Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Volume 140, Issue 8 Wednesday, October 6, 2021

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Krish Dogra / Contributor

Students call for limits to free speech on campus following bitter protests DANIEL DASSOW, AINSLEE RAASCH Campus News Editor, Contributor

Just as they have every year since the 1990s, the anti-abortion Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR) set up a large display on Pedestrian Walkway last week featuring photos from the Holocaust and American lynchings placed alongside images of fetal tissue, which the group says depict aborted fetuses.

Just like every year, the controversial comparison of abortion with historical genocides accompanied with violent imagery was met with student protests.

But this year, as campus begins to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a new flavor to the contentious spectacle at the heart of campus. Rather than simply protesting CBR’s display or their anti-abortion arguments, students began calling into question the very fact that the group was allowed to bring such a display to campus.

In an Instagram post from Sept. 27, second year MFA student Sean Heiser pointed a finger at the university for allowing CBR to demonstrate on campus, saying he was “ashamed to be a part of this institution today.”

“I made the post because I was interested in trying to navigate what is the distinction between the right to a safe school and a safe workplace, and practicing free speech,” Heiser said. “I have no

moral or ethical or political problem with someone trying to argue a pro-life stance. I support that. But when it’s based on blatant falsehoods that sort of feed the fire of anti-intellectualism and racism and judgment in America?”

“At some point, it’s not so much that I’m like ‘oh I want to, like, cancel this person,’ it’s like, can I actually just have a dialogue about what is acceptable?”

Most of the critiques that students have fall along these lines. Very few students have an issue with free speech as a guiding principle on campus or even with Ped Walkway as a place where groups can table. Where the critique comes is the specific way in which CBR presents their message.

Haze Karmo, a freshman studying psychology, said that he has no issue with anti-abortion groups tabling on campus. His call for limiting free speech on campus is, for the moment, specific to what he saw this past week.

“There’s free speech and then there is displaying violent imagery and graphic imagery such as this. There are limits to free speech and people don’t consent to seeing things that can be traumatizing such as this,” Karmo said. “This is not even an issue about free speech, this is an issue about consent and what you see and what you are being yelled at.”

For Scout Graves, a junior studying Russian, the distinction between CBR and other conservative, anti-abortion groups that come to campus is intention. Graves said the group intentionally up-

sets students to perpetuate a sense of martyrdom.

“They’re not actually trying to have a conversation, they’re not actually trying to change minds, they are trying to piss people off so that they can get a response and be able to go back and say, ‘this is how we’re treated’ despite the fact that we have a conservative supermajority in the Supreme Court that are upholding their opinions,” Graves said. “They want a response so they can be victims.”

Despite the changes students are calling for, which include fact-checking claims made by political groups coming to campus, regulation of free speech on campus is not a simple matter of university oversight.

The University of Tennessee has dedicated a chapter in their rulebook to the use of university property by non-affiliated people for free expression activities.

The first section of this chapter defines free expression activities as “expression and/or assemblies protected by the First Amendment, including, but not limited to, picketing, distributing printed materials, public speaking, demonstrations, rallies, vigils, parades and marches,” a designation which includes last week’s events on Ped Walkway.

CBR was invited to campus by Vols for Life, a student-led anti-abortion group, and Section .04 of the rulebook specifically covers people not affiliated with the university that have been invited to participate in free-expression activities on

campus.

“A non-affiliated person invited pursuant to this Section .04 is not a guest of the University,” the rulebook states. “Rather, the non-affiliated person is a guest of the student organization or faculty member who is using the University’s limited public forum.”

The university does not take responsibility for non-affiliated groups who are invited to campus and places responsibility for their behavior on the organizations who invite them.

Frank Cuevas, vice chancellor for Student Life, said that the university does not endorse every group that comes to campus, but that groups must follow university guidelines about meeting in open spaces on campus and not obstructing traffic.

“Learning to have an open, respectful dialogue and think critically about a variety of issues is part of the college experience and furthers education,” Cuevas said. “The university strives to develop policies and procedures to safeguard free speech while maintaining an atmosphere on campus conducive to academic work that respects the rights of all individuals.”

Like many policies on campus, UT is hindered as a public institution by what the Tennessee legislature decides.

STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

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CAMPUS NEWS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, October 6, 2021

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STORY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The Campus Free Speech Protection Act was signed into state law in May 2017, and it states that “it is not the proper role of an institution to attempt to shield individuals from free speech, including ideas and opinions they find offensive, unwise, immoral, indecent, disagreeable, conservative, liberal, traditional, radical or wrongheaded.”

The UT Board of Trustees adopted a free speech policy that followed the state directive shortly thereafter.

“Our policy cannot be changed in any way that is inconsistent with the Tennessee Campus Free Speech Protection Act unless the General Assembly makes changes to the law,” Cuevas said.

According to C. Fletcher Armstrong, Southeast Regional Director of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, if UT were to attempt to limit CBR’s display in any way, the group would sue the university. They have done so before at other universities.

“Universities have become incubators of extreme left-wing propaganda and conservative students just feel like they don’t have a voice, so we come and we know what the law is, we don’t let universities push us around,” Armstrong said.

“We go to campuses and we tell the universities, we’re coming and if you try to interfere, if you try to treat the students who invited us differently, we’ll sue you.”

Armstrong said that the campus is owned by the public and paid for with tax dollars, which he

believes should set it apart as a public free speech area. He said that limitations to free speech, which have become increasingly more common on campuses across the nation, are signs that students are being insulated from controversial opinions.

“Students are not learning how to think critically, so they get a narrative that they want to follow and it’s very difficult to help them break down logically step-to-step what are the issues, what are the facts and how do the facts drive what we should believe,” Armstrong said.

Students who spoke out against CBR’s tactics took specific issue with the violent nature of the group’s imagery and the comparison of abortion with the Holocaust and enslavement. As Armstrong sees it, students are calling for a disagreeable argument to be silenced.

“If we hide our message, it would be ok, that’s what they’re saying,” Armstrong said. “They don’t like our message, they don’t want to see it.

So if you hide your message, we’ll let you speak.

We’re not gonna hide our message.”

A trend in free speech discourse that has risen sharply among college students is the notion that certain forms of speech like CBR’s anti-abortion display are not only inflammatory but are in fact harmful and should be regulated. Armstrong rejects this idea, which he calls “absurd.”

“It’s fantastic that people think that to hear or see a point of view expressed that is contrary to their own, that somehow they’re being harmed,” Armstrong said. “Well if that’s the case, I’ve been

harmed my whole life. There’s not a day goes by that I don’t see someone expressing a viewpoint that I disagree with, sometimes very strongly.”

Caesar Schanzenbach, a junior who serves as chairman of the Conservative Coalition at UT, a coalition that includes Vols for Life, had a more positive take on last week’s events.

“Political discourse at the magnitude we witnessed those two days is rare at UT,” Schanzenbach said. “We should appreciate the fact we have a community in which we can share our opinions in manners such as that.”

Schanzenbach expressed regret at the animosity that surrounded the protests. When CBR does return to campus, he hopes that the temperature of the protests is turned to a more civil degree.

“In the future, as controversial issues arise again on campus, I would encourage all who wish to practice their right to free speech to respect the positions of others and have genuine conversations where possible,” Schanzenbach said. “Volunteers are still defined by our brotherhood. No political issue should call that fundamental quality into question.”

