aye those were the good years, except for you pesky gators.
Jamaal Lewis was a brute his freshman year, and pretty dang good his soph year. atop of his power, he had game- he was willing to plow whomever stepped in front of him. He could outrun most on the field, but failed to outrun Walmart security guards, apparently. I think UGA attempted to recruit that guy...
anyway, something happened to him his jr year that happens to a lot of players, and it drives me crazy....
he slowed down.
some will argue (and have in the past with me about this) he was learning and developing- learning to wait for his line to setup the lanes, or trying to set up the deception he's intent was to block not run- but it isn't that if you watch closer. he became more careful as he was protecting his body for the retirement league i'm all but certain. the magic he had was negated when he didn't lower his shoulders and release the boom- he'd pitter patter around in the backfield and only run with purpose when he saw a clean line.... yes, i realize this is coached- to have patience for the lane- but this was more than that.
Chubb didn't wait. Sony Michelle didn't wait. Fred Taylor would wait, but only long enough for the play to develop (as is coached and properly done)...
it's my opinion that Lewis's antics brought opportunity to his teammate travis henry, and gave him notice he otherwise may never have gotten... and then henry started doing the same thing later... i think it was reflective of the culture at tennessee, and that should have been indication of the issues to come- where entitled players looked at the school as a conduit to the retirement league... the mentality changed from "what I can do for you" to "what you can do for me", in this era, and it wasn't long until that undid them as a powerhouse.