The third game of the season. A humiliating, embarrassing loss to a hated rival. Folks immediately calling for the coach’s head on a plate.
It was Saturday night, September 15, 2007, and Vols fans were livid. Urban Meyer, Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin, and Brandon James had just flat-out dominated Tennessee in The Swamp, 59-20. They didn’t just win the game, they ripped the hope for the entire season out of our hands and curb-stomped it.
There was no way Tennessee could recover, no way the Vols would be able to compete for the East.
It was not a happy time on Rocky Top. The Big Orange was now 1-2 after three games, and fans everywhere were busy making jokes about Phillip Fulmer responding to the adversity by “working like heck,” to get it fixed. A win over Arkansas State the next week did little to dull the sharp edges, and a bye week after that only gave it additional time to fester.
And then #12 Georgia came to town the same day an article appeared in the local paper that was extremely critical of coach Fulmer and ostensibly relied on quotes from anonymous former players to drive its points deep. The whole thing was going off the rails.
Georgia
But then, the thing that nobody said could possibly happen, happened. The unranked Vols beat #12 Georgia. They not only beat them, they did to the Bulldogs what Florida had done to them three weeks prior. Tennessee won 35-14 in a game that wasn’t even as close as the score made it look.
Meanwhile, Florida had lost the week before to Auburn and then lost to LSU on the same day that Tennessee beat Georgia, and Tennessee was now ahead of Florida in the race for the SEC East. Georgia, which would lose only two games the entire year, was also looking up at Tennessee when the sun set on October 6, 2007.
Alabama
So, flared tempers settled for a couple of weeks. The Vols took care of business against Mississippi State, and then the team traveled to Alabama on October 20. This was Nick Saban’s first year at Alabama, before he was NICK [FULMERIZED] SABAN and Alabama went on a decade-long (so far) rampage for the ages. The Tide would lose six (SIX!) games in 2007.
But they wouldn’t lose to Tennessee. And, in keeping with the theme for the season, they didn’t just beat the Vols, they embarrassed them, 41-17. Forget what you know about Alabama right now; this was a terrible loss to a terrible team, and it dashed the Vols’ hopes for the SEC East. Again. Florida was now 3-2 with the tiebreaker over the Vols.
South Carolina
The next two weeks did little to diminish the fury that had reloaded, rebuilt, and set up headquarters on Kingston Pike. With #16 South Carolina coming to town, the newspaper published a photo of the Grim Reaper at coach Fulmer’s door, and TV guys were saying that the only thing the program had left to look forward to was signing day and the NFL Draft. Fulmer used it to rally his guys, and they beat the Gamecocks in overtime.
Georgia beat Florida that same day, tying everything up in the East, but few cared. The Vols were certain to lose another game along the way, especially with the Arkansas Razorbacks and Heisman-contender Darren McFadden coming to town two in two weeks.
Arkansas
This time, though, those supporting Fulmer were on to the newspaper’s tricks. Nearly 200 former players, including Peyton Manning and Albert Haynesworth, went on record by actually signing their names to a letter of support and paying the newspaper to publish it as a full-page advertisement. The Vols went out and handled McFadden and the Razorbacks easily that day and won, 34-13. A defense that “couldn’t stop anybody,” held the SEC’s best rusher to 117 yards on 22 carries and his team to a mere 13 points.
Vanderbilt and Kentucky
But the drama wasn’t over. Florida won that day, and Georgia beat #18 Auburn, so Tennessee needed to win the rest of its games to keep ahead of the Gators and hold of the tiebreaker against Georgia, and many remained unconvinced that they’d be able to do it. They squeaked out a one-point victory over Vanderbilt on November 17 when the Commodores barely missed what would have been a 49-yard, game-winning field goal with 33-seconds left.
The following week gave us the epic four overtime game with Kentucky, which the Vols finally won 52-50. This game will always be the Fiddler on the Roof game to me, and to this day it remains one of the most entertaining things I’ve ever seen. After everything that had happened, it was an all-or-nothing game the Vols needed for a trip to the SEC Championship. In keeping with the rest of the season, the Vols got behind early, it was close the rest of the way, and they pulled it out in the end.