For many students who protested against CBR, including Sean Heiser, regulating free speech on campus is a matter of creating a campus environment that is safe and conducive to learning.

“I think you should do whatever you need to do to make sure as many people as possible feel safe in the university that they’re paying tons of money to attend,” Heiser said.

Why, how UT keeps interactive inventory of every tree on campus KAITLYN PILCHER Contributor

Our campus is covered in about 8,700 various specimens of trees, which are all accounted for and displayed in the Facilities Services Tree Inventory Community Viewer. Anyone can go online to find information about a particular tree on campus, from its height to its scientific name.

Founded in 2008, this vast collection has been a continuous work-in-progress to maintain the trees within our campus’ landscape. In 2015, UT Facilities Services (UTFS) hired its first campus CORRECTIONS POLICY:It is the Daily Beacon’s policy to arborist, Sam Adams, to professionally oversee quickly correct any factual errors and clarify any potentially the management of trees on campus. misleading information. Errors brought to our attention by “I’m really proud to be the arborist here,” Adreaders or sta� members will be corrected and printed on page two of our publication. To report an error please send ams said. “It’s a unique opportunity to be the first as much information as possible about where and when the of anything. It can be an awesome responsibility error occurred to managingeditor@utdailybeacon.com, or call and exciting.” our newsroom at (865) 974-5206.

Three to four years after hiring Adams, the inThe Daily Beacon is published by students at The University ventory was completely updated as a result of a of Tennessee on Monday and Thursday during the fall and partnership with faculty and students in the UT spring semesters. The o�ces are located at 1345 Circle Park Drive, 11 Communications Building, Knoxville, TN 37996Urban Forestry Program.

0314. The newspaper is free on campus and is available via Now, the campus tree inventory is updated mail subscription for $200/year or $100/semester. It is also weekly by UT’s Arboriculture team. Such updates available online at: www.utdailybeacon.com include tree health assessments, maintenance records, removal and new planting history.

The story behind the creation of the tree inventory is focused on the importance of the effects The Daily Beacon is printed using soy based ink on newsprint contrees have on the environment, campus and comtaining recycled content, utilizing renewable sources and produced in a sustainable, environmentally responsible manner. munity of Knoxville.

For starters, trees improve air quality, reduce the amount of generated energy needed, reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere, reduce stormwater runoff and help stop climate change with their process of releasing oxygen into the environment.

Jason Cottrell, director of Landscape Services and Facilities Operations, said the university strongly believes all trees are a valuable resource to our campus and community.

“We consider trees to be an asset that are to be protected and maintained for decades allowing them the opportunity to benefit the lives of future generations,” Cottrell said.

Trees are such large contributors to our atmosphere that they have their own holiday. This event is known as Arbor Day, and it is celebrated on the first Friday of March. On campus, the day is dedicated to public tree-planting.

This holiday was last celebrated in 2019 — the fourth annual celebration commenced at the university — and ended with over 700 trees planted by around 250 volunteers.

In regards to the ongoing growth of the tree campus inventory, in April 2018, UT was recognized as a Tree Campus by the Nation Arbor Day Foundation. It is known as the biggest tree campus in Tennessee, with multiple events that are centered around trees and their growth held annually throughout the university’s campus.

The university was declared a tree campus not only because of the tree campus inventory, but

Screenshot of Campus Tree Inventory. Courtesy of Facilities Services

the establishment of a Tree Campus Advisory Committee, tree-care plan, tree programs with dedicated annual expenditures, the observance of Arbor Day and service-learning project that incentivizes students to get involved.

There are many UT tree resources that are supported by the provisions of funding for campus sustainability and clean energy projects, known as the UT Student Green Fee. This includes the tree campus inventory, along with other resources and projects that promote the benefit of our trees on campus and achievement of environmental goals.

The Student Environmental Initiatives Committee, behind the development of the green fee, is always looking for more members that are dedicated to the care and growth of the campus’ trees and environment.

CAMPUS NEWS

Wednesday, October 6, 2021 • The Daily Beacon

3

Bass Fishing Team to compete for $1 million in Bass Pro Shops championship KELSEY TOLCHIN Contributor

Over 200 teams traveled from all across the country in hopes of catching the most and the largest bass and winning the striking prize of $50,000.

Tennessee’s team had a successful experience and finished in the top 40, allowing them to qualify for the Bass Pro Shops U.S. Open, already famous for its unprecedented $1 million grand prize award for the best amateur team in the nation.

The championships in November will take place at Table Rock Lake in Missouri, and the finals will be broadcast worldwide

by NBC. In addition to the $1 million money prize, the champions will win a new Toyota Tundra and a Nitro Z20 bass fishing boat.

Junior Chad Sentell, the fishing team’s treasurer, described what it felt like to participate in the qualifying tournament and how a typical day was spent during their stay in Nashville.

“It was a really tough day, so we knew it wasn’t going to take much weight to qualify,” Sentell said. “We had five fish that

The UT Bass Fishing Team qualifying to compete in a Bass Pro Shops championship in November with a grand prize of $1 million. Courtesy of Joey Bissing weighed nine pounds. That was five fish over 14 inches, all large-mouth.”

Students from all different colleges and universities came to compete for the prize “I think some guys from North Carolina ended up winning,” Sentell said.

Sophomore Joey Bissing, a team member and their social media manager, described his experience at the tournament and how it felt to qualify in the top 40 two-person teams.

“My boat motor blew up at 11:30, and we just fished through it,” Bissing said. “We still qualified in the top 40 which is a re-

ally big achievement for both of us. Fishing without a motor is nearly impossible.”

“We’re just excited because this tournament was for $50,000, but they picked the top 40 teams to go compete for $1 million in the biggest bass fishing tournament that’s ever happened.”

Anyone can register for an event in the Bass Pro Shops U.S. Open Championship in order to qualify, but the competition is heavy and the amount of events left are slim.

UT’s team will be in attendance and plan to spend a lot of time fishing in preparation for the event.

“We usually have about two tournaments a month, and we travel all along the country,” Sentell said. “Just this past year since I’ve been on the team, we have been to Alabama, South Carolina and Kentucky.

Some teams have been to Michigan, Florida and New York. We go all over the country to fish.”

The team’s Instagram posts several times a month on their progress, tournaments and catches.

“We are about a 20-30 person team,” Bissing said. “We meet twice a month, to discuss upcoming tourneys, tourney strategies and just fishing.”

“We fish a lot on Fort Loudon, which is the river right behind campus. Almost every Sunday we all take our boats there and go fishing, if we don’t have a tourney.”

With a million dollars in mind, the team will be out fishing more often, growing as a team and sharpening their skills as anglers with the highest hopes and successful mindsets.

Additional information about the UT Bass Fishing Team can be found on their website.

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OPINIONS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Battle of Beliefs: UT College Democrats, Republicans discuss abortion

ALEXA WORLEY, COLLEGE DEMOCRATS AND MAXWELL HAWKINS, COLLEGE REPUBLICANS Columnists Welcome to “Battle of Beliefs,” your one-stop shop to see opposing viewpoints on a current event or social issue. In a culture plagued by political polarity, it is rare to find a space for civil discourse and respectful conversation. That is what this column aims to be: a neutral table where all sides of the argument have a seat. Every article, one representative from both the UT College Republicans and the UT College Democrats will share their opinions about a prevalent topic in our society, whether it be a current event, a social issue that affects Americans or anything in between that is worth discussing.

