsNet. “We’re having fun, enjoying the moment, that’s all you can do. You don’t get a second chance at these opportunities. You just have to embrace and enjoy it.”

Goaltender Joseph Woll, who authored the shutout in Sunrise on Friday, struggled at home, looking out of position on several Florida goals. Anthony Stolarz, Toronto’s regular starter who had been sidelined since Game 1 with an undisclosed injury, was active and on the bench as Toronto’s backup for Game 7, but he was not called upon.

Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was much sharper on the other end of the ice, allowing only Domi’s goal off a wrist shot on a clean entry into the zone. Bobrovsky, who has started every postseason game for the Panthers this season, was playing in his first Game 7 since he led the Panthers to the Stanley Cup last June with a victory over the Edmonton Oilers in the series’ last game.

Jones, in his first season with Florida and seeking his first shot at the Stanley Cup, opened the scoring with his third goal of the postseason.

“I’m just happy with the situation I’m in,” Jones said on TNT’s postgame show. “Hopefully, my game can grow, and I’m just trying to bring what I can to the table with this team. I’m playing with a lot of great players, and these guys know what it takes to win.”

The game was delayed in the second period, just before Florida’s goal-scoring spree, after referee Chris Rooney, widely considered to be one of the top officials in the NHL, was bloodied and had to leave. The longtime referee was hit by an inadvertent stick to the face.

The play happened 13 seconds into the second period, when Florida’s Niko Mikkola was jousting for the puck and his stick went into Rooney’s face. Rooney skated off with some assistance and with a towel covering much of his face as he was brought to the locker room area for further evaluation and treatment.

The NHL has stand-by officials at playoff games, and Garrett Rank took over as one of the two referees following Rooney’s injury, joining a crew that also included referee Jean Hebert and linespersons Devin Berg and Jonny Murray.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Referee Rooney leaves Game 7 after stick to face

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Referee Rooney leaves Game 7 after stick to face

TORONTO — Referee Chris Rooney, widely considered to be one of the top officials in the NHL, was bloodied and had to leave Game 7 of the Florida PanthersToronto Maple Leafs playoff matchup Sunday night after taking an inadvertent stick above one of his eyes.

The play happened 13 seconds into the second period of the Panthers’ 6-1 win when Florida’s Niko Mikkola was jousting for the puck and his stick hit Rooney’s face.

The game was stopped for several minutes and a stretcher was brought onto the ice, but Rooney skated off with some assistance and with a towel covering much of his face as he was brought to the locker room area for further evaluation and treatment.

Rooney got stitches and was ruled out for the remainder of the game.

The NHL has standby officials at playoff games, and Garrett Rank took over as one of the two referees following Rooney’s injury, joining a crew that also included referee Jean Hebert and linesmen Devin Berg and Jonny Murray.

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Follow live: Panthers, Leafs battle to advance to Eastern Conference finals

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