The Tennessee Volunteers make their biennial trip south across the Great Smoky Mountains with Smokey, their Blue Tick Coonhound, to tussle with the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens this Saturday night. It is a make or break game for UT in terms of the Southeastern Conference football  championship race in 2006.

A loss by the Big Orange will be the death knell for any championship hopes they may hope to have, as that would make the Vols 0-2 in the SEC with October barely starting, and with a gauntlet of 6 straight league games to follow, front-end loaded with the best teams remaining on the schedule for 3 consecutive Saturdays, Alabama at home and South Carolina on the road, both of whom beat UT last year, and then revenge-minded LSU back at home as November begins.

On the other hand, a win against their conference rival in Athens could propel the Vols to a chance at their first SEC Championship since 1998. It has certainly been a long and arduous road back to prosperity for Tennessee, and they must make this step this weekend if they are to make it back at all this season.

Now that David Cutcliffe is back in Big Orange Country directing the offense, things have noticeably improved on that side of the ball, with the intensity and mental toughness to match what the defense has had for some time. No longer is the offense inept and plodding, even though there were 3 key turnovers at Memphis last Saturday that a team like Georgia that is much more talented than the Tigers would surely take advantage of if those mistakes are repeated this coming weekend.

Poor showings in the kicking game still plague this year's edition of the Volunteers and are  perhaps the most glaring hangover from last year's losing season. UT is virtually last in the nation in kickoff return yardage and their punt returns aren't much better. They were continually pinned deep in their own territory in Memphis, giving the field position advantage to their opponent.

Erik Ainge will certainly be under more pressure in Athens Saturday night in front of a national TV audience on ESPN than he was since the last time he had such prime time exposure in Baton Rouge last season. That was when he made an ill-advised toss deep in his own territory that resulted in an easy LSU touchdown that almost got the Vols beat. It was the only big game they finally won last year, once backup QB Rick Clausen, now a UT graduate assistant coach, bailed him out.

Ainge has yet to be tested in tough battle conditions on the road since last season. Memphis was absolutely no match for the Vols. None of their players would have a chance to start at Tennessee. Their talent was simply outclassed at every position.

That will certainly not be the case with Georgia. While the Bulldogs may be having quarterback woes and uncertainty of their own with youthful signalcallers at their helm, they still boast a stout defense.

Tennessee's failure to punch in a touchdown on several consecutive tries inside the 2-yardline against Memphis proves that the offensive line still doesn't have the necessary punch to rush the ball at will against good teams. A one-dimensional air attack won't win championships at any level.

The Vols are blessed with perhaps the best wide receiver tandem in the nation with Robert Meachem and Jayson Swain. That has made Ainge's life a lot easier so far this season. The emergence of tailback LaMarcus Coker to replace the injured Arian Foster, who may or may not be able to play Saturday night, has helped give them necessary speed in the backfield, but fellow TB Montario Hardesty has not proven himself as a power back as yet.

A look at the UT roster shows the importance and necessity of the nationwide recruiting that Head Coach Phillip Fulmer has established on The Hill. Of the starting 22 on the team, only 4 are native Tennesseans, David Ligon on the OL from Memphis, Coker and LB Ryan Karl from the Greater Nashville area, and Corey Anderson, who played only sparingly at FB Saturday, from Knoxville. All of the rest of the top players on the squad hail from several states coast-to-coast. Without the stellar recruiting that Fulmer has achieved in the past, UT's dropoff in talent would be enormous.

Tennessee still has an opportunity to have a great season. It all rests on the outcome of this upcoming game. With a win, there is a real possibility of running table and going 13-1, with an SEC Championship and BCS bowl win. Even the National Championship would be an outside possibility with some luck. A loss Saturday night, however, could mean a mediocre year barely better than last season, which would be wholly unacceptable to Vol faithful.

Longterm, recruiting appears to have been not up to par last season and not off to the best of starts this year, either. Whether Fulmer's changes made in his offensive coaching staff were too little too late to get his program turned around may indeed be shown by the outcome of this one big game in Athens. It has more riding on it than probably any Tennessee-Georgia game in UT football history.

One of the big feathers in Fulmer's cap as Tennessee's head coach had been the string of 9 consecutive Vol victories over the Dawgs, begun by his predecessor Johnny Majors, from  1989 to 1999. However, since that time, Georgia has won 5 of the last 6, with UT's only win coming in the last game in Athens 2 years ago, a surprise victory to say the least.