This week, amid the recent Texas abortion bill and the protesters who visited campus to share

their anti-abortion ideas, the topic of discussion is the legality of abortion.

Alexa Worley, College Democrats Abortions are a fundamental human right and are to remain legal, safe and attainable.

I want to begin that these conversation should be held by those who have a uterus. Men can have an opinion on abortion, but they shouldn’t force or legally stop a woman from doing so. It’s been an obstacle to have to sit and watch cisgendered men create, establish and enforce laws that withhold freedom of choice. Cisgendered men do not have authority of a woman’s choice nor do they have

the legal right to do so, contrary to popular gender structure belief.

Embryos and fetuses are not independent and are not viable. They have no personhood at conception and cannot be self-determining beings.

When undergoing an abortion, the pregnancy is what’s being terminated, not a baby. What has been misconstrued over the past few years is the language used for political gain and ignoring the medical validity.

State legislators have recently been passing “fetal heartbeat” bills. They are implying that after six weeks of pregnancy, when embryonic cardiac activity is possibly detected, there is a sign of viability. The embryonic cardiac activity is not actually a heartbeat but that of electrical impulses. Viability cannot occur until around 24 weeks. And not that it actually matters, but less than 1% of abortions are performed over 21 weeks.

If abortions were made illegal, women from poor and marginalized groups will suffer the most.

These vulnerable groups consist of those living in poverty, rural areas and young children. They are going to be the ones driven to extremely unsafe abortions. A country with more restrictive abortion laws have 34 deaths per 100,000 childbirths with a rate of unsafe abortions being 23 of 1,000 women.

Compare this to a country with less restrictive laws, which have one or fewer deaths per 100,000 childbirths and two out of 1,000 women performing unsafe abortions. There is also an effect on a country who goes from less restrictive abortion laws to more restrictive laws. With new legal restrictions imposed in Romania in 1996, the ratio of deaths increased from 20 to 148 deaths per 100,000 live births. Thankfully, the restrictions backpedaled and decreased to nine deaths per 100,000 live births.

Based on my observations, you are only wanting to control women by pushing this false rhetoric that you are “pro-life,” when in fact you are “probirth.” It is time we have these open conversations.

For the opposing viewpoint, what are you doing specifically to be “pro-life?” Are you voting for candidates that want to create and fund more welfare programs for the unprivileged? Are you wanting to create better sex education programs?

Will contraceptives and safe sex practices be easily attainable without parental consent? Will you be reconstructing the foster care system? What impact do you create limiting women’s reproductive options?

The week after, the baby’s nose forms. Week seven after fertilization, the baby’s toes appear. By week 10, the baby has also formed genitals, fingernails, eyelids and external ears. Just in the first trimester, a fetus has grown many of the traits that are noticeable after birth.

The question of abortion is do parents get to decide to end a child’s life for the sake of their convenience, and if so, where do we draw the line of defining what people are? As it is illegal to end a human’s life, as it should be, it is important to define what qualifies as human life within the lens of fetal development and how that line can affect other groups of people.

Meaning, if individuals define what life is outside of conception and fertilization, that same line would be drawn for other individuals as well. If abortion is allowed when the fetus has a heartbeat, this means that having a heartbeat does not make you human, which means that people with pacemakers do not have human value. The same line can be drawn for lung development and individuals that need an iron lung. If you believe that a fetus is not a human until the brain stops developing, then men below the age of 25 aren’t humans. Also, if you believe sentience is the definitive feature of human life, then people in a coma and people who sleep aren’t people while in those positions.

However, even though a fetus relies on the mother for her body in the developmental stage, that does not end with birth. Even after out of the mother’s body, the baby still relies on the parents for food, water, shelter and the frequent diaper change. Since human life should be defined under conception and fertilization, this means that humans themselves cannot define what life is, rather science and nature do. Under this reasoning, therefore no one has a “fetus shower,” but it’s called a baby shower because it’s a human.

Under the Fifth and 14th Amendment of the Constitution, the government cannot deprive any person of “life, liberty and property” without due process of law. Since a “person” is defined under conception and fertilization, due to the unique DNA, this does include the fetus.

It is worth noting that there are other issues that incentivize abortions, like poverty and a flawed foster care system, and these issues need to be dealt with as well. Nevertheless, approximately 62 million abortions have been conducted in the United States since 1973 (CDC).

Genocide of human life is unacceptable. Condoms are free in the TRECS.

Maxwell Hawkins, College Republicans The “my body my choice” argument has faulty reasoning.

A baby is not an extension of the mother but rather a separate entity. At conception, a unique set of DNA is created, in which the zygote has 23 chromosomes from the father and 23 chromosomes from the mother. These chromosomes help determine the baby’s sex and other physical traits. Week two after fertilization, the baby’s heart and a primitive circulatory system will form (Mayo Clinic).

Week five after conception, the baby’s head forms.

UT College Democrats and UT College Republicans are student run organizations dedicated to increasing political activity in students and electing political officials of their political parties in all level of government.

Check out their Instagrams at @utcollegedems and @gopatutk.

Columns and letters of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon’s editorial staff.

Wednesday, October 6, 2021 • The Daily Beacon

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6

OPINIONS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Rumor Has It: Mermaids are more than an old sailor’s myth

LAUREN REID Columnist

Mermaids are one of the oldest wives’ tales on Earth. Children are introduced to these supposedly mythical creatures at a very young age. I know “The Little Mermaid” was definitely a favorite of mine as a kid. But not all tales include mermaids as sweet, helpful and harmless creatures. Let’s dive right in, and talk about sirens.

The rumors of sirens came about a long time ago too, dating back to Ancient Greece. In mythology, these creatures are evil temptresses who lure sailors to their

deaths through songs or chants. Back in the day, many sailors reported seeing these sea maids while out on the open water for a long period of time. There was never any hard evidence, but paintings, sculptures, myths and tales have lived on through history.

Entertainment media has fed into this version of a mermaid too, through movies and shows where sirens have fangs or claws for hands.

On the other, more common, side of things, mermaids have been described as beautiful, alluring and peaceful creatures.

This idea of a mermaid is more common in media, seen in motion pictures like “H20,” “Peter Pan” and, as I previously mentioned, “The Little Mermaid” that all portray these pleasant ideas of a mermaid. Again, this wives’ tale stemmed from sailors or fishermen. There’s a theory that those fishermen were out on the water for so long that they started to go a little crazy, even mistaking manatees as mermaids.

A theory that became extremely popular in the ’70s and ’80s is the Aquatic Ape Theory. The theory piggybacks off the theory that humans evolved from apes. In this theory, it’s believed that early hominids lived in the water at least half of the time. This is supposed to explain why we have hairless bodies or a fat layer that resembles blubber from

a whale.

The theory that has captivated me the most, and has me leaning towards the “mermaids are real” side of this debate, is also about evolution. It dabbles a little into the story of creation from a Christian viewpoint, but we’ll place that on the back burner for now.

Essentially, the idea is that mermaids have existed from the start, even before humans. Think about the life of a frog, how it starts as a tadpole, has that period of time where it looks like a fish with little legs and then is a frog. What if humans also went through that time where they were halffish and half-human, before Pangea split?

What if, when that split did happen, less open ocean was available and land became obstacles?

I mean, couldn’t that explain Dwarka, otherwise known as the city we found underwater in 1988? That finding itself should’ve raised some eyebrows. A whole city, with buildings and grids, was found hundreds of feet underwater and no one questioned how it got there? Do we really think it just sank below sea level?

