Adams: Ending doesn't follow usual script for season : govolsxtra.com

ATLANTA - In a season of comebacks, Tennessee needed one more Saturday night in the Georgia Dome. And why would you bet against them?

The Vols came back from a 1-2 start to open the season. They came back from a 59-20 loss to Florida and a 41-17 loss to Alabama.

They came back from a 15-point deficit against Vanderbilt. They came back in overtime to beat South Carolina and Kentucky.

And they came back to win the SEC East when you least expected it.

But after all those comebacks, they came back to earth in the SEC championship game. They couldn't hold a fourth-quarter lead and couldn't capitalize on the opportunities that LSU provided repeatedly in a game that was marked more by effort than aesthetics.

The Vols had been both lucky and opportunistic in the second half of the season. They were neither in the second half of the SEC championship game. Instead, LSU overcame injuries and its self-destructive tendencies for a 21-14 victory.

Never mind that LSU played the entire game without its injured No. 1 quarterback, Matt Flynn. Or that All-American defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey sat out the second half with an injury. Or that the Tigers so often seemed intent on extending UT's inexplicable good fortune.

The Vols simply weren't good enough to beat an LSU team that lost its shot at a national championship eight days earlier in an overtime loss to Arkansas.

In fact, UT was fortunate to be within striking distance at halftime. The Vols led 7-6 despite being outgained 271 yards to 93.

At that point, the game was playing out like so many other UT victories. Forget the yards. The points favored the Vols.

The theme continued in the third quarter when UT freshman safety Eric Berry intercepted a Ryan Perrilloux pass and recovered a fumble.

But after taking a 14-13 lead with 3:09 to play in the third quarter, the Vols stepped out of character. And no one seemed more out of character than senior quarterback Erik Ainge.

Throughout the regular season, Ainge distinguished himself by playing it safe. He threw the ball away, rather than force plays. He played it safe - to a fault sometimes.

This time, he turned reckless in the fourth quarter against one of the nation's best defenses.

His first ill-advised pass, which LSU cornerback Jonathan Zenon returned 18 yards for a touchdown, was the game-deciding score. His second disastrous throw, which linebacker Darry Beckwith intercepted at the LSU 7-yard line, killed UT's final comeback bid.

The loss won't foster the anguish of UT's 31-20 defeat against LSU in the 2001 SEC championship game. Those Vols were a victory away from playing for the national title.

But these Vols had a wonderful opportunity to lift the program back onto the national stage. They could have won the school's first conference championship since 1998. They could have finished in the top 10 for the first time in six years. They could have gone to a BCS bowl for the first time since 1999.

And it's not as though they had to play a great game.

Despite its earlier No. 1 ranking, LSU has struggled in recent weeks. Moreover, it had to deal with the speculation of its coach, Les Miles, taking the Michigan job, and its defensive coordinator, Bo Pelini, taking the Nebraska head-coaching job.

Flynn's injury presented a more tangible problem. Although talented athletically, Perrilloux isn't adept at checking off at the line of scrimmage or even managing the play clock.

He sabotaged one LSU drive with an errant pitchout on the option. He stopped another drive with a throw that was close to no one except UT's Berry. But he also made just enough plays to win the game and the MVP reward.

The Vols can relate as well as anyone to Perrilloux's topsy-turvy performance.

Whenever you counted them out of the division-championship race, they launched a comeback. And when a conference championship was slipping away Saturday, they launched another comeback.

They just couldn't finish it.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.