You can bet that those in red and black will be ready and waiting when the Big Orange comes calling Saturday night. It could very well be a classic game and defensive struggle that will decide the SEC East's representative in Atlanta on December 2 a few miles down the road in the Georgia Dome.

It was a night of magic, filled with electricity. Neyland Stadium was rocking with excitement. It was Tennessee vs. Florida for supremacy in Southeastern Conference football, just as it has been so many times over the course of more than a decade.

The venerable old stadium on the banks of the Tennessee River was filled to overflowing on a cool, clear September night. The crowd was worked into a frenzy and got as loud as anyone who has been there for the last 40 seasons, as I have, could remember. I had a 50-yard line seat to witness the action in Section U on the west side of Shields-Watkins Field.

As the game began, it was obvious that this was going to be an epic gridiron struggle. When speedy wide receiver Lucas Taylor , a Louisiana recruit, hurled a 50-yard touchdown pass to tailback and Antioch native LaMarcus Coker, on a fake reverse, for what looked to be the touchdown that would put the Volunteers on top for good in the contest in the first half, 10-7, the thunderous earthquake that erupted was so loud that it surely was felt in General Robert R. Neyland's grave in the Old Grey Cemetery a few miles away, just north of Downtown Knoxville.

Yes, all of the elements for a monumental Big Orange victory were there. The crowd certainly was perhaps the most boisterous and vocal that has ever witnessed a game in the historic 80-year-old stadium. The players were absolutely playing over their heads emotionally, too. Everything was at a fever pitch.

It was also Urban Meyer vs. John Chavis, David Cutcliffe vs. Charlie Strong. It was the first time Meyer and most of his Gators had ever faced such a hostile environment. His talented team was on the precipice of being upset on the road and perhaps being eliminated from the SEC race in their very first league game of the young 2006 season.

The courage, bravery, and desire of Justin Harrell, wearing Vol Hall of Famer Reggie White's Number 92 on his chest for the last time, was undeniable. Playing with a heavy cast on his left arm in advance of season-ending surgery, he played like an NFL lineman in shutting down the Florida attack.

Alas, the ending wasn't colored in Orange. Just as Air Force had done a week ago against UT, Florida roared back from a 10-point deficit and won the game, 21-20, under extreme duress in enemy territory in the final quarter of the contest, proving they had superior talent, and executing their game plan to stay the course and come out victorious. The Vols valiant effort at an upset fell short at the end.

The ending came swiftly and perhaps predictably, sucking the lifeblood out of the Vol faithful. Fans who had been unbelievably vocal just a few moments earlier in the evening, filed out as midnight neared in silent disbelief. They knew that it was their team that is now on the outside looking in when it comes to the conference championship race.

Now Tennessee is faced with some stark realities. Urban Meyer has joined an elite group of college coaches who have now beaten Phillip Fulmer two seasons in a row. That group includes Mark Richt and Steve Spurrier, both of whom Fulmer will definitely have to face next month and both on the road, and Tommy Tuberville, whom he will most likely have to face if somehow the Vols were to play their way back into a chance to represent the SEC East in Atlanta.

The Big Orange, while improved offensively as far as discipline and toughness is concerned, simply doesn't have the horses on the offensive line to move the chains to effectively rush against top teams. The defense has two big holes that may not be able to be filled adequately with the troops on hand, with the loss of both Harrell and DB Inky Johnson for the balance of the year.

Most glaring, however, is the fact that special teams, the hallmark of General Neyland's football dynasty that he built on The Hill for a quarter century, simply still aren't "up to snuff," to use an East Tennessee colloqualism. While the kickoff cover team is better and placekicking is still good, there has been virtually no improvement from last year's disasters in covering or returning punts, nor in getting any good yardage at all in kickoff returns, either.

Also very troubling is the fact that the Vol defense, while it finally collapsed out of sheer fatigue from being on the field most of the night, was unable to stop backup QB Tim Tebow even when they were fresh. Tebow is Meyer's quarterback of the future, the signal caller who will run his coach's spread option offense for the next 3 seasons, 2 of which will see him be able to play UT in Gainesville.

The good news for Tennessee is that the team that came from behind to beat them Saturday night is a legitimate national title contender laden with talent. The fact is that UT, with all of its shortcomings, is still ranked in the Top 15 nationally. It has the chance to move up toward the Top 10 through attrition over the next two weeks with weak opponents for Homecoming against Marshall and against Memphis on the road upcoming before they have to go to Athens to face a team that has as good a defense as the Gators have. That one will be a chance at redemption in the SEC Championship race.

