MEMPHIS — The Memphis Tigers have made a living out of scaring Tennessee in recent years. And ESPN, for one, thought it would happen again.

Why else was the TV cable giant here Saturday at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium?

The Tigers did have their moment Saturday, but that's all it was. And it didn't even count.

By the time the No. 15-ranked Vols finished off a 41-7 demolition of Memphis, that one moment was long forgotten.

When Quinton McCrary intercepted an Erik Ainge pass and returned it 30 yards for an apparent touchdown late in the first quarter, the blue-clad Memphis fans in the bipartisan crowd of 61,783 erupted in celebration.

But Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer's blood pressure didn't even spike.

He was standing near the official who threw the flag that would wipe off the play.

"Yeah,'' said Fulmer, "I was standing there with him. The (Memphis) guy was lined up in the neutral zone.''

Instead of taking a 7-3 lead, the Tigers watched almost helplessly as Ainge resumed directing the Vols on a 17-play, 97-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jayson Swain.

That made it 10-0, Vols, on their way to 41-0.

Memphis avoided the shutout late in the fourth quarter, recovering a fumble at the UT 21 and passing for a touchdown against Tennessee reserves.

"Tennessee really handed it to us,'' said Memphis coach and UT alum Tommy West. "They were the more physical team and the better team.''

The Vols improved to 4-1 heading to Georgia for a crucial SEC game.

Memphis fell to 1-3, its only win over Division I-AA Chattanooga.

Three of the Tigers' past four losses to UT were by a combined seven points, including 20-16 last year in Knoxville.

Saturday, however, was an orange tour de force.

The Vols rolled up 566 yards of offense and held Memphis to 121.

Ainge was 23-of-27 passing for 324 yards. He threw TD strikes of 5 yards and 51 yards to Swain, 84 yards to Robert Meachem and 7 yards to Bret Smith.

"I didn't get sacked once,'' said Ainge, "and I think the only time I got hit was a late hit.

"The offensive line did a great job, the backs blocked very, very well today, and when the guys are taking 30-yard catches and running it for 90 yards, it makes everything a lot easier.''

LaMarcus Coker ran for 125 yards in his first start. David Yancey got the only rushing touchdown, a 10-yard scamper with 6:36 to play.

The Vols owned the clock, holding possession for 37:22 to 22:38 for Memphis.

The Tigers converted only one of nine third-down chances, compared to 11-of-16 for UT.

As Ainge said, it was easy.

Well, at least it was in the second half.

Despite a lopsided statistical edge, the Vols led only 13-0 at halftime.

The opening drive lasted 13 plays but produced only a 28-yard James Wilhoit field goal.

Then came the first of two 97-yard drives.

Memphis punter Michael Gibson rolled a kick dead at the UT 3. On the eighth play of the drive, Ainge threw a third-down attempt into traffic and McCrary picked it off and rambled into the end zone.

"I've got to credit the middle linebacker,'' said Ainge. "He made a good play and tricked me.''

The trick was for naught due to the offsides penalty against the Tigers.

"Man,'' said McCrary,'' that would have changed the game dramatically.

"When they called that penalty, it broke us down a little bit. But things like that happen. You've got to keep playing.''

Tennessee did a better job of that than Memphis.

The Vols took advantage of the mulligan to advance their lead to 10-0 with 12:26 left in the half.

With 2:56 left in the half, UT took over at its 1 after yet another well-placed Gibson punt. A 43-yard bomb to Meachem got Wilhoit close enough for a 49-yard field goal and a 13-0 halftime lead.

After a break for the marching bands, UT resumed the assault.

Swain caught an Ainge pass on the run at the 25 and kept running — 51 yards for the score and a 20-0 lead.

UT's next possession also began at the 3.

Four Coker runs punched the Vols out to the 16. From there, Ainge found Meachem going deep and connected for an 84-yard TD pass to make it 27-0.

Following a Jonathan Hefney interception, the Vols drove for a first-and-goal at the Memphis 4. The Tigers dug in and stopped Montario Hardesty on four consecutive runs.

It did them little good.

Ainge came back with the TD pass to Smith and at 34-0, the junior quarterback retired to the sideline with 12:26 to play.

Jonathan Crompton came on to direct a 57-yard drive that ended in Yancey's touchdown.

There it might have ended, with a 41-point margin being UT's biggest in the 20-game series.

The punchless Tiger offense hadn't penetrated the Tennessee 40 all day.

They got it at the 21, however, when UT's Ja'Kouri Williams fumbled on his first carry of the season.

On the next snap Marty Hankins fired to Duke Calhoun for the touchdown.

In years past, a late Memphis score set off alarms. In 1996 one even brought down the goal posts.

This time, the only damage was the minor aggravation of ruining a shutout.