Wartburg 13, Oneida 7. It might well have been Wartburg’s biggest win this decade. For the first time in many years, the Bulldogs are off to a 3-0 start, earning their first win over the Indians in any of the current players’ lifetimes. And, they’re in the driver’s seat for the District 4-A championship. For a second consecutive week, turnovers were crucial for an Oneida team that played well enough to win the game if not for those turnovers. The bad news? At Cumberland Gap and at Greenback the next two weeks, and district foes Oliver Springs and Sunbright both look very good. The good news? Oneida doesn’t play another meaningful district game for more than a month. That’s a long time to get better before traveling to Oz in five weeks. (Prediction was Oneida 35-14.)

Kingston 21, Scott 12. In a defensive battle, Kingston led 7-0 at halftime, then outlasted Scott in the second half as the Highlanders continue what might be the most frustrating series losing streak in Tennessee high school football. (Prediction was Scott 34-21.)

Alcoa 42, Loudon 3. We knew Alcoa’s offense was outstanding. Tonight the Tornadoes showed that they can play a little defense, too. (Prediction was Alcoa 42-21.)

Coalfield 28, Sunbright 27. Two good teams that aren’t separated by much. Just as expected. This is a good (and getting better) Sunbright team. But Coalfield is still the best Class 1A team in the district. (Prediction was Coalfield 27, Sunbright 21.)

Oliver Springs 41, Oakdale 0. Oz led 34-0 at the half and then turned off the jets and cruised to victory.

Anderson County 56, Campbell County 7. Davey Gillum is an offensive mastermind. He ran his offense with a lot of success at Scott High. It stood to reason that with more weapons at his disposal at Andy County, that offense was going to shine. This one was 49-7 at halftime. Prediction: Gillum will one day be an offensive coordinator at the college level (the NCAA level, that is; he’s already served as offensive coordinator at Pikeville College).

Other scores worth noting:
Austin-East 19, Fulton 6
Greenback 17, Rockwood 10
Grace Christian 48, Tellico Plains 6
Harriman 35, Midway 20
Oak Ridge 41, Central 14
Clinton 35, Karns 0
CAK 55, Stone Memorial 15
Catholic 21, Farragut 18
Boyd Buchanan 40, Silverdale 0
York Institute 25, Upperman 6
Smith County 16, Livingston Academy 6
Monterey 17, Clay County 7
Hampton 25, Cosby 22
Red Boiling Springs 42, Pickett County 0
Trousdale County 42, Jackson County 14

It’s definitely another sign that fall is just around the corner (though temps are expected to quickly rebound, to the mid 80s by back-to-work Tuesday). But even though those morning temps will definitely be unusually cool if they verify (the normal morning low in Oneida this time of year is 57), they shouldn’t come even close to record territory.

According to National Weather Service records, the record low temperature in Oneida for Sept. 5 is 41 degrees. And it wasn’t set as long ago as you might think. Back in 1997, we dropped to 41 in Oneida on the morning of Sept. 5.

This is the time of year when nighttime temperatures begin to quickly drop off and cooler air from northern latitudes begins to have an easier time penetrating southern locales. It might surprise you to know that our earliest recorded freeze in Oneida is Sept. 22, and it’s been cold enough for light frost by Sept. 11 (on Sept. 11, 1976, Oneida fell to 36 degrees).

WARM WEATHER PREVAILS

A true touch of fall this weekend may do little to dissuade summer from making a few more dying lunges before it finally succumbs to the change of the seasons. Medium-range indicators continue to hint at warmer-than-average weather for the month of September as a whole. In fact, it’s looking as though warm weather might be the general rule for the entire autumn season. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center agrees, predicting above-average temperatures for much of the eastern U.S. (and, indeed, much of the nation) all the way through November. That doesn’t mean there won’t be brief bouts of cold weather, but we could see temperatures that routinely climb into the 80s well into October, and temps that routinely climb into the 70s all the way through November as a powerful (and still strengthening) La Nina pattern takes hold of global weather patterns.

With any luck, upper-level ridging over the Southeast will not become so powerful that it doesn’t allow cold-air intrusions to make it this far south. For now, the ridge looks to be somewhat weak over the next several weeks. In fact, another cold front appears on tap by the end of next weekend (though not as strong as this weekend’s cold front) to knock back the heat that’s going to build over the region in the days ahead. But it stands to reason that ridging will gradually increase as September transitions to October.

And while no one wants to see drought conditions develop, one could look at the developing global patterns and also conclude that dry weather will dominate in our region through at least the early part of autumn. Lower humidity means those warmer-than-average fall days will be more tolerable. In fact, most everyone besides deer hunters (who are sick enough to embrace nose-numbing cold weather) would agree that temps in the 30s/70s are ideal for October and November.

