ATHENS, Ga. — The sport that America embraces every Saturday in the fall is built on the pulse of possibility, on the dynasties that rise and fall, on the sheer unpredictability of when joy and good fortune will smile on the poor souls waiting for the day when their cursed histories turn around.
But the fundamental truth of college football across years and decades has not changed, and will likely never change. In the end, talent wins.
Always.
You can trick people for a little while. You can ride the wave of confidence and momentum for a couple months, as Tennessee did for the first eight weeks of this season.