It's a new era in Knoxville. The disappointing tenures of Lane Kiffin and Derek Dooley are well in the past. Butch Jones has the Tennessee Volunteers once again recruiting with the best of the best in the SEC. And based on the whoopin' that UT is applying to Utah State on Sunday night, the Vols might even be ready to compete at a high level in the SEC as soon as right now.
Oh, and the they're also playing the popular DJ Snake & Lil' John song "Turn Down For What" in Neyland Stadium every single time their defense forces the opponent into a third down .
Proof:
Tennessee is already disliked by opposing fans for the frequency with which its marching band plays its fight song "Rocky Top." It appears that the Vols are eager to add to opposing fans' list of minor grievances.
Lest you worry that this is the work of a sound intern taking a bit too much liberty with his job duties, take note that this is a deliberate new tradition that comes with Butch Jones' seal of approval:
On third down, Jones explained stadium-wide, Neyland will be drowned in Lil' Jon's 'Turn Down for What' --- changed to 'Third Down for What' on the jumbotron --- and hearing the song is the cue for Tennessee fans to create an even louder than normal home-field advantage.
"We've got a new little system on third down," receiver Von Pearson explained. "Since we did that new third down, Coach Jones told the crowd about it, I felt like they got turned up.
"When they get turned up, we feel like we can play better. So that helped a lot."
As for the song, that was a team decision.
"We all picked that song," Pearson said. "We all know what time it is when that song comes on."
After all of the frustrations that Tennessee fans have endured since 2008, it's quite possible that they deserve an excuse to get turned up with the possibility of never turning back down for anything.