In the Phillip Fulmer era, Tennessee has won a bunch of football games in tough joints.

The Swamp no longer reduces the Vols to orange marmalade. They made the transition from playing Alabama at Legion Field to Tuscaloosa without a hiccup.

In fact, the only SEC venue in which Tennessee has a two-game losing streak is Sanford Stadium.

(Throw in the Georgia Dome and UT is on a 0-5 skid in the Peach State.)

Between Sanford's fabled hedges is where the No. 17 Vols (3-1, 1-1 SEC) find themselves today, in rebound mode from last week's spanking by Auburn.

UT is also in underdog mode against the No. 3 Bulldogs (4-0, 2-0), who are 12A 1/2-point favorites to extend their domination over the Vols to five games and their home-field winning streak to 18 games.

"I hope we're a pretty tough-minded football team,'' Fulmer said of the challenge facing his team.

"We haven't been as physically gifted the last couple of years as we were in the past, but we haven't lost our tough-mindedness.''

The Vols last won at Georgia in 1998, on the way to SEC and national championships.

They lost in 2000 while waiting for a starting quarterback to emerge. They lost again in 2002, with freshman James Banks filling in for injured Casey Clausen.

Today, they're back with a pair of true freshmen at quarterback. Erik Ainge and Brent Schaeffer, no less, will be playing in their first college road game.

"We've obviously tried to prepare for it,'' said offensive coordinator Randy Sanders. "There's a certain point where getting louder doesn't matter.

"More than the noise, a hostile environment will have more to do with it than anything else.''

The hostile environment on the field will be created by a stout Georgia defense that is led by All-America defensive end David Pollack.

"He's a 100-percent-effort guy,'' said an admirer, UT defensive coordinator John Chavis, "and sometimes when you talk about guys like that you may fail to mention their ability.

"He's a 100-percenter that has ability.''

Despite being thumped by Auburn, the Vols still have the ability to control their destiny.

A win today would put them in the driver's seat in the SEC Eastern Division with head-to-head tie-breaker advantages over Florida and Georgia.

UT is 9-1 under Fulmer in bouncing back from the first loss of a season.

"We know they have proven to be able to come off the ropes,'' said Georgia coach Mark Richt, "even going to Miami last year and beating one of the better teams in the country at their home.''

Much hope has been attached this week to the Vols' resilience when being counted out.

The past two times they were double-digit underdogs on the road, they pulled the upset -- 10-6 at Miami last year and 34-32 at Florida in 2001.

The reality, however, is that today's game presents different circumstances.

When UT won at Florida in 2001, Clausen was making his 18th start at quarterback. As for the Miami comparison ...

"Georgia's probably a better team than Miami,'' Fulmer said, "because they're so much better at quarterback.''

He was referring to David Greene, the Bulldogs' senior who is 3-0 against the Vols and 36-8 as a starter.

Furthermore, Tennessee was much stronger defensively in both those big wins than they are today.

A probe for chinks in Georgia's armor reveals a few.

The Bulldogs scored only 13 points against Marshall, going 3-of-14 on third down.

They fell behind South Carolina 16-0.

They gave up 294 rushing yards to Georgia Southern.

And yet, they won all three games. Certainly, there were no chinks in last week's 45-16 rout of LSU.

"We think we're hitting midseason form,'' said Greene, "and we definitely need to be.

"We're going to have to be at our best against Tennessee.''

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.