TAMPA, Fla. -- On a day when countless New Year's resolutions will be first implemented, many also will be broken.

That's the scenario facing No. 17 Tennessee this morning at 11 o'clock when it faces Penn State in the Outback Bowl (TV: ESPN).

A year removed from a disastrous 5-6 season, the Vols have a chance to get their 10th win and begin the new year with plenty of momentum.

In many ways, it's September all over again.

The weather is warm and the Vols have a chance to get a big win.

Instead of a top-10 California team, it's Penn State.

"You don't have to say much else when you say Penn State," defensive tackle Turk McBride said. "They're a great program. They're just like Cal. We're starting a new year off, and we can start the year off right."

After a 7-1 start, the Vols (9-3) let a three-point lead slip away in the final minutes against LSU.

The next week, they got drilled by SEC West champ Arkansas.

After thumping Vanderbilt, the Vols struggled before putting Kentucky away late.

UT coach Phillip Fulmer called that game Tennessee's worst performance of the season.

Injuries played a part in the Vols' late-season letdown, but as a whole Tennessee is as healthy as it's been since September.

That's one of the reasons linebacker Ryan Karl feels the Vols need to regain their early season form against the Nittany Lions.

"Defensively, ... we had a pretty bad game (against Kentucky)," he said. "So just to get our confidence back up, coming out here and playing really well is important.

"If we do well in this game and get it going on all cylinders, there's nothing that can stop us."

Penn State will try its best.

The Nittany Lions (8-4) fell short of expectations following an 11-1 season in 2005. Their losses came to Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin -- all of which finished the season ranked in the top 11.

Still, the Nittany Lions don't have a signature win or a victory over a ranked team, both of which could be accomplished against Tennessee.

What they do have is the Big Ten's second-best rush defense, the country's 11th best pass efficiency defense and the nation's No. 11 scoring defense.

All-America linebackers Dan Connor and Paul Posluszny, fresh off his second consecutive Bednarik Award, lead the defense along with fellow All-America defensive tackle Jay Alford.

"They don't have any glaring weaknesses," UT offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe said. "They don't give up big plays. They don't give up many points. They don't give up many yards. You can go on and on and on. They're good football players that are well coached. They have some disruptors."

Alford will do his best to disrupt freshman Jacques McClendon, who is making his first career start at right guard in place of Anthony Parker (knee).

But two of the most disruptive against the Vols could be cornerbacks Justin King and Tony Davis.

The Vols will be without receiver Bret Smith because of academics, which means Lucas Taylor and Josh Briscoe are next in line.

Starters Jayson Swain and Robert Meachem will have to contend with King and Davis for most of the day.

"Both those guys have speed, they're well-coached and do a great job of keeping things in front of them," Cutcliffe said. "They're equally as good up in press coverage as they are off coverage. I've been pretty impressed with both of them."

While Penn State's offense has struggled at times this season under junior quarterback Anthony Morelli, senior tailback Tony Hunt has been fantastic.

The 6-foot-2, 230-pound back has rushed for 1,228 yards and 11 touchdowns, averaging 5 yards a carry.

"He's a big powerful guy that runs really well," UT defensive coordinator John Chavis said. "You don't want to use the word 'typical' because backs in the SEC usually aren't that big. He's a big, powerful guy that's hard to bring down. It's going to take more than one guy to bring him down."

Senior middle linebacker Marvin Mitchell's shoulder is almost healthy, but Rico McCoy will make his second start at weakside linebacker in place of Jerod Mayo.

Mayo returned to practice last week and is expected to play.

"The No. 1 goal is to win the game," said McCoy, who led the Vols in tackles against Vanderbilt and Kentucky. "Everything else will fall into place. Hopefully I'll have a bunch of tackles, maybe lead the team in tackles for the third straight week. That'd be sweet."

So would the Vols' first bowl victory over Penn State.

Even sweeter would be that 10th win to slingshot the Vols into the offseason.

And send UT's 20 seniors out in style by starting 2007 with what they're used to -- winning.

"We always had that in our minds, to leave the program where we found it," McBride said. "I came in with a 10-win season, and I want to leave with a 10-win season. That'll be a great thing if we can do that."