Whichever theory is true or not true doesn’t really matter. What does matter is the evidence. There are videos, skeletons, reports and photos of mermaid life. A video

of men in hazmat suits, pulling what looked like remains of a half-human, half-fish body from a lake, scattered the internet a few years back. There’s another aerial video of what looks exactly like a mermaid, laying on a rock and slipping into the ocean as soon as it sees the camera.

In 2012, a mermaid skeleton washed up on shore in Bulgaria. Again, in June of this year, a skeleton, that is extremely similar to the one of 2012, was found on a British coast.

Though both of these skeletons were dated to early centuries, specifically the 13th, it’s still hard evidence that these bedtime story creatures were once real.

Rumor has it ... an underwater world exists.

Lauren Reid is a senior at UT this year majoring in journalism. She can be reached at lreid9@vols.utk.edu.

Columns and letters of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon’s editorial staff.

Making of Man: What does it mean to be a man?

BEN GOLDBERGER Opinions Editor “Be a man.”

Every boy hears this short order throughout his childhood, taking on a different meaning every time. Sometimes it means stop crying after falling off your bike, other times it means swallow your fear in frightening situations. Most of the time, though, this three-word instruction insinuates hiding any emotions or feelings inside and getting the job done.

The boys who are force-fed this anti-emotion mantra, grow up to think that this is what being a man means. It means being emotionally unavailable, tough as nails and embracing

the inherent downfalls that the world throws at you as necessary to develop masculinity.

This is why 3.63 times more men died of suicide than women in 2019 (AFSP). This is why 96.6% of domestic violence perpetrators are male (US Department of Justice). This is why women feel the need to use phrases such as “I hate all men.”

Over the past few years, I’ve found myself shying away from anything that makes me feel masculine out of a fear that it would associate myself with the same men who roofie girls at parties and are afraid to say “I love you” to those that are close to them, because they’re worried about sounding “gay.” I felt as if my embracement of anything masculine is a betrayal to my female friends and the feminist movement as a whole. After all, how can I say that I am proudly a man while, at the same time, saying men are the problem?

I now find myself missing that welcoming community that other genders have with their peers, seemingly stranded in a solitary void of wanting to play pick-up and obsess over fantasy football without also finding humor in insensitivity and avoiding personal hygiene. I haven’t really had any close male friends since middle school for this very reason.

Instead, I split myself into two different Bens: one that participates in all things manly

with other guys and one that shies away from embracing masculinity to avoid associating myself with bad men.

This duality of Ben lets me embrace “manly” things while keeping me at a distance from men that have fallen victim to the toxic masculinity that is seared into the male gender from birth. But in doing so, I inherently inhibit myself from ever being fully comfortable with being a man.

At the end of the day, though, nothing that I’ve said in this actually defines what being a man is. Being a man doesn’t mean just one thing. For some, being a man means protecting your loved ones from adversity. For others, it can mean being the strongest person in the room — result of toxic masculinity, but we’ll get into that later. To me, being a man means standing up for the right thing and bettering the lives of everyone around you.

Instead of running away from men that have fallen victim to toxic masculinity, I should help them realize why their actions lead to so much trauma in women that the saying “kill all men” became a thing in the first place. Instead of blindly replying “not all men,” we should be seeing that enough men are dangerous in the eyes of women where it has become the stereotype for the whole gender.

The truth is, the male gender needs some

serious rebranding. We need a whole cultural switch to where we acknowledge that there are bad men and strive to make it so that they become the minority. It’s our job to listen to the overwhelming grievances and pleads of help coming from other genders and help eradicate toxic masculinity.

Hence why I’m writing this column. After years of feeling embarrassed to be associated with the male gender, I realized that I can instead embrace my masculinity while also striving to change the connotation of manhood without betraying the gender equality movement and other values that toxic masculinity tears down. As the year goes on, I’ll continue to explore masculinity and what it means to be a man in hopes of not only figuring it out for myself, but also helping others figure it out for themselves.

Ben Goldberger is a junior at UT this year studying anthropology and political science. He can be reached at bgoldbe3@ vols.utk.edu.

Columns and letters of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon’s editorial staff.

CITY NEWS

Wednesday, October 6, 2021 • The Daily Beacon

‘Titane’ review: True provocative cinema KEENAN THOMAS Staff Writer

One of the year’s best films also happens to be the single hardest film to recommend this year. There will also never be another film that forces the audience to hold their breath during the “Macarena.”

“Titane” is the winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. Julia Ducournau wrote and directed the French body horror film, following her disturbing 2016 debut film “Raw.” The film follows Alexia, a dancer, murderer and literal autophile with a titanium plate in her head, as she tries to outrun the police. To do so, she disguises herself as a firefighter’s missing son. But a sexual encounter with a car — yes, you read that right — threatens to reveal her secrets.

“Titane” is a deeply unsettling case of provocateur filmmaking. It’s one of the hardest to watch and most confusing films recently released. It also happens to be one of the best films of the year.

Agathe Rousselle plays Alexia, and she delivers a chilling and pained performance. She is constantly hurting throughout the film in ways that appear to be both physical and internal. But there’s also a hidden soft side to her portrayal of the character that only rears its head occasionally. It’s an incredible performance, especially in how she begins to express herself with other characters over the course of the film.

The other main lead is Vincent Lindon as the fire captain Vincent. He delivers a similarly anguished performance, constantly on the brink of losing it all. His moments of compassion and emotional turmoil are beautiful, especially paired alongside Rousselle’s tragic deception and their growing bond. The way both their characters develop through their performances is amazing.

Along with that, the story of the film is impossible to describe without either spoiling it or sounding like utter nonsense. However, the plot is unique and intriguing, constantly keeping the viewer engaged with whatever the next development might be. Even with the most mundane sounding ideas, the film crafts the story into something unlike anything I’ve seen put to screen in recent years.

With that in mind, this film is one of the strangest and most unnerving movies out right now. There were several moments that induced fear and discomfort, more so than any horror film made in the last five years or so. The opening act is specifically seat squirming, with moments that linger and weigh on the viewer.

That leads into two ideas presented within the film. The first is Alexia and her actions. The film makes it expressly clear that her actions are terrible, with seemingly no reason or motive behind them. There’s a deep resentment sewn

into her, something that is linked to the opening scene.

However, the film progresses and shows two sides to her character, mainly her soft side as she develops a connection with Vincent. This leads to the ultimate atonement for her actions, as well as an element of forgiveness. But that is directly tied to the viewer’s experience with the film, and it is impossible to try and break that down within a short paragraph.

That’s why I’m continuing it here for just a short while more. Without spoiling anything, the last act firmly establishes several themes built up throughout the story that could take an entire article to dissect.

For the sake of brevity, the film presents themes of atonement and repercussions for Alexia’s sins in a way, but it also offers up an idea of rebirth, emerging through the pain and suffering to start anew by accounting for changes in behavior and character. It’s strangely beautiful in a messed-up sort of way.

As to the second idea — you thought I forgot — the film does everything in its power to enforce a pressure onto the viewer. This is most prominent within the score by Jim Williams. It features a heavy and pulsating bass that drones over scenes, creating a dissociative and unbreathable atmosphere while you helplessly watch the events unfurl on-screen. It’s incredible, along with the layers of sound that are mixed and altered to invoke different feelings as scenes progress.

