Fulmer hopes Vols learned a lesson against Vanderbilt
Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer hopes his Volunteers learned a lesson at Vanderbilt.
Last week’s game wasn’t supposed to be close. Even with a trip to the Southeastern Conference championship game on the line, it was.
The 15th-ranked Vols (8-2, 6-1) escaped with a 38-33 victory and will play No. 3 Auburn on Dec. 4 in Atlanta, but first they’ll have to face another team they should beat.
Kentucky travels to Tennessee on Saturday. The Wildcats haven’t beaten Tennessee since 1984, a span of 19 games.
Vanderbilt’s losing streak is even longer at 22, and the Vols had outscored Vanderbilt 110-0 from 2001-03.
“After them not scoring on us in three years I don’t think our kids thought they could beat us. Now next time they’ll have our attention,” Fulmer said. “This week it will be a good thing to get our attention — maybe just what we needed.”
Tennessee’s defense, which had carried the offense during much of the season, had a disappointing performance against the Commodores.
Meanwhile, the Vols’ offense played well under the direction of Rick Clausen, their third starting quarterback of the season, and a makeshift offensive line plagued with injuries. Clausen was playing in place of injured freshmen Erik Ainge and Brent Schaeffer.
Tennessee also started a third player at center, Richie Gandy. Starter Jason Respert was hospitalized last week with a hand infection, but he was released and is expected to return this week.
Vanderbilt scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to cut its deficit from 38-20 to just five points and got the ball back with 2:16 remaining. This time, the defense held.
Tennessee’s Parys Haralson burst through the line on the first play and pressured Vanderbilt quarterback Jay Cutler, whose forced pass was intercepted by Roshaun Fellows.
“It was kind of scary. We knew we had to make a big play,” Haralson said Monday.
Vanderbilt rolled up 420 yards on offense, the third most Tennessee had given up all season. South Carolina had 567 offensive yards while Florida had 421 and Auburn had 400.
The Vols jumped out to a 28-6 lead in the second quarter but let the Commodores score on an 80-yard pass play and then on a 2-yard run before halftime.
“When you’ve got somebody down, you need to have that killer instinct to finish things off,” Fulmer said. “I don’t think our kids intentionally relaxed or anything like that. It was the emotion of it. We’ve had a lot of close emotional games.”
Tennessee could lose to Kentucky and still play for the SEC championship, but the Vols are not entertaining that plan.
They are still looking for a game when the offense and defense are both playing well. In most games this year, it’s been one or the other or in spurts.
“We still haven’t put a complete game together yet. Coach Fulmer tells us that all the time,” Haralson said. “It’s going to motivate us a lot because we know that we can play better football than we did Saturday as a defense.”