It was at ESPN's College Football Awards a couple of weeks ago in Orlando that Tennessee receiver Robert Meachem finally realized what a great football season he'd had.

Maybe it was when Meachem, as part of a gag for TV, trotted out the roping skills he learned as a youngster growing up in Oklahoma and lassoed host Regis Philbin.

Or maybe it was when Meachem sat down and had friendly conversations with Florida safety Reggie Nelson, a mortal enemy of the Vols.

In either case, Meachem had a chance to step back and understand what he had done in 2006.

The fourth-year junior broke the Vols' single season record for receiving yards and became the first Tennessee receiver to earn first-team All-America honors since Carl Pickens in 1991. He also earned the honors from the Football Writers Association of America.

"Tennessee is known as 'Wide Receiver U.,' and I'm happy that I was an All-American to show that 'Wide Receiver U.' is coming back," said Meachem, who leads the Vols (9-3) into the Jan. 1 Outback Bowl against Penn State with 67 catches this season for 1,265 yards and 11 touchdowns. "It (being a first-team All-American) is such an honor, but until you get to Disney World and see all the other All-Americans, you don't understand how big it really is."

Meachem's sensational season obliterated his combined statistics from his first two seasons as a Vol. When Meachem had just 29 catches last year for 383 yards and two TDs -- partially a result of Tennessee's two-ring quarterback circus -- critics questioned if he would ever live up to his high school hype.

And they were weighty credentials. He was rated as one of the nation's top three receiving prospects as a senior in '02 at Tulsa (Okla.) Booker T. Washington. His size (6-3, 210) and his running ability after the catch (he had 543 receiving yards and 531 rushing yards as a senior) made him a cinch to have an immediate impact in college.

He stunned all of the homefolk by choosing Tennessee over Oklahoma, making a mature decision rather one with his heart.

"If I had stayed home, I would have never grown up," Meachem said. "But Tennessee stood out, because of the reputation it had for great wide receivers. The school is called 'Wide Receiver U.' for a reason."

True, the Vols have had a pipeline of receivers to the NFL for almost the last 30 years. But honestly, after Meachem was sidelined his true freshman season in 2003 because of a torn meniscus one week into preseason drills, the NFL wasn't on his mind.

Meachem? He just wanted to have fun then, like he does now. When he finally got on the field healthy, he merely wanted to catch passes and be able to smile about it.

"I've always left the pressure up to God," Meachem said. "I've never paid attention to the hype. To me, it's always been about having fun."

Meachem, like the rest of the Vols' receivers, was puzzled and hurt after last season's 5-6 record. Tennessee's offense got most of the blame, from inconsistent quarterbacking, to up-and-down line play, to receivers dropping passes and not finishing routes.

For Meachem, fun had left the Vols' practice field until Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer fired receivers coach Pat Washington, and moved enthusiastic running backs coach Trooper Taylor to Washington's vacated spot.

Everything that Taylor began teaching and preaching to Meachem and the rest of the receivers seemed to make sense.

"We talked about having goals, because goals are like having a map," Taylor said. "Our goal was to again make Tennessee known as 'Wide Receiver U.' I told them you can't take the game for granted, that you have to earn your respect. The drops I saw last year was because we tried to run before we had that ball. That was correctable, so every time somebody dropped a ball in the spring, all the receivers ran."

Meachem appreciated the tough love. By the time the season opener approached against then-No. 9 ranked California, Meachem, like the rest of his teammates, was bursting at the seams to prove himself.

"We all understood from Troop to slow down and let the game come to us," Meachem said. "There are times when you may make one tackler miss and you go 60 yards to the house. Or you make one tackler miss and you get 16 or 20 yards.

"Having been a running back early in my high school career has always helped my peripheral vision."

Meachem applied that immediately against Cal. He turned two short catches on hitch routes into touchdowns of 42 and 80 yards, in an easy 35-18 victory.

The rest of this season, he never backed off. Despite double coverage, bumps and bruises, having to work with an untested freshman redshirt quarterback when starter Erik Ainge missed almost two full games with an ankle sprain, Meachem kept producing.

"Like Erik, we expected big things from Robert last year, and didn't have a good year as part of the whole offensive scenario," Fulmer said. "But Robert has been exceptional this season. He's one of the most dynamic players in the country. We've leaned on him at times."

Although the Vols have a trio of good receivers, Ainge couldn't help himself finding Meachem as his go-to-guy.

"Anytime you've got a first-team All-American catching balls for you, he's going to make you look good," said Ainge, who began getting in sync with Meachem last summer during informal throwing workouts. "I told Robert at the beginning of the season, 'As long as you run every route exactly like it's supposed to be, then I'll get you the ball. Don't do anything fancy, don't make up your own stuff.' "

Meachem lined up for every game this past season, a testimony to his durability that comes from his background of being raised on an Oklahoma farm.

It was there that Meachem's father taught young Robert about toughness.

"My dad's side of the family was cowboys," Meachem said. "He always taught me you had to be tough, because a cow can run into you or you can fall off the back of a horse. The cow or the horse aren't sorry, and you can't see their feelings anyway.

"So you have to be tough. Watch those guys ride bulls or horses or steer dogging, and it's dangerous. It's insane, but a lot of people think football is insane, too, to just put on some pads and let somebody hit you."

Meachem's strong suit as a cowboy when he was a kid was his roping skills. Some enterprising ESPN researcher found that out from an old Tennessee questionnaire.

So why not demonstrate them after all these years on a national awards show? Nothing like a little pressure, huh Robert?

"I was very nervous," Meachem said. "At first, they wanted to me to rope (Notre Dame receiver) Jeff Samardzija, and Samardzija didn't want to," Meachem said. "So Regis Philbin said, 'C'mon, you can rope me.' And I roped him.' "

The Outback Bowl could be Meachem's last game with the Vols. Since he was redshirted as a freshman, he's eligible to declare for the NFL draft. That's something he's contemplating, but it's not on his front burner at the moment.

"All my life, I've set extraordinary goals," Meachem said. "I know there's something out there bigger and better for me. But I can never be satisfied with myself. Every practice, every game, I want to get better."