With the score, the songs chosen to play throughout the film are perfectly placed. They establish the mood, tone and setting of certain scenes in such a way that it is improbable to imagine that there could be a different song used in the movie. From the opening scene to Vincent dancing after dinner, every song has purpose, even if it is just to fit the mood of a particular scene.

Ruben Impens shot the film beautifully, with specific camera movements and angles that convey power, anguish and despair. Everything is placed in just the right way and at just the right spot to convey every single idea necessary for this film.

Because of the nature of the story, the cinematography is integral to the film, and it succeeds at crafting a wholly unique visual experience matched with the sparse dialogue. It doesn’t do the same claustrophobic closeups like “Uncut Gems,” but it doesn’t need to in order for the audience to wait with bated breath.

Finally, the editing by Jean-Christophe Bouzy is mostly unnoticeable, as it sets up a consistent rhythm that matches the action, sound and visuals of the film. It was neither distracting nor flashy, but it’s better because of that. The only times it was noticeable was out of admiration.

“Titane” is incredible, offering a cinematic experience unlike anything else this year. It will move you, mostly in a horrific fashion as you readjust within your seat to fight off the tingling

Courtesy of IMDb feeling brought upon by great body horror. But it will place itself within the memory of audiences for a long time to come.

The impossible task with this film is recommending it to people. It is nearly a guarantee that people will hate this movie, for multiple reasons.

At times, even though a film might win the most prestigious award that it could possibly win, this may not be enough to make people appreciate it.

But that’s also the nature of provocative filmmaking. It’s not for everyone, and that’s okay.

With that in mind, you might see this movie and come out of it with hatred deeply woven into the experience. You might regret the money you just spent to go out of your way to see it. You might not even understand why it’s receiving all the praise it is getting.

To that, I offer a singular point.

This film is something that could have only existed as such: a film. There is no conceivable way to make this story work in any other medium. Not in a novel, not in an album, not even in a podcast. Maybe as a TV show, but only if it was given the proper budget and time.

Julia Ducournau uses every single asset within film as a filmmaker to create this work of art. It crafts something that only the audio and visual format of storytelling could have birthed.

To that, I say that this is representative of the power of cinema.

Even if you hate it, this film will be unlike any other experience within a theater this year.

5 of 5 Torches

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CITY NEWS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Packers-themed bar celebrates fall KEENAN THOMAS Contributor

Last Days of Autumn Brewing steps into fall with a slew of events, including a shrimp boil every Friday starting at 4:30 p.m.

The family owned brewery from Mike Frede opened in 2016. They craft their own beer and serve a variety of specials, as well as regular menu items, throughout the week in their Green Bay Packers bar.

Located at 808 E. Magnolia Ave., the brewery may catch you by surprise, as finding it takes a minute — even though it’s right off the road. They change everything on a day-by-day basis.

Alex Chase, Frede’s son and the bar manager, talked about the variety of options they serve to customers.

“We try to mix it up at least for a new special every single day that you can come by and have,” Chase said. “In a way, it’s kind of rotating just like our beer taps cause we’re small. So you get new choices of beer and you also get a new choice of food each day of the week.”

On this particular day, they were serving their shrimp boil specials, which consisted of three types of dishes.

They sell a Cajun Shrimp Boil, a Hot Knox Boil and a Surf n’ Turf. The first two are sold either for half a pound or a pound, but usually don’t cost more than $15. The latter is served in one size, but costs about the same. Each also comes with sauce and different sides that include corn on the cob, coleslaw and potatoes.

At least for those first two, they are seasoned in different ways. The Cajun Shrimp Boil has a smattering of spices that cover every shrimp, while the Hot Knox is covered with a sauce that mixes heat and sweetness.

Chase talked about the decision to hold a shrimp boil special each Friday for the past couple of years.

“After we opened up our kitchen, we

Detail shot of the Cajun shrimp plate served at Last days of Autumn Brewing on 808 E Magnolia Ave. Jamar Coach / The Daily Beacon

Last Days of Autumn Brewing’s storefront photographed on Sept. 24, 2021 located at 808 E Magnolia Ave, Knoxville. Jamar Coach / Sta� Photographer were looking for specials that were unique to Knoxville you couldn’t really get all the time,” Chase said. “So we thought of something that everybody typically likes, which is peel-and-eat shrimp. So we just had a Cajun shrimp boil … we figured that would be a great option to bring to the table.”

Usually, they have live music from local artists to accompany their specials, who play on the stage outside on their patio.

Along with the shrimp boil, Last Days of Autumn have other specialty days throughout the week. One of their most popular ones is Taco Tuesday, which was born out of a taco challenge against the owner. It has become a staple specialty on their menu.

“Taco Tuesdays are, I’d say, probably one of our busiest days of the week,” Chase said. “This Tuesday, the line was all the way out the front door. It was crazy.”

Gary Heidel, a long time customer, sat at the bar and shared his experiences at Last Days of Autumn. He started coming to the brewery around the time of its opening, after hearing about it on the Ale Trail.

“Coming in and having the specialties is special,” Heidel said. “Every day’s special is like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ They have good stuff.”

This Friday, he wasn’t there for the shrimp boil part of the night. Instead, he continues to come to the bar for everything else.

“Well they have nice events outside with fire pits and all that stuff, so there’s multiple attractions here,” Heidel said. “It’s not just the beer or the food, it’s the environment that they’ve created.”

As for their specialty days, they have Taco Tuesday and the shrimp boil every Friday. They also do a Wisconsin Fish Fry on Sundays to go along with the Packers games.

The bar is also fundraising for Curesearch, which is a non-profit organization that researches childhood cancer. To accompany their fundraising and drive incentive, they are doing a giveaway for a trip to Wisconsin for a Packers game.

They update their Facebook page with upcoming events. As the shrimp boil came to a close, it was another specialty day in the books at Last Days of Autumn Brewing.

CITY NEWS

Wednesday, October 6 , 2021 • The Daily Beacon

Greek Fest returns to in-person festivities KEENAN THOMAS Staff Writer

The Saint George Greek Orthodox Church gave a hearty “Opa!” as it welcomed Knoxville to its 42nd Annual Greek Fest this past weekend.

Located at 4070 Kingston Pike, Greek Fest took place on the church grounds, filling up the entirety of its space with booths, tables, tents and a dance floor, with a live band.

They hosted the festival to share the Greek Orthodox religion and Greek culture with Knoxville. It started on Friday, Oct. 1 and ended on Sunday, Oct. 3. People continued to visit as the days went on, arriving on school bus shuttles from designated parking areas.

This year’s Greek Fest was a return to form after last year, which changed the festival into a drive-through format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, they were able to do a more traditional Greek Fest.

The festival acts in part as a fundraiser for the church itself, but they also plan on giving a portion of the funds they receive to charity. They also work with the homeless, offering food supplies at least once a month even outside of the festival.

Greek Fest takes a long time to plan. Chairman of the planning committee, John Corum, spoke about planning for the Greek Fest each year, adding afterwards that it’s a “total relief” once the festival is underway.

“It’s a massive chore to put all the pieces to the puzzle together, meaning the suppliers that you have to be in communication with ... the bands and foods and all that stuff is a massive job,” Corum said. “Usually, I start in February planning and contacting people, especially suppliers, to lock us in, so that we don’t come at crunch time and not have that supplier.”

Part of this supply appears within the booths that line the perimeter of the festival. Each booth held a different purpose, selling various foods or drinks. Part of the church building also housed vendors selling jewelry, towels, bags and pillows, just to name a few.