STORMS AND RUMORS OF STORMS

One thing that will have to be watched for as these global weather patterns develop is severe weather. It’s been several years since our region has dealt with bonafide severe weather threats in the fall, but autumn is the Southeast’s secondary severe weather season for a reason. As the La Nina-typical pattern of warmth in the Southeast and cold in the Northwest takes hold, a perfect breeding ground for severe weather will develop on the periphery of the warmer air region as the cooler air begins to make its seasonal dives down through the Rockies and the Plains towards the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys.

What sustains us through these lean times?  For one thing, it’s the good times, past and future.  We endured the horrors of 2008 because of the thrill of 1998, and the promise that we’ll get there again.  As fans, we’ve emerged from the Lane Kiffin debacle stronger because of Robert Neyland, Johnny Majors, and Phil Fulmer, and the hope that Derrek Dooley can duplicate their accomplishments.  We’ve reached the top of the mountain before- without the benefit of “street cred”.  By God, we’ll do it again- and when we do, it will be that much sweeter because we stuck around through the hard times.

The latest phase of renovations includes the completion of the Tennessee Terrace on the west side, as well as a remake of Gate 21 (the main entrance to the stadium), a revamped amphitheater from which the Vol Network’s Bob Kesling and Tim Priest will take the mic, and more renovations to the stadium’s west side.

The last major round of renovations came in 2008, when some of the concourses inside the stadium were revamped:

Now the west-side renovation is complete:

Parts of the stadium, particularly the south side (construction on which will begin after the 2010 season) and east side still look like an 89-year-old stadium. But the rest of it looks absolutely gorgeous. Fans who haven’t been to Neyland Stadium in a few years but who are heading out tomorrow to take advantage of cheap ticket opportunities (not to mention the best weather Tennessee has seen for a season opener in a long, long time) may not recognize the place.

UT fans have always bragged about having one of the nation’s largest stadiums. Now they can begin to brag about having one of the nation’s most beautiful stadiums. It really is becoming a showplace football institution.

1.) Oneida at Wartburg. A young Oneida team has played like a young Oneida team during weeks one and two, and that has some folks down south chompin’ at the bit a little. In fact, there are some fans to the south who think the Indians might go 0-for-Morgan County this year. But those who just see Oneida as an 0-2 team haven’t been watching closely enough. The Indians were very much in the game against a Gatlinburg-Pittman team that might well win District 2-AA over Fulton and Austin-East this year, and if not for fumbles Oneida would have beaten DeKalb County by a couple of scores a week ago. All the teams in Morgan County are much improved this year, and that includes Wartburg (which is off to an 0-2 start for the first time in a long time). But this one won’t be as close as people think. Prediction: Oneida 35, Wartburg 14.

2.) Scott at Kingston. If there was any game on last year’s schedule that Scott would like to have back, it would have been the Kingston game. Leading by a touchdown and deep in Kingston territory with just two minutes remaining, Scott needed only to run the clock out to come up with their first win in a coon’s age over their arch-rival. But an improbable sequence of events sent the game to overtime, where the Yellow Jackets won. This year, Scott will roll into Kingston as an improved football team. This is a hump game for the Highlanders. In several chances over the past few seasons, Scott hasn’t been able to get over the hump. Tonight they do. Prediction: Scott 34, Kingston 21.

3.) Loudon at Alcoa. Nobody thinks Loudon can defeat Alcoa, and that includes me. But how close the Redskins can keep it might help give some insight into what the team from I-40 west has in store for the rest of District 4-AA as we roll through this season. Prediction: Alcoa 42, Loudon 21.

4.) Sunbright at Coalfield. The Tigers haven’t beaten the Yellow Jackets in a decade but a lot of folks from the north end of Morgan County think this might be the year the Tigers roll to the south end and take the sting out of the ‘Jackets, especially after blowout wins over North Greene and Whitwell to start the season. But the Tigers opponents to date have been awfully weak, while Coalfield held its own (and had a shot to win) against defending 7-A champion Bledsoe County. Prediction: Coalfield 27, Sunbright 21.

Hawking says in his book “The Grand Design” that, given the existence of gravity, “the universe can and will create itself from nothing,” according to an excerpt published Thursday in The Times of London.

So where did gravity come from?

Tropical Storm Gaston was born this evening. At this time yesterday, that storm system was given just a 10% chance of developing into a tropical depression in 48 hours. But over the past 24 hours, it has exploded, and currently has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and a minimum central pressure of 1005 mb.

How about this: after just three tropical cyclones in the Atlantic in the first two and a half months of hurricane season, there have been four in the past 11 days.

And don’t look now, but yet another tropical wave has peeled off the coast of Africa. It still looks as though Gaston might eventually take aim at the Caribbean. And, yes, most models show him becoming a hurricane.