When the last seconds had drained away, when the win was official, Georgia corner Tim Jennings ran to fetch the big red flag from the Georgia cheerleaders.

Jennings remembered last year. He remembered the Tennessee players planting their flag in the turf in Athens.

Turnabout is fair play.

Revenge is best served at the 50-yard line, and all that.

Which is when the cops stepped in.

Five of them.

If Tennessee couldn't stop Georgia from beating them at home, they could at least stop them from celebrating.

"They told me I couldn't take it on the field," Jennings said. "I'm like, 'Where were they last year?' "

Then he laughed, the laugh of a man on his way to Atlanta.

That's the permanent site of SEC Championship Game and the temporary site of the Sugar Bowl. The Vols won't be in either, not after losing to Georgia Saturday, 27-14.

At halftime, Tennessee celebrated the 20th reunion of the Sugar Vols.

What are these Vols going to be? The Peach Vols? The Music City Vols? The Independence Vols?

"As it seems right now, yeah, we're out of the championship picture," said linebacker Kevin Simon.

Simon went on to say winning the title isn't impossible. Which is the kind of thing you say when it's impossible. When you can't run and you can't score and your coaches are reduced to, well, let's go right to the postgame press conference.

"If I could sprinkle some magic dust on it, I'd sprinkle it," said UT coach Phillip Fulmer.

"I wish I had some magic dust to sprinkle on it," said offensive coordinator Randy Sanders.

Yes, they both said this.

Three yards and a cloud of magic dust.

Tinkerbell for offensive coordinator?

"We lost," said Tennessee quarterback Rick Clausen, who was downright churlish after the game. But, then, you could understand Clausen's frustration, given the expectations for the season.

These Vols were going to re-establish the program as a national power, remember? Even Fulmer said so. They had talent and experience. They just had to pick the right quarterback.

Now their season is finished. That's what Tennessee fans are saying this morning. And as ridiculous as it sounds -- the team could still go 10-2, after all -- even Clausen understands it.

"The expectation when you come to this university is to win the national championship every year," he said.

Just not this year.

Not with this offense and this kicking game and this remarkable ability to do exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time.

The Vols had 12 penalties. They had three just on kick and punt returns.

They also lost corner Jason Allen to a hip injury, and it seemed to sum up the whole day. Allen could have gone pro after last year. He would have been a high draft pick.

But he came back to give it another try, to be part of this glorious season.

And there he was in the first half, getting hauled away on a cart, wiping tears from his eyes.

"It hurt to see that," said Simon, "but that's not the reason we lost the game."

No, that would be the offense, though Simon was too polite to say it. When's the last time a Tennessee team struggled to score the way this one does?

They had one good half against LSU. Otherwise, pfffft.

"We were some better today," said Fulmer.

How, exactly?

The Vols scored a meaningless touchdown on the last play of the game. Otherwise, their contribution consisted of a 1-play, 1-yard, 5-second drive set up by an interception.

"We're shooting ourselves in the foot," said Clausen.

Often, consecutively.

Like the demoralizing sequence late in the first half, after Tennessee moved the ball to the 6-yard line. Clausen missed a wide-open Bret Smith in the end zone. The next play, he threw the ball to Georgia defensive back DeMario Minter.

"That was huge," said Fulmer.

Not to mention typical.

The miscommunications even spilled over into postgame, when someone asked if Tennessee ever considered playing Erik Ainge.

"I thought about it but we never discussed it," said Fulmer.

"We talked about it," said Sanders.

Glad we cleared that up.

So now comes an off week, then Alabama, then Steve Spurrier, then Notre Dame. Clausen said the players are playing for each other now. He said he expects some fans to bail.

"We have to find a way to push through," he said.

Magic dust, anyone?