Four games is enough of a track record. I've accepted the Tennessee team for what it is.

You probably have, too.

It's not the team we imagined in preseason. That team was balanced. It could beat you with offense or defense.

And it wouldn't just win. It would win with style.

Turns out, that team was a fantasy.

In reality, the Vols are 3-1 and still a championship contender. Even an optimistic UT fan couldn't have expected much more against an early-season schedule that included back-to-back road games against Florida and LSU.

The surprise isn't in the winning. It's in the style.

A 27-10 victory over Ole Miss on Saturday only confirmed what you probably were already thinking.

There will be few easy victories for these Vols. They're all about grinding it out, not blowing you out.

The Rebels might be the worst team in the SEC West. They're rebuilding under first-year coach Ed Orgeron.

They even lost to Vanderbilt.

For those keeping score, Vanderbilt scored 31 points against Ole Miss. Wyoming had 24.

That puts UT's offense somewhere between Vanderbilt's and Wyoming's. Don't laugh. That's the reality of it.

And it's not all bad.

If you're competing for championships, better to have a great defense and a so-so offense than vice-versa. It's also better to know your limitations.

UT beat Ole Miss with a dominant defense and a ball-control offense. It will have to beat Georgia the same way next week. And Alabama two weeks after that.

"I don't think you have seen all the offense has to offer," UT linebacker Kevin Simon said. " Those guys are very capable of putting points up on the board. Just because they have struggled every game other than the second half of the LSU game doesn't mean they are not capable of putting points on the board. There's a lot of potential over there."

You could make that argument after one game or two, maybe even three. But not four.

"That's a fair point," Simon admits.

Forget the potential. Accept the reality.

When a UT fan says, "Did you see that catch?", he's probably referring to an interception, like the one cornerback Jonathan Wade returned 19 yards for a touchdown to give the Vols a 14-0 lead against the Rebels.

When a UT fan says, "How about that run?" he's probably referring to a come-from-behind, touchdown-saving tackle like the one cornerback Jason Allen made on a 56-yard run by Ole Miss tailback Mico McSwain.

You won't hear UT fans saying, "We might hang half a hundred on them." But you might hear, "They won't get 100 yards on us."

The UT defense seems almost as interested in statistics as points.

"They probably had five times the yardage on one play than they had the rest of the game, because we made a bad adjustment," UT defensive coordinator John Chavis said of McSwain's 56-yard run late in the fourth quarter.

Without those 56 yards, the Rebels would have had a minus-6 yards rushing. Most of UT's first-team defense was on the sideline at the time.

And they couldn't get back on the field fast enough.

"We were going back in," defensive end Jason Hall said. "Most definitely, even if Coach didn't want us back in, we were going back in."

The coaches OK'd the first-team's return, but backup safety Corey Campbell delivered the big play. With the Rebels only one yard from the UT goal line, Campbell intercepted Micheal Spurlock's pass in the end zone.

The defense provides the big plays. The offense plays "small ball."

But don't knock it. Alabama won a national championship with the same combination in 1992.

The UT defense seems more motivated than burdened by the state of affairs. It stretches its shoulders wide and raises its expectations for excellence. Stopping an offense is just the half of it.

"Not only stop (offenses), Simon said. "We've got to try to get the ball back for (the offense). Give them a short field. Help them out.

"If we give them a spark, they're going to be able to take it and run with it."

In a best-case scenario, they won't have to run far.