R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

Nothing, it seems, gets the attention of the Tennessee Vols football team like a lack of respect. Tennessee's 19-14 upset win over Georgia on Saturday marked its third consecutive victory as a double-digit road underdog.

The national pollsters gave coach Phillip Fulmer and his troops more fuel for their fire as UT heads into the second half of the season hoping to hold its lead in the SEC East.

The Vols remain ranked behind Georgia in both the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll (UT 14th, Georgia 8th) and Associated Press poll (13/12) despite the win on the Bulldogs' home turf.

The polls are major components in the BCS standings, which act as a tiebreaker in some conferences and determine the teams playing for the national title.

"We're not concerned about polls right now; we're concerned about the next game and trying to win it,'' Fulmer snapped. "We're a very young football team and we're fighting to get better. I can't do anything about it.''

The previous week, Florida moved ahead of Tennessee in the polls despite UT's win over the Gators and the teams having the same record.

Fulmer, however, said he has little interest in coaches making their votes public.

"I wouldn't care to see that,'' Fulmer said. "We've got a number of weeks of football to still be played. I think it will take care of itself if we do what we should do.''

Perhaps, but Georgia won the SEC East last season on the strength of being the higher-ranked team.

The Vols finished ranked sixth in the nation at the end of the regular season but were relegated to the SEC's No. 5 bowl slot, the Peach Bowl. An embarrassing loss to Clemson left a negative perception that carried over into the offseason.

None of the 88 media members voting at the preseason SEC Media Days in Birmingham selected UT to win the conference.

Senior captain Kevin Burnett said the fact that people no longer consider the Vols an elite program irks players.

"We do look at the legacy of our program,'' Burnett said. "This was a 13-0 and 12-1 football team when we came here, and that's what we want to get it back to. We're taking a no-holds barred attitude.''

Zoning In: UT defensive coordinator John Chavis said the Vols were in zone pass coverage 80 to 85 percent of the time against the Bulldogs.

The results were astonishing, as David Greene was just 5-of-14 passing for 41 yards heading into the fourth quarter.

"You have to be flexible enough to adjust and do what your kids are capable of,'' said Chavis, who makes his preference of man coverage no secret. "The key this week was eliminating the big plays.''

Greene's longest completion was a 21-yarder.

Greene was 10-of-20 passing for 122 yards in the fourth quarter as UT backed off, trading time for yardage while protecting a 19-7 lead.

"We softened up quite a bit,'' Chavis said. "We still should have stopped their drives a couple of times. I give Georgia credit, they have great personnel.''

Oddly enough, Georgia didn't force UT to dig deeper into its young secondary by using more receivers. The Vols stayed in their base 4-3 package throughout, never using extra DB packages.

Injury Update: Offensive tackle Michael Munoz has a bruised knee and will be limited in practice this week. Fulmer said the biggest concern is starting guard Cody Douglas, who has a sprained foot. Receiver Tony Brown has a leg injury and also will miss some practice time. Jesse Mahelona (shoulder) isn't expected to miss any time.

No Appeal: When Erik Ainge missed a handoff and was forced to run, he was tackled 3 yards behind the line. Much to the Vols' chagrin, the official scorers ruled it as a sack -- the first of Ainge's career. UT sports information assistant John Painter said the Vols can't appeal.

Worth Noting: Jason Hall leads the SEC with 3A 1/2 sacks, and UT leads the SEC with 3.1 per game. ... Ole Miss' Cody Ridgeway ranks ahead of Dustin Colquitt in punting, 43.4 to 43.3. ... Jason Allen is second in the SEC with 9.2 tackles per game. ... UT is 5-for-5 on fourth down. ... Gerald Riggs' second 100-yard game moved him to seventh in the SEC at 80.6 per game. ... Ainge is 19th nationally with a 143.8 pass rating. ... Georgia ran 13 plays in the final 1:42 of Saturday's game. ... UT has opened as a 10-point favorite over Ole Miss.