The SEC Championship Game
After having backed in to the championship game, the Vols certainly had no chance against #7 LSU, right? Wrong. They were one fourth-quarter pick-six away from winning the game and the conference.
The 2007 season was part heartbreak and part thriller, all rolled up into one. I often wonder, though, how many may have missed the thrill because they were filled with dread before every game, certain that more heartbreak lurked around the corner.
I hated 2007. I loved 2007. I’m glad I didn’t let the former spoil the latter.
Where are we now?
Third game of the season. A humiliating, embarrassing loss to a hated rival. Folks immediately calling for the coach’s head on a plate.
The rest of the season may be heartbreaking. It may also be thrilling. Probably, it will be a combination of both.
No one can know for sure until it happens. But if there’s something good at the end of this path, we won’t want to miss it.
P.S.
Chaos didn’t limit itself to Tennessee and the SEC East in 2007. The entire college football landscape was turned upside down. For an animation recapping much of that, see the old 2007 Animated BlogPoll.
TRADITION
Yep. It was a horrible, indefensible game. But it was just one game. If he has two or three more of those this year the AD will take the appropriate action at the end of the year I’m sure. But you know maybe they won’t have any more games like that and something good can still happen. All of that is still possible.
Hey, Rusty! Great to see you here, man.
One thing I can’t shake from Saturday, and I think it ties back to 2007, is the distinction between process and results. To those that are upset about Saturday, is it because of the last play and the fact that they lost (results)? Or is it because of the series of miscues in coaching and execution that allowed Tennessee to be in a position that a Hail Mary could beat them (process)? If it’s the former, then are your feelings about 2007 positive? Because we won the division? If it’s the latter, then do you think that maybe the writing… Read more »
I think a key difference with 2007 is feeling like three of our four losses that year were talent issues. Cal and Florida made our defense look like it would never stop anyone again, LSU won the BCS title. The Alabama game was an obvious process problem in letting DJ Hall set school records, but I think the bigger concern there was whether Fulmer’s teams could compete at elite levels anymore as opposed to very good levels.
I am more concerned about the process than the result from last week.
That makes sense. I think you could argue that lack of elite talent falls under a broader “process” umbrella, too, since recruiting is a crucial part of what makes a program go. And the complete whiff on a couple of recruiting classes certainly contributed to Fulmer’s downfall. You could just as easily argue that Butch’s inability to develop depth with his elite talent is a process issue. I realize most teams aren’t in the habit of having 5 good safeties, but it’s crazy to me that Abernathy and Warrior played every defensive snap on Saturday. I’m disheartened, but there’s still… Read more »
The East is a mess (and mess does not always equal bad). A successful season is still absolutely on the table and easily within reason. Saturday was some of Butch at his worst, but some of Butch at his best will win meaningful games this year.
You guys are always my UT football center. Y’all bring me back from the ledge every time. Thanks for always bringing perspective and not writing emotionally. It’s hard to remember sometimes that in the end, it’s just a game being played mostly by children. Thanks for staying positive and rational in the midst of all the negativity. That’s why I do my reading here the majority of the time.
After the game Saturday I’ve been avoiding anything Tennessee related. Not because I was upset but rather I didn’t want to read all the negativity I figured there’d be. Anyway after thinking rationally again I realized that we’re still in a good place. I still don’t believe that Georgia is a juggernaut and this week’s game with Miss State will test that. SC and LSU were brought back down to Earth and look pretty beatable. Missouri and Southern Miss look like wins. I need to see more of Vandy, but we do play that one at home. UK is our… Read more »
Ah yes, the Fall of 2007…… If I were a rich man, I’d have season tickets!
PS. 2007 is when I joined that OTHER community that you and Will used to write at and became a loyal reader. Ten yrs flies by. You take the good, you take the bad, you em both and there you have The Facts Of Life.