The Vols were able to pull off a surprise victory at Georgia the last time they went to Athens, the first time they had won there since 1998. There is virtually no question that the Bulldogs will be ranked in the Top 10 when the Big Orange arrives on October 7, as UGa faces token opposition in Colorado and Ole Miss leading up to that date. UT hasn't beaten an SEC team that was ranked in the Top 10 since 1999, and they must start doing that if they are to be able to win championships themselves again.

Georgia has won 5 of the last 6 against Tennessee, after the Volunteers had won 9 in a row against the Dawgs. Richt still smarts from the only one he's lost against Fulmer. You can bet he will have his team ready when UT arrives for what shapes up as perhaps the game that may determine the SEC East Champion.

For Tennessee, the Georgia game will determine the course of the season. If they can win that one, they still have a fighting chance of winning their first championship of any kind whatsoever since they won it all nationally nearly a decade ago. If they lose it, then the rest of the slate looks very daunting.

If the Vols can't get revenge over Alabama for the loss they suffered in Tuscaloosa in 2005, they might very well limp into Columbia to face Spurrier and his South Carolina Gamecocks already mired in 4th place in their own division of the SEC with virtually no hope to rise higher. After that, a hungry LSU Tiger team bent on avenging a stinging loss from last season to the Vols, will be invading Neyland Stadium to begin the November schedule. And don't forget, a trip to Fayetteville to tangle with Arkansas will still loom after that.

Truly, the Georgia game is make or break for this year's Vols and perhaps for Fulmer's career. His recruiting, which has always been his strong point, has been on the wane recently. If he can't re-establish superiority in nearly a decade in his own backyard, he may face the point of diminishing returns with a declining program.

A coach that by his own admission lives and dies by "pounding the rock" and running over teams with a smashmouth style that he calls simply "Tennessee football" was stopped cold with a deficit of 11 yards in the running game against Florida. It was the worst showing on the ground that any Fulmer-coached team had ever produced.

How much more time does Fulmer truly have to win another championship at Tennessee? If not this year, it will have been a decade since he won his last one. Is that good enough for donors that pour money hand over fist into the program that are being asked to fund $100 million in Neyland Stadium improvements?

John Majors lost 4 SEC games in a row twice in his career as head coach at UT, in his first year in 1977, after the program had hit rock bottom under Bill Battle, and in 1988, when he fired some coaches in mid-season and went 5-6, the same record as Fulmer had in 2005. The following year, Majors bounced back to win 2 SEC Championships in a row, and won the Cotton Bowl and Sugar Bowl in consecutive years with his revamped staff, in addition to achieving Top 10 national rankings both seasons in 1989 and 1990.

Fulmer, who has now been at the helm nearly as long as Majors was, lost 4 SEC games in a row for the first time in his career as head coach last season. To do that again this year, after a similar coaching staff revamp to Majors', would be a very disappointing encore, and would not bode well for the future.

No one has ever questioned Fulmer's work ethic, his loyalty to his alma mater, and the fact that he is a great ambassador for the University both statewide and nationally. Everyone wants him to succeed. Cutcliffe, his right arm on offense, is back to run that side of the ball. The Chief, Chavis, is still scheming well enough to stop most offenses.

Thus, there are no excuses for not having vast improvement in 2006 over last season's disaster. But Tennessee could easily lose 4 or 5 in a row in that murderous stretch of Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, LSU, and Arkansas that is upcoming.

If that scenario were to take place, UT Athletics Director Mike Hamilton would have no choice but to begin searching for a new head football coach. Surely, however, Fulmer can find a way to win at least 2 or 3 of those and show that a foundation has been laid to turn the program around and get things back on track in a storied program with solid support still behind it.

There is a still a lot of Tennessee Pride on The Hill that must be salvaged. The donors that are starving for championships must be fed. Running out of gas at home in front of over 100,000 fans each time two weeks in a row is unacceptable.

Fulmer simply must get the main ship of the Vol Navy righted and on course again. There is no other substitute for victory. The next big game of substance that really matters is next month in the teeth of barking Dawgs. It is a test that must not be failed.

- XXX -

FULMER, CHAVIS, & CUTCLIFFE TURN OUT TO BE WINNING TEAM FOR TENNESSEE FOOTBALL

Tennessee's drubbing of the California Golden Bears at raucous Neyland Stadium in Knoxville last Saturday night was nothing short of spectacular. It catapulted a team that had low expectations following last year's UT losing season for the first time since 1988 to the cusp of the Top 10 nationally for this season's edition of the Volunteers.

