Unusual year for the Vol ends the usual way

John Clay / Herald-Leader Sports Columnist

John Clay

KNOXVILLE — Same as it ever was.

Or so it seems.

Didn't matter that the usually packed stands at Neyland Stadium were nowhere near full.

Didn't matter that the city seemed to be talking more about the young coach reported to be coming in than the veteran coach going out.

Didn't matter that this was the worst Tennessee football team in most anyone's memory.

Tennessee 28, Kentucky 10.

Same as it ever was.

Or so it seems.

Streak: 24 straight Volunteer wins over the Cats and counting.

"It tears my guts out to have that string still be in the books, and still be now the longest streak in the country (for a yearly rivalry) since Navy lost to Notre Dame last year," UK coach Rich Brooks said after suffering his sixth straight defeat at the hands of the Vols. "Those things are negative things that need to be removed. It kills me that we didn't get it done, and end that, right now."

Especially when the thinking was that this could be the year to stop the madness, this could be the game.

This tepid Tennessee team was just 4-7 with no chance at bowl eligibility, so un-Volunteer-like that head coach Phil Fulmer had been told the month before that he would not be back next season.

These were the same Vols that lost to UCLA, lost to Auburn, lost by three touchdowns to South Carolina, that lost to Wyoming just before the Cowboys fired their head coach.

Why, even on Phil Fulmer Appreciation Day, with 150 former Volunteer players and coaches on hand to bid the man goodbye, the Knoxville chatter centered more on the imminent arrival of Lane Kiffin, the 33-year-old California golden boy expected to return ol' Rocky Top right back to the top.

If any year was the year, surely this would be the glorious year the Cats could stop the streak, right?

Wrong.

"It was a difficult situation, I think, but you've got to give Tennessee credit," said Brooks. "As disappointed as I am, I'm also happy for Phil Fulmer."

Not that the emotions of Fulmer's departure, after 17 years as head coach, were felt from the start. In fact, on both sides of the ball, the first two quarters were as dreadful (and boring) as you'd ever hope not to see.

But then, on the final play of the first half, on a fourth-and-goal from the UK 1-yard line, Fulmer rolled the dice — what were they going to do, fire him? Quarterback Jonathan Crompton snuck over from the 1 and the fired-up Vols went to the locker room with a 7-3 advantage.

If that didn't burst the Blue dam, this did: Three plays into the second half, UK blew a coverage and Crompton hit an open Denarius Moore for a 63-yard touchdown and a 14-3 lead.

"That to me, kind of took a lot of the wind out of our sails," said defensive coordinator Steve Brown.

Soon after it was 21-3 Tennessee. And then it was 28-3 Tennessee. And then it was ball game Tennessee. Again.

To be sure, Kentucky helped make Fulmer's a happy farewell. A UK offense with little margin for error made numerous errors. Example: two penalties on a single play in the very first drive, which turned a second-and-10 at the Tennessee 23-yard line to a second-and-30 at the UT 43.

And these late November Cats are not the same team as even the early November Cats, the one that took Georgia to the wire before losing.

When asked whether this bowl-eligible, but barely, season is a success, Brooks replied that "damn right it is," using the forthcoming third consecutive bowl bid, a first since the Bear Bryant days, as grounds.

But for a coach who constantly reminds his team it can do things that haven't been done on Cooper Drive in a long, long time, beating Tennessee was a chance to do one of those things that hasn't been done in a long, long, long time.

And still hasn't.

"Obviously," said Brooks, "if it was easy it wouldn't now be 24 straight games."

Same as it ever was.

Or so it seems.

Reach John Clay at (859) 231-3226 or (800) 950-6397, Ext. 3226, or jclay@herald-leader.com. Read his blog at johnclay.bloginky.com.