"Jonathan Zenon scored on an 18-yard interception return with 9:54 left to put LSU (11-2) ahead, then Darry Beckwith picked off another pass by Erik Ainge deep in Tigers territory to seal it."
Yes, that was the bottom line.
Ainge played like a poised senior until his final few throws, when he tossed the ball to the wrong team. Zenon stepped in front of a receiver making a square-in and had an easy romp to the end zone.
"I shouldn't have thrown it," Ainge said.
However, I went to http://www.govolsxtra.com/ for a little consolation from Vol fans and was disappointed to read so many comments bashing and hating on Ainge. Some criticism is fair enough but blaming a loss completely on a quarterback, at any level, reveals only a lack of general football knowledge. Sad to see. Sometimes I am ashamed to be a native Tennessean and Vol fan. But, hey, there always were plenty of #### to go around.
I also can't believe the continuous Philip Fulmer hating when he had us only a few plays away from the first SEC Championship in nine years. And it's not like we didn't play for that championship in 2001 and 2004 as well. We have won the East Division three of the last seven years. That's something to be proud of, not something to fire a coach over. I can handle winning the East every three years with Florida and Georgia in our division.
And so many people bashing Jonathan Hefney? That one I really don't get.
When a four loss Vol team beats the two teams that beat the two loss SEC champion Tigers that are going to play in the National Championship Game, in this age of such tight parity that the number one and two teams in the BCS lose on each of the the last two weekends of the season, said behavior is simply not merited.
The Tennessee Vols (1-2) have lost 13 times in their past 29 games, but they hadn't lost as badly as they did Saturday in 26 years. It was Tennessee's biggest loss since 1981's 41-0 drubbing by Georgia. It was the most points the Vols have given up since 1995's 62-37 loss in Gainesville.
"We pretty much got our butts kicked by our biggest rival," Vols center Josh McNeil said.
The Vols ran for 37 yards on 21 carries. They had minus-11 rushing yards against Florida last year and 66 two years ago.
"You can't do too many things when you can't run the football," UT senior tight end Chris Brown said.
You can't do too many things when you give up 554 yards of total offense, either. Florida had 299 passing yards and 255 on the ground."We cannot continue to give people big plays," Phil Fulmer said. "We cannot help good teams that way, as we did with Cal and Florida."
The defense has to make tackles. Jonathan Hefney needs to step up and be the All-American caliber player he was hyped to be before the season. He's supposed to be the leader in the secondary and has looked awful all season.
Something needs to change damn it! Lack of running offense aside, we damn sure can't give up that much yardage.
The Tennessee Volunteers return home to take on the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles on Saturday night at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee was unable to stop the run against the California Golden Bears last Saturday. Can they stop the Golden Eagles or will their backs be tempted to clean off shelf space for the Heisman on Sunday morning? We look for this question to be answered on Saturday night in front of the faithful.
From utsports.com
Tennessee owns a perfect 4-0 record in its all-time gridiron series with Southern Mississippi, which dates to 1950. All four meetings took place in Knoxville, and two of the four wins were shutouts. The Vols posted a 56-0 triumph in 1950, and the three most recent clashes all have come during the Phillip Fulmer era. Fulmer’s Vols defeated the Eagles 42-0 in 1995, 44-20 in 1997 and 19-16 in 2000.
Fulmer is 13-1 all-time against current members of Conference USA (1-0 vs. East Carolina, 1-0 vs. Houston, 2-0 vs. Marshall, 6-1 vs. Memphis, 1-0 vs. Southern Miss and 2-0 vs. UAB) and has never lost to a C-USA team at Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee owns an all-time record of 45-4 (.918) against current Conference USA teams, and that includes an unblemished 32-0 mark at home. All four of UT’s wins over Southern Miss have taken place in Knoxville.
I have now posted three stories on the Tennessee Volunteers facing the California Golden Bears tonight. Some of you have commented and I appreciate it. But where is Lisa? I mean, I am in her arena, supposedly at least. But she has yet to even comment on my Vols representing the SEC taking on her PAC 10 University of Southern California rival.
Oh Lisa, come out and play! Come out and play warrior! I know for the most part I cut and paste. I prefer to call it editing. But nevermind that, what are your thoughts on the game?
From utsports.com
After more than four weeks of grueling preseason practices, the Vols finally open the 2007 season Saturday in a primetime showdown with the California Golden Bears.
The heaviest weight placed on Tennessee’s back is that of the entire Southeastern Conference. There are three games featuring SEC teams against BCS opponents on opening weekend, but only Tennessee faces a ranked team.
In all, the SEC will play 13 regular season games against BCS opponents, and judging from preseason rankings, this weekend’s game sits behind only the LSU-Virginia Tech matchup when it comes to national title implications. Of course, anything can change by Nov. 24, when the final four of the 13 games are played.
“We are always thinking about representing the conference,” quarterback Erik Ainge said. “But once it is kicked off, that all goes away. We will go out there and represent Tennessee and the SEC, but our focus is on the game itself.”
The word ‘revenge’ has also been used over and over again. Cal has reportedly been seething for a full calendar year after its lopsided 2006 loss on Rocky Top.
On the field, Tennessee’s defense will have to contend with one of the Pac-10’s best quarterbacks in junior Nate Longshore, not to mention a group of veteran receivers including Heisman Trophy candidate DeSean Jackson. The Vols’ offense looks to establish the run against a Cal defense that lost three of its four starting defensive linemen from a year ago.
“We are going to approach this one like we would any other game,” junior linebacker Jerod Mayo said. “We know what kind of talent they have, and our coaches will have us prepared. Our focus is on what we can do, what we have prepared to do, not what they can do.”
We have been here before. Eric Ainge is hurt! Will he play? Or will Jonathan Crompton lead the Volunteers? While it is certain Tennessee Football Coach Phillip Fulmer did not ask for this situation, it is just as certain that he is not going to show his entire hand to the California Golden Bear coaching staff either.
Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer said Wednesday he expects his senior quarterback to play in Saturday’s opener at California, despite the latest news that Erik Ainge has a broken little finger on his throwing hand.
“He is going to play,” Fulmer said of Ainge. “He has thrown and it looks like he’s going to be able to throw just fine. I appreciate him showing the toughness to get himself back out there.”
Fulmer faced a similar situation last year when Ainge was injured late in an Oct. 28 win at South Carolina. Ainge started the next week against LSU, but Jonathan Crompton played most of the way in Tennessee’s last-season loss to the Tigers.
“If it doesn’t work out great, then obviously Jonathan will have to be ready,” Fulmer said. “I have the utmost confidence in Jonathan getting the job done. We have said all along we’re going out there to win this football game as a team, and that’s exactly what we’re going to try to do.”
Crompton, a junior, has one career start in seven appearances. He has completed 47-percent of his career passes (31-of-66) for 401 yards. The Waynesville, N.C., product passed for 183 yards last year in the LSU game, then followed that with a 174-yard effort in his start at Arkansas. Crompton had two TDs and one interception in each of those games.
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