Both the offense and defense were clicking like they haven't been since the Big Orange won the National Championship in 1998. This is no accident, and coaching is the reason. Need there be more evidence that David Cutcliffe was sorely missed on The Hill when he departed to be Head Coach at Ole Miss? His return has brought back discipline to the offense that was badly needed.

This season only marks the fifth year in UT football history in which Phillip Fulmer has been the Head Coach, David Cutcliffe as the Offensive Coordinator, and John Chavis the Defensive Coordinator. Last Saturday night's victory over California was the 50th game in which this triumvirate has been in those key positions in charge of Tennessee's gridiron fortunes.

In the prior seasons when this trio worked together in their present positions, 1995-98, plus this one game this year, the Vols have rung up a 45-5 record for a 90% winning percentage. Their record in the Southeastern Conference in that same span is similarly stellar, 29-3, for a 91% winning edge. They won both SEC Championship Games in which they worked together as a team in 1997 and 1998, had a winning bowl record, and compiled a 60% winning percentage against Top 10 teams nationally, no small feats indeed.

In the games following Cutcliffe's departure, including the National Championship game up through the end of last year's ill-fated 5-6 season, UT won only 70% of its games overall, won only 70% of its SEC games, lost both of the SEC Championship Games in which it participated, had a losing bowl record, and was a miserable 35% against Top 10 teams.

In the early years of Fulmer's career at the helm, from 1992 through 1994, prior to Chavis being elevated to the Defensive Coordinator position for the 1995 season, UT won only 79% of its games overall, won only 78% of its SEC games, didn't participate in an SEC Championship Game, and only won 50% of its games against Top 10 teams.

Thus, it doesn't take a rocket scientist from Oak Ridge to see that this combination of coaches in charge of Tennessee football has been far superior to any other. Are the Vols back among the nation's elite to stay as long as Fulmer, Chavis, and Cutcliffe remain where they are? Only time will tell, but history seems to indicate that to be the case. We have no way of judging the future but by the past, and the past history of these three coaches seem to indicate a championship synergy among and between them.

The real test for this group will be against the Florida Gators a week hence when they come to Neyland to do battle. In the first three seasons of the Fulmer-Chavis-Cutcliffe regime, even with Peyton Manning guiding the team, the Vols were unable to whip Steve Spurrier. Only in 1998, after Manning had gone on to the NFL, did UT win on the strength of a missed Florida field goal in overtime in Knoxville.

Spurrier is now gone from Gainesville, but the Gators are still a formidable foe with deep talent no matter where they play or who is coaching them. This "Gang of 3 from Tennessee" will also have to contend with Spurrier elsewhere in Columbia as the headmaster of the South Carolina Gamecocks later in the year.

If Tennessee can whomp the Gators in front of a primetime national TV audience on Saturday night, September 16, the sky's the limit for this year's Tennessee team. They could very well be on their way to the second national championship that this group of strong coaches has produced working together.

Certainly, at the very least, winning that game would put the Vols in the driver's seat to have a chance at their first SEC championship in eight years. If they can't get over that hump at home, however, it will be an uphill battle even to win UT's first championship of any kind since 1998.

You could say that the Tennessee-Florida game this year is the most pivotal game in UT football history. But that might even be understating its importance!

After the embarrassing losing season in 2005, including a home loss to Vanderbilt for first time in 30 years and only the third time since 1938, the Tennessee Volunteers were at home without a bowl game to prepare for over the holidays. This season, expectations are tempered and fans are taking a wait and see attitude after being disappointed time and time again since UT's last championship of any kind is now a distant memory of eight years ago. 

To make matters worse, the media appears to agree that this year's edition of Big Orange football is likely to only be able to make it to third in the SEC East and perhaps slip behind South Carolina to fourth, with Florida and Georgia leading the division. In addition, Tennessee has to face three of the best teams in the SEC West, LSU, Alabama, and Arkansas, the latter on the road.

Thank goodness that Auburn, the consensus choice to win the SEC Championship overall, isn't on the schedule. The way the Vols were manhandled the last couple of times they tussled with Tommy Tuberville's Tigers, it may be a fortunate thing if UT doesn't make to Atlanta this year, as that one might be as ugly as the last two meetings for Vol fans.