Visitors look around the interior of the St. George Greek Orthodox Church during a tour at the 42nd annual Greek Fest on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021. Jamar Coach / The Daily Beacon

As for the food, several dishes and sweets could be found. Inside, they sold pre-packaged pastries like baklava, sweet bread, finikia and almond crescents by the box. They prepared around 10,000 pastries for this year’s festival.

In the outside booths, they sold Greek pizza, souvlaki, baklava sundaes, tiropita and a gyro and chicken dish. There was also a variety of Greek wine and beer sold. These booths are each run by a different family within the church.

The Dixon family ran the souvlaki tent. Christina Dixon spoke about her experiences with Greek Fest. She has helped with the festival for several years. Dixon now helps run her family’s booth, having previously danced in the festival since elementary school until she graduated college.

“I love the energy here, every single year,” Dixon said. “It’s always new people, same people. Everyone here who’s working is always so energetic about everyone that comes, and there’s just a great family atmosphere. And I love the food.”

Outside of food, one of the first booths that greet people passed the admissions table was the t-shirt booth, which features a new design each year. Zena Jones, co-chair of t-shirts, talked about seeing everyone who joins in the festivities.

“It’s wonderful,” Jones said. “It’s so nice seeing everyone coming back out after a year of not having our traditional Greek Fest.”

She talked about her specific booth, where they look over sales data to figure out how many shirts to make and what designs to try. While running this booth, she talked about what she likes most about serving as a volunteer at the Greek Fest.

“I think the fellowship and being able to share the culture and the food and fun with everyone in the community,” Jones said.

Visitors eating Greek cuisine during the 42nd annual Part of the festival included different church Greek Fest on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021 at St. George’s Greek aspects, primarily a tour and two services. The Orthodox Church in Knoxville. Jamar Coach / The Daily tour consisted of an overview of the Greek OrBeacon

thodox religion as well as the establishment of the church in North America, concluding with an opportunity to look around the church. The services included a Paraklesis and Vespers service.

Dancer Lygia Karagiozis spoke about the different services, and she also performed during the dance shows as part of the older group.

“Vespers is traditionally the first service in the daily cycle of church services because the liturgical day begins in the evening rather than the morning. While Paraklesis is a service that is meant to act as a supplication for the living,” Karagiozis said.

The Paraklesis service involved Byzantine chants and prayers, and the Vespers took place on the second festival day.

The festival featured several dance shows starting on Friday evening through the rest of weekend. There were two main dance groups: the high school group and the young adult group, mostly college dancers.

They both did a variety of dances, showcasing all parts of Greece in each dance. The high school group wore more traditional dance costumes, whereas the older group wore more formal attire.

Both groups performed different dances, all with a dancer leading the line. The older group demonstrated some elaborate dances, with complex movements and a higher tempo. One leader even jumped into the air at different points.

The dancing wrapped up the festival, entertaining the mass of people that had accumulated throughout the day. All parts of Knoxville came out to this festival, to enjoy the food, culture and atmosphere that encompassed the church.

Co-chair Mike Nassios gave a final comment on the 42nd Annual Greek Fest.

“We want to thank you for coming and thank you for the Knoxville community for coming and supporting us,” Nassios said. “And thank you to the members of the community that worked really hard … to put this event together.”

St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church’s high school dance team performs a Greek folk dance during the 42nd annual Greek Fest on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021, in Knoxville. Jamar Coach / The Daily Beacon

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SPORTS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, October 6, 2021

What the Vols can learn from their last game against South Carolina JOSH LANE Sports Editor

Tennessee opened the 2020 season in Columbia, South Carolina, by squeaking out a 3127 win. Josh Palmer caught a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter and Tennessee caught a break on special teams in the end, as the Gamecock’s comeback fell just short. The Vols are looking to keep the ball rolling after a huge win at Mizzou, but they can’t overlook a struggling Gamecock team.

Here are three things the Vols’ can learn from their last matchup with South Carolina.

A near collapse Tennessee led South Carolina by a touchdown at halftime in last season’s opener and began the third quarter with another scoring drive. That two-score lead did not last long.

Shi Smith caught a long touchdown pass from Colin Hill, who later rushed for the tying score. In eight minutes of game time, South Carolina had scored 14 unanswered points to even up the game.

The two teams traded field goals before Palmer’s touchdown put the Vols ahead by 7 with nine minutes to go. South Carolina went

down the field on the following drive but stalled out around the 25-yard line and settled for a second field goal. Tennessee could not put the game away with a score but caught a break when South Carolina’s Cam Smith fumbled the punt return, and the Vols recovered.

So what’s the lesson here? The Vols were favored going into the matchup, and despite all the COVID-19 uncertainties that came with the first game of the season, the Vols were the better team. Some mistakes in the passing game, which I’ll touch on later, nearly cost them.

As far as fundamentals go, Tennessee had its best game of the season Saturday at Mizzou. The Vols committed only 2 penalties, their lowest single-game total this year. If the Vols can do the little things right versus South Carolina, then they should have no trouble dispatching an inferior team.

Trouble in the passing game It’s no secret that Tennessee could not find the right formula at quarterback in 2020 — Jeremy Pruitt rotated between Jarrett Guarantano, Brian Mauer and Harrison Bailey seemingly without a plan.

This was actually one of Guarantano’s better games of the season. He completed 19-of-31 passes for 259 yards and a touchdown. But like

the 2021 Vols, Guarantano was burned by inaccuracy, particularly on the deep balls.

The most notable overthrows were two that closed the third quarter and opened the fourth quarter. Almost every time South Carolina brought pressure, Guarantano lost his fundamentals and threw the ball away. As a result, Tennessee finished 1-for-11 on third down conversions, a rate which nearly cost them the game.

Hendon Hooker looked really nice last week against Mizzou, completing 79% of his passes for 225 yards and 3 touchdowns. Josh Heupel officially named him the starter Monday, so it will be up to Hooker to continue that consistency in the passing game.

Continue the defensive pressure The Vols’ defense was a force to be reckoned with in last year’s South Carolina game. Nineteen different players combined for 62 tackles, led by Bryce Thompson and Kenneth George Jr.’s 8 apiece. Henry To’o To’o had a key picksix, and Deandre Jordan had 2.5 sacks.

Tennessee’s defense in 2021 has not slowed down despite the massive turnover that took place during the offseason. As a result of an aggressive defensive scheme, the Vols’ have forced 7 turnovers in their last three games.

Former quarterback Jarrett Guarantano during the Sept. 26, 2020, game against South Carolina.

Andrew Ferguson / Tennessee Athletics

They only have 10.0 sacks as a group, but the defense has been suffocating regardless.

Mizzou’s Connor Bazelak and Tyler Badie were held in check for the first time all season as Tennessee trounced over the Tigers. South Carolina has yet to figure out an answer at quarterback, lacks any other real playmakers on offense and has a negative turnover margin as a team. If Tennessee can keep the pressure coming, it can feast all day.

Late defense haunts Lady Vols in loss to Texas A&M NATE TOSADO Contributor

The No. 20 Tennessee volleyball team dropped their first SEC match against Texas A&M in five sets (26-24, 23-25, 25-17, 2125, 15-17) on Sunday at Thompson Boling Arena. The Lady Vols now hold an overall record of 12-3 and a 4-1 record in the SEC. Here are three takeaways from the Lady Vols’ loss to the Aggies.

