University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Winning by Various Methods
November 18, 2007 | Football
Tennessee???s players and coaches knew the path to the 2007 SEC Championship Game became increasingly difficult after their Sept. 15 loss at Florida.
Difficult but not impossible.
And over the course of the season, that simply stubborn theme for the Big Orange has led to seven wins in the last eight games -- none more exciting or perhaps more improbable than Saturday???s fourth-quarter rally from a 15-point deficit to defeat Vanderbilt.
???This team, we???ve won when we???ve had a lead; we???ve protected it and handled it,??? head coach Phillip Fulmer said. ???We???ve won in overtime. And now we???ve won a game when we had to come back. I think all those experiences make you a better team as you go along.???
That???s why the Vols travel to Kentucky this Saturday still in control of their own destiny. They have been able to maintain their composure during this current winning stretch, topped by the biggest fourth-quarter comeback for victory in Neyland Stadium???s storied history.
Tennessee trailed the Commodores 24-9 entering the final period on Saturday. Then after taking the lead on Daniel Lincoln???s 33-yard field goal, UT withstood Bryant Hahnfeldt???s 49-yard field goal attempt that clanged off the left upright by the slimmest of margins.
Tennessee???s 1984 comeback from 27-13 down to Alabama for a 28-27 victory was the previous home record rally. The program???s largest fourth-quarter margin overcome in victory was two years ago at LSU, when UT rebounded from 24-7 down for a 30-27 overtime win on a Monday night in Baton Rouge.
None of which matters much for the annual showdown against Kentucky.
The only thing that does matter is Tennessee, now 8-3 overall and 5-2 in SEC play, has one week left to match Georgia???s 6-2 SEC record and tie the Bulldogs for first in the Eastern Division. The Vols would advance to Atlanta by virtue of their 35-14 thumping of Georgia back in early October.
UT is vying for its third title game appearance in seven years and fifth in the last 11 years.
Kentucky, meanwhile, was eliminated from the Eastern Division race Saturday at Georgia but will be trying to snap a streak of 22 consecutive UT victories in the border-state series. That mark stands as the longest active streak against one opponent in major college football.
???I told the team there???s not much that???s going to happen in this ballgame that you haven???t experienced to this point,??? Fulmer said of the Commonwealth Stadium showdown. ???Being able to go play and play well is our goal.???
InSIDe the Vols -- Tennessee remained 19th in the major polls, but jumped two spots to 18th in the Bowl Championship Series rankings ... UT???s win Saturday wrapped up its best homestand in 47 years ... The last time a Vols team won all four games of at least four games in a row at home was 1960 ... On seven occasions since, Tennessee squads had been unable to complete the four-game sweep ... The Vols finished 7-0 at home this season ... Only twice before since the onset of divisional play 15 years ago has the loser from the annual UT-Florida showdown in September gone on to play for the conference crown ... Tennessee stands just one win away from matching the difficult accomplishments of the 1997 Vols and 1992 Gators.