What are the expectations of Vol fans for 2006? For one, they expect that UT will have its toughest home opener in history when the California Golden Bears come calling at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, September 2, in front of a capacity crowd of 108,000 at Neyland Stadium and a national television audience on ESPN. Cal, experiencing a resurgence under Head Coach Jeff Tedford, in his 6th season at Berkeley, is a consensus pick to finish in the Top 10 nationally.

Then, just two weeks after that, the Florida Gators come calling in Knoxville, at 8 p.m. Eastern time on September 16, with CBS providing the national TV stage. The Gators beat the Vols last year in Gainesville in a game that UT had every opportunity to win, giving Urban Meyer perhaps his biggest win of his maiden season. UF has won 2 of the last 3 in the series on the Vols' home turf, and they will be favored to win again this time out.

Thus, Tennessee could easily find itself with a 1-2 record in short order before September is barely half over. That would put them at a distinct disadvantage to challenge for anything meaningful for the 8th year in a row and put the heat on for major improvements.

Everyone knows by now that Head Coach Phillip Fulmer has revamped his staff on the offensive side of the ball, bringing back offensive guru David Cutcliffe to Knoxville. Time will tell if the moves, which included hiring other inexperienced but eager young coaches, are too little too late to right the flagship of the Vol Navy.

Fulmer still is the winningest active major college football coach in America. He is the dean of SEC coaches. Tennessee has been a great road team under his leadership. They are the winningest team in the league over both the last 10 years and the last 20 seasons. He always recruits well and has produced more NFL draft picks than any other conference school during his tenure.

However, despite all of that, Fulmer, now in his 15th year at the helm, shows only two SEC championships on his record, the same number that Doug Dickey had in 6 years, and one less than Johnny Majors attained in his 16 seasons in charge. Both Dickey and Majors faced major rebuilding jobs when they took over at UT, while Fulmer took over a program already laden with talent and poised to win big. 

With the big games like Cal, Florida, and Alabama being on the road in 2007, fans are getting restless. Donors who are being asked to fund $100 million in Neyland Stadium improvements are wondering when the first-class facilities they're building for their team are going to pay off with another league championship. If not this year, when? 

Certainly there is a major opportunity for improvement over last season. But 2005 was such an aberration that it will be very difficult to please fans who are used to going to major bowl games if UT doesn't qualify for a big one for the seventh year in a row. Not since 1999 has UT played in a BCS bowl. Will making it to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando or the Cotton Bowl in Dallas be enough to satisfy hungry Big Orange boosters?

Even if Tennessee survives its early season tests with flying colors, there is a midseason gauntlet to run, starting with the Georgia game in Athens on October 7. The Bulldogs have won 5 of the last 6 against UT, after the Vols had beaten them 9 times in a row. Then UT plays host to Alabama, its old archrival that has become a nemesis again, has to go to Columbia to face Steve Spurrier's South Carolina Gamecocks, who beat them last year in Knoxville, returns home to face an LSU Tiger team bent on revenge from last season, and finally must make the long trek to face always-dangerous Arkansas in Fayetteville.  This may be the roughest stretch that Tennessee has had to face in years.

What's the assessment at this juncture, over a month in advance of the 2006 season? Tennessee could easily surge back to the top of the SEC East or be another also-ran. Most are predicting an 8-4 record for the Vols. The regular season record could be as bad as 6-6, which would certainly result in even more major changes on The Hill, or as good as 10-2, which would silence most of the critics and get things back on track for a title run next season.

One thing is certain: This is a pivotal year for Tennessee football. The program is at a crossroads. It all begins with perhaps the most pivotal game of this pivotal year in the season opener. More could be riding on that one than any other UT game in the past generation.  

The University of Tennessee is going to host an All-American Football League team at historic 80-year-old Neyland Stadium starting in April 2007, which will feature several former UT players who have obtained their degrees, and which will be owned by Vol boosters. Former Tennessee Head Coach and Athletics Director Doug Dickey is on the AAFL Board of Directors, along with former Southeastern Conference Commissioner Harvey Schiller and former Vol Charles Davis, now a TV commentator, and brokered the deal with current UT AD Mike Hamilton for Neyland Stadium to be a host venue for the league, which will begin play once UT finishes spring practice, just after the Orange & White Game.

This spring league that is being promoted by former NCAA President Cedric Dempsey and will be exclusively for players who have completed a 4-year college degree. Players who may be on the roster for 2007 include Casey Clausen, Andre Lott, Travis Stephens, and Michael Munoz, and others from other SEC teams.