Lady Vols struggle to keep lead One of the biggest problems that plagued the Lady Vols in the sets they dropped against the Aggies was not being able to defend their lead. Time and time again, Tennessee would be up and have all the momentum in the world going for them. However, little mistakes came back to haunt them as Texas A&M stormed back to win.

A few weeks ago, head coach Eve Rackham Watt said the team’s biggest weakness was their defense, and in Sunday’s matchup, it showed. The Lady Vols’ mistakes piled up and caused them to drop their first SEC match.

With half the season behind them, Ten-

nessee will need to figure out how to hold leads as it prepares for teams like Florida, South Carolina and the 2020 NCAA Champion, Kentucky.

Middle blocker depth One thing the Lady Vols have that separates them from most other programs is their deep roster. This depth is most notably seen in the middle blocker position. Over the course of the season, the Lady Vols have been known to rotate between graduate student Nicole Shanahan and seniors Ava Bell and Danielle Mahaffey in the starting lineup.

On Saturday, Bell and Mahaffey were both featured in the starting lineup and made their presence known. Mahaffey led the team with 6 blocks and came in third overall with 6 kills. Bell was right behind her with 4 blocks and 5 kills.

“We’re fortunate to have three experienced middles who are doing a really nice job for us both blocking and scoring,” Rackham Watt said. “We feel like we could put any one of them in and get production out of them.”

The ability to switch between middle blockers is useful in a few different ways. For one, it allows the players to rest and not get too burnt out. The position is physically demanding, with the player constantly ready

Libero Madison Bryant (12) dives to save a ball in serve receive in Thompson-Boling Arena Alana Adams / The Daily Beacon to block incoming volleys. It also makes it hard for the opposing team to adjust to just one Lady Vol. Morgahn Fingall’s importance While many of the Lady Vols’ wins are due to a team effort, one of the most important players on the floor is the junior right-side hitter Morgahn Fingall. The Fairfax, Virginia, native has proven to be one of the most impactful players offensively and consistently comes in clutch for the Lady Vols.

In the two-game home series matchup

between the Aggies, Fingall was key to the Lady Vols’ success.

On Saturday, she led the team in kills with 11 and aces with 2. Fingall would continue to be impactful on Sunday when she recorded 11 more kills. However, this was not enough to push the Vols to win, as they fell in five sets.

Fingall was not only influential in the Texas A&M matchups but has been the entire season. The future is bright for the junior and Tennessee Volleyball if she continues her stellar performance. It tends to show when she is not on the floor.

SPORTS

Vols return home for meeting against South Carolina ETHAN STONE Assistant Sports Editor

South Carolina is one of Tennessee’s longesttenured rivals. The Vols have been playing the Gamecocks since 1903 across three different conferences — Southern, Atlantic Coast and Southeastern.

Saturday, the two storied programs will hold their 40th meeting.

Monday, head coach Josh Heupel announced that Hendon Hooker will officially be handed the reigns of the offense against the Gamecocks.

This is the first clear indicator of Hooker being “The Guy” for Tennessee after some uncertainty with Joe Milton to start the season.

This announcement follows a masterclass performance against Mizzou from Hooker in a 62-24 winning effort, one that earned him a Manning Award Star of the Week with 15-of-19 completed passes for 225 yards and 3 touchdowns.

“He’s got great comfort and understanding of what we are doing,” Heupel said. “ He’s been really in control of what’s going on at the line of scrimmage. He’s really good with his eyes, and that’s allowed him to be really decisive with the football, and was extremely accurate the other day. A lot of that stems from his eyes being in the right place and seeing things clearly.”

The Vols are looking to pick up their 28th win over South Carolina, a team that seemingly had a lot in common with the Vols preseason. The Vols opened as 12-point favorites for Saturday.

First-year coach Shane Beamer took over South Carolina at a low point in its acclaimed history. Beamer and the Gamecocks are trying to avoid their third consecutive losing season, something the team hasn’t seen since Lou Holtz went 0-11 in 1999, after posting 5-6 and 1-10 records the seasons prior.

The Gamecocks are one of five SEC schools that have not won a game in conference play, joining Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Missouri.

The Gamecocks have struggled to move the ball on offense, but their threat on the ground is almost nonexistent. South Carolina has 1 touchdown in 174 rushing attempts, far and away the worst margin in the SEC. Only LSU and Mississippi State average less rushing yards per game.

It doesn’t get much better in the pass game, either. Zeb Noland got the starting job in September after joining the team as a offensive graduate assistant. Noland played well to start the year, throwing for 5 touchdowns and 1 interception with a passer rating of 124 before injuring his throwing hand against Georgia.

Sophomore quarterback Luke Doty got the nod in relief, putting up similar numbers.

Beamer has not named a starting quarterback against Tennessee this week as Noland’s hand progresses.

“Zeb is fine,” Beamer said to South Carolina media. “He could’ve played last week (against Kentucky in week four).”

Doty started in South Carolina’s 23-14 win over Troy in week five following Beamer’s statement.

South Carolina has offensive woes, but its secondary can present a challenge for Tennessee. Jaylan Foster is one of the top defensive backs in the country, tied for first in the nation with 4 interceptions. Foster leads the Gamecocks with 39 tackles in five games.

The Gamecocks also have the fifth best scoring defense in the country, allowing just 17.4 points per game this season.

Despite the Vols’ big performance against Mizzou, Heupel isn’t interested in overlooking a struggling SEC opponent.

“College football is 12 one-week seasons. If you get into comparing scores from every game every week you’ll go crazy,” Heupel said. “I talked to the team about that earlier. Everything is about this week now.”

2021

Wednesday, October 6, 2021 • The Daily Beacon

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FOOTBALL

PICK ‘EM

Ethan Stone Asst. Sports (24-11) Oklahoma vs. Texas Arkansas vs. Ole Miss South Carolina (10) vs. Tennessee (49) Stanford vs. Arizona State Penn State vs. Iowa LSU vs. Kentucky Memphis vs. Tulsa

Josh Lane Sports Editor (23-12) Oklahoma vs. Texas Arkansas vs. Ole Miss South Carolina (14) vs. Tennessee (35) Stanford vs. Arizona State Penn State vs. Iowa LSU vs. Kentucky Memphis vs. Tulsa

Ben Goldberger Opinions Editor (23-12) Oklahoma vs. Texas Arkansas vs. Ole Miss South Carolina (21) vs. Tennessee (52) Stanford vs. Arizona State Penn State vs. Iowa LSU vs. Kentucky Memphis vs. Tulsa

Caleigh Rozmenoski Copy Chief (22-13) Oklahoma vs. Texas Arkansas vs. Ole Miss South Carolina (19) vs. Tennessee (37) Stanford vs. Arizona State Penn State vs. Iowa LSU vs. Kentucky Memphis vs. Tulsa

Alexandra Ashmore Photo Editor (20-15) Oklahoma vs. Texas Arkansas vs. Ole Miss South Carolina (21) vs. Tennessee (49) Stanford vs. Arizona State Penn State vs. Iowa LSU vs. Kentucky Memphis vs. Tulsa

Sarah Rainey Editor-in-Chief (20-15)

Hendon Hooker, #5, dives into the end-zone, in the football game against Tennessee Tech, held in the Neyland Stadium on Sept. 18, 2021. Nathan Lick / The Daily Beacon

Oklahoma vs. Texas Arkansas vs. Ole Miss South Carolina (14) vs. Tennessee (42) Stanford vs. Arizona State Penn State vs. Iowa LSU vs. Kentucky Memphis vs. Tulsa

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SPORTS

The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Evans runs over Mizzou as up-tempo offense finally pays off JOSH LANE Sports Editor

The Tennessee football team traveled to Columbia, Missouri, looking for its first conference win of the season. The Vols accomplished just that, defeating the Tigers 62-24 in dominating fashion Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Here are three takeaways from Josh Heupel’s first SEC win.

