OXFORD, Miss. - Tennessee started fast and finished strong Saturday night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. In between, it revived all those offensive preseason questions.

Remember the questions? About the inexperienced quarterbacks? About the play-calling? About the running game?

They all came to mind during UT's fall-from-ahead, come-from-behind 21-17 victory over Ole Miss.

The Vols took a step backward offensively. They stumbled around for most of three quarters against one of the worst defenses in the SEC.

But all was not lost. In fact, nothing was lost.

The SEC standings won't reflect UT's struggle. They will only show that it moved one step closer to the SEC East championship.

Never mind that the Vols blew a 14-0 lead. Or that they needed a 30-yard touchdown pass from Erik Ainge to Bret Smith to wrest the lead from the Rebels with 6:58 to play.

They are four games away from a division championship, and two of those games are against Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

For all of their failures against Ole Miss, the Vols accomplished what so many of coach Phillip Fulmer's teams have done through the years. They regained their footing when a game seemed to be slipping away against an inferior opponent.

They did it last year in overtime against Alabama and South Carolina. They did it two years ago in overtime against Arkansas. And they did it three years ago in a come-from-behind victory against Kentucky.

The victory over Kentucky led to a division championship. This one might, too.

You couldn't see the fourth-quarter suspense coming in the first quarter.

The Vols drove 78 yards for a touchdown on their first possession. They drove 45 yards for a touchdown on their second possession.

By the end of the first quarter, UT had 132 yards total offense, and Riggs had 66 yards rushing.

It looked so easy. Too easy, maybe.

From the end of the first quarter to the middle of the fourth, UT looked as inept offensively as it did in a 34-10 loss to Auburn. But keep in mind, Ole Miss' defense is nothing like Auburn's.

The Rebels rank 11th in the SEC and 81st in the country in total defense. The kindest adjective you could bestow on its defense is "balanced." It was 10th in the conference against the run and 11th against the pass.

Ole Miss gave up 23 points against Vanderbilt and 37 to Wyoming. And it held UT to one measly touchdown - albeit a game-winning one - for the last three quarters.

What went wrong for the offense? Just about everything.

After UT's offensive line dominated the Rebels on its first possessions, the Vols didn't have a run longer than 4 yards in the second or third quarter. They totaled a mere 10 yards rushing in those two quarters.

Surprisingly, their passing was similarly ineffective. The Rebels secondary has been victimized repeatedly this season, but UT couldn't capitalize on its vulnerability for more than half the game.

Ainge threw poorly and often seemed confused. His worst pass was almost a game loser. Ole Miss backup free safety Bryan Brown intercepted a short pass and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown to give Ole Miss a 17-14 lead with 11:01 left in the fourth quarter.

Replacing Ainge with fellow freshman Brent Schaeffer in the third quarter seemed like a smart move. That didn't work, either.

But the defense did.

Guilty of not pulling its weight in the first four games, UT's defense has rebounded splendidly in the last two games. Against Ole Miss and Georgia, it played the way you expect defensive coordinator John Chavis' units to play.

And it left all the questions for the offense.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.