Whatever Vanderbilt has been doing on defense all season, Tennessee is taking it with a grain of salt.

If the Vols have learned anything this season, it's to expect the unexpected when they visit Nashville on Saturday.

"For whatever reasons I don't know,'' UT offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe said, "but we've seen a lot of adjustments, a lot of change.''

In Alabama's first seven games, its defensive scheme was apples. It was oranges on Oct. 21 against the Vols.

South Carolina was straight Republican up through Oct. 27.

On Oct. 28, the Gamecocks voted Democrat.

"They went from being man-to-man to a zone-blitz team,'' said Cutcliffe, "and hadn't shown it in any of their previous games.''

Arkansas followed suit -- by not following suit.

The Razorbacks drank Coke to get to the SEC West lead. When the Vols showed up, they switched to Pepsi.

"Arkansas made a major decision to go away from a single-safety defense to go to a two-safety defense,'' Cutcliffe said.

"So what it does, it makes you readjust and a lot of things I thought might produce big plays against Arkansas kind of went out the window.''

The pile beneath Cutcliffe's window is getting pretty tall by now. An element of surprise is to be expected. This season, it's gone to a new level.

"Total philosophy changes in some regard,'' Cutcliffe said.

"They're trying to figure out some way to minimize our play-making ability. In some cases, it's obviously working.''

It's fortunate timing for Tennessee that Cutcliffe, a veteran coordinator with a successful track record, rejoined the brain trust this fall.

Likewise, that quarterback Erik Ainge has taken his mental game to new heights in his junior year.

The two are likely not coincidental.

"When we started this process,'' Cutcliffe said, referring to the rehabilitation of Ainge's career, "he was eager. He was hungry.

"All we did was talk defensive football all winter, all winter, all winter and he started grasping what they were doing.''

Ainge is better equipped to read defenses and handle the in-game adjustments when the scouting report goes out Cutcliffe's window.

"That's really helped us,'' Cutcliffe said. "Starting with California. I think he shocked them picking up everything they were doing.''

Tennessee clearly missed Ainge and his awareness against Arkansas and LSU.

The offense scored 17 points against LSU and finished with only 248 yards. Against Arkansas, it produced 14 points and 266 yards.

One of the statistical landmarks in college football is 300 yards total offense. In the past six years, UT is 6-13 when it checks in at 299 or fewer.

At 300-plus, the Vols are 33-8 over that span. (Overtime games were not included).

By mid-November Cutcliffe knows that much of the Vols' preparation time this week might be irrelevant on Saturday.

Opponents' past games and tendencies have been meticulously charted, the basis for the game plan Cutcliffe and his staff assembled.

"All I can do is play those percentages as far as the amount of time we spend working on something at practice,'' he said.

"Then when somebody flips that over, and Alabama did it in a big way, then your kids aren't quite as comfortable.''

When that happens, as it almost inevitably does ...

"There's a whole lot of talking going on,'' Cutcliffe said.

Talking the talk is one thing. At this point in the season, however, it needs to lead to walking the walk.

"Whatever people throw out there,'' said Cutcliffe, "we should be able to handle it.''