Hat-trick for Evans Tennessee knew that its biggest key to success would be running the football. Mizzou had one of the worst run defenses in the country and was coming off a loss to Boston College in which it allowed 275 yards on the ground. It was enough for running back Tiyon Evans to say, “We’re going to have fun,” ahead of the matchup.

That’s exactly what he did.

Evans had a field day against whatever Mizzou called a run defense. He carried the ball 15 times for 156 yards and 3 touchdowns, averaging 10.4 yards per carry.

Evans’ first touchdown was routine enough, an 8-yard carry in the first that put Tennessee up 14-3. The Vols started their next possession

at their 8-yard line. Evans took the handoff on the first play, found a hole up the middle and took it 92-yards to the house, untouched. That score set the tone for the rest of the day.

“I wouldn’t say it was easy. We just were locked in and on the same page,” Evans said.

“I’d say we were more locked in now than we ever were.”

The Hartsville, South Carolina, native would find the end zone again before the first quarter ended, part of a 217-yard barrage in the game’s first 15 minutes. Evans nearly scored again in the fourth quarter but came up short on the 1-yard line. Replay review upheld the call, but that only affected Evans’ final line. The game had long been effectively over, behind the first fully cohesive game of Tennessee’s season.

“This is the first time we really played together the whole four quarters as a team,” Evans said. “If we can continue to do that, we can continue to have great outcomes.”

All-around offensive domination For the first time at Tennessee, Heupel’s uptempo worked consistently for a full 60 minutes.

His system has shown flashes before, but has not been successful over a sustained period of time. That changed Saturday.

Tennessee totaled 677 yards of offense, 40% of its season total entering the day (1689). As a

whole, Tennessee ran for 452 yards and passed for 225 more. The Vols’ 62 points were the most they’ve scored since dropping 63 on Mizzou back in 2016.

Because of the run game’s dominance, Hendon Hooker’s performance flew under the radar.

But make no mistake, it was another excellent afternoon for the Virginia Tech transfer. He completed 15-of-19 passes for 225 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Three different receivers caught a touchdown pass and six players had at least 1 catch, all of which went more than 10 yards.

In the run game, backups Len’Neth Whitehead and Marcus Pierce Jr. filled in nicely when Evans finally came out of the game. Whitehead had over 70 yards rushing, and Pierce scored the Vols’ final touchdown.

“That’s something we’ve been echoing all week,” Evans said. “When your number is called, you just have to be ready at all times. And those guys were ready at all times. I salute them for that.”

In total, it was a picture of the offense Heupel wanted to establish when he first arrived. And now that his players have gotten a taste, he believes greater things are in store.

“Some really, really positive things today,” Heupel said. “The ability to run the football, the ability to stretch the field vertically, be accurate and consistent . . . But this is the tip of the ice-

berg. We’re just scratching the surface of what we’re capable of. There’s a whole lot more for us and our growth.”

Defense does not go unnoticed As bad as Missouri played, it’s easy to forget that they had a prolific offense that could have challenged Tennessee. Quarterback Connor Bazelak and running back Tyler Badie have been a deadly combination all year. But give credit to defensive coordinator Tim Banks and the UT defense, they completely shut Mizzou down.

The Tigers added a touchdown and some extra yardage in garbage time, but for most of the game, they could not figure out Tennessee’s defense. The Vols’ run defense in particular was something to behold, as Badie was limited to 41 yards and a touchdown.

“Tyler Badie, he’s one of the best backs in the SEC,” junior defensive back Jaylen McCollough said. “Coming in, it was our goal to eliminate him. That’s where their offense comes from. So we played our keys, played our technique. When he got the ball, we rallied to him. Kept him boxed in.”

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Hooker, Evans have some fun in dominating performance at Mizzou ETHAN STONE Assistant Sports Editor

Tennessee running back Tiyon Evans didn’t mince words when asked to preview the Vols’ chances in the run game against Missouri.

“I feel like we finna have some fun, most definitely,” Evans said. “That’s all I’m going to say. We’re going to have fun. We’ll open up this offense and show what we can do.”

It’s safe to say that Evans and the Vols (3-2, 1-1 SEC) followed through on that assertion Saturday.

The word of the day for Tennessee’s offense was ‘efficient.’ The Vols rushed for 452 yards and 6 touchdowns in a 62-24 route over Missouri (2-3, 0-2).

Evans was the star of the show for the Vols, but starting quarterback Hendon Hooker exemplified efficiency against the Tigers. Hooker finished 15-of-19 for 225 yards and 3 touchdowns, while also rushing for 74 yards and 1 touchdown.

Hooker’s first score of the game came less than five minutes in. The Virginia Tech transfer connected with receiver JaVonta Payton for

a 35-yard touchdown pass, one that capped a five-play opening drive. In total, the possession lasted just one minute and 15 seconds.

Tennessee scored on all seven of its first half drives. Only two of these drives lasted more than two minutes, and six of the seven ended with a Tennessee player in the end zone.

“That’s our mindset pregame, we play with tempo,” Hooker said. “Just being efficient with every play.”

Hooker had some praise for his starting running back postgame, as well.

“Tiyon (Evans) is a bad man, he’s amazing to watch,” Hooker said.

Evans made that clear with Tennessee’s third touchdown of the day. He broke through the Missouri defensive line untouched for a 92yard touchdown jaunt.

Evans’ run stands as the third longest in Tennessee history behind Kelsey Finch’s 99yard rush in 1977 and Eric Gray’s 94-yard rush in 2019 against Vanderbilt.

Jeremy Banks set up Evans for his third touchdown of the day the next possession, returning an interception thrown by Tigers quarterback Connor Bazelak to the 1-yard line.

Evans finished the job the next play, increasing the Tennessee lead to 28-3.

Hooker had a hand in the next two scores,

setting up a 35-yard wide receiver screen to Velus Jones Jr. and taking it himself the next possession for a 2-yard score.

Hooker threw his final touchdown of the day in the third quarter, delivering a bullet to Cedric Tillman for the 24-yard score on third and 18.

Paxton Brooks had an uneventful afternoon on special teams for the Vols. The senior punter never saw the field, marking the first time Tennessee has not punted in a game since 2009 against Western Kentucky.

Maryville College transfer Marcus Pierce put the cherry on top with a 27-yard touchdown with one minute and 46 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to finalize all scoring.

Tennessee’s 62-point performance marks the most points scored by the Vols since Tennessee scored 63 against Mizzou in 2016.

“Obviously, that’s the best we’ve played since we’ve been here. Proud of the kids,” head coach Josh Heupel said. “Let’s enjoy this for a bit, but let’s understand we’re still scratching the surface of what we can be here.”

“There’s still so many things we can and we Tiyon Evans, #8, avoids an attempted tackle need to improve.”

by an opposing team member, in the football game against Tennessee Tech, held in the Neyland Stadium on September 18th. Nathan Lick / The Daily Beacon