It's only September and already it's been a strange season. Mother Nature, as she does this time each year in the South, forces us to respect her power and her potential for devastation.

As we've seen in the Gulf region, there's no fooling Mother Nature and the concern from colleges across the country is certainly legitimate and well warranted. Today's game travel plans, if not inconvenient, are certainly unusual. But again, there's nothing usual about the start of this season and inconvenience is a small price to pay with others suffering loss of property and even more importantly, loss of life.

And while there's no fooling Mother Nature, I guess you can fool SEC prognosticators. How else can you explain Vandy being 2-0 in the SEC for the first time since 1956. . Kidding aside, preseason All-SEC quarterback Jay Cutler and Co. have played well. In fact, Vandy leads the league in passing offense with only Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Arkansas worse than Tennessee.

Strange season? Indeed! But not as strange so far as 0-2 in the SEC will sound if the Vols aren't able to overcome a very difficult test in Death Valley.

Rick Russo is sports director for WVLT Volunteer TV Sports Overtime.