When Tennessee's game against LSU was moved from last Saturday to Monday night, the decision received mixed reviews in Vol circles.

For UT right guard Cody Douglas, the game-day change was a blessing in disguise.

"I was just extremely happy that I even got a chance to make the trip," Douglas said. "If the game had been played on Saturday, I would have missed out."

Douglas, who started the first two games of the season, was doubtful for LSU because of a sore knee and sore ankle.

He didn't start Monday night, but entered in the first quarter and played all but one series the rest of the game as the Vols rallied for a 30-27 overtime victory.

"The ankle was fine," Douglas said. "It was a big surprise to me, but the knee was kind of giving me some problems. When I was in pass protection, maybe it would lock up on me a little bit, or when I pulled I kind of had to use my agility.

"It would kind of lock up and give me a little bit of pain, but nothing I couldn't walk off. A game like that, if you can't suck it up, you're not a football player. In the circumstances we were in, you've just got to suck it up and play through it."

What kind of circumstances were the Vols facing?

"We had our backs against the wall, you know, traveling down there on game day, going in there, fans throwing beer bottles at us, cracking our windows on our buses, being down 21-0 at the half, in their stadium, (they're) No. 3 in the country, season on the line, coming off the loss to Florida," Douglas said.

"I mean, it was unexplainable. It was definitely the greatest game atmosphere I've been around since I've been here."

Douglas could see LSU's defense wearing down in the second half as its starters rotated in and out with backups and even third-team players.

By the fourth quarter, the Vols' offensive line had control of the line of scrimmage.

"It was definitely a great feeling to get out there and dominate a little bit, especially since they had two highly-touted defensive tackles (Kyle Williams and Claude Wroten) who literally every play against Arizona State were in the backfield," Douglas said. "I don't remember watching a play where those two guys weren't disrupting something, and to just dominate their front like that was a great feeling and really gave our offensive line a lot of confidence, I think."

Douglas estimates he lost 15 pounds during the game, and on the flight home was cramping.

Still, he can't remember a better feeling - one he would have missed had the game not been moved to Monday night.

"That definitely ranks up there as one of the greatest feelings I've had in all my sports experiences from little league on up," he said.