Strange: Written-off Tigers give Vols new life

When Tennessee's football players reassembled from the ends of the earth Sunday night, their head coach greeted them with a short but sweet salutation:

War Damn Eagle!

"That's actually the first thing I said to them, to be honest with you,'' Phillip Fulmer revealed Tuesday.

It's admirable to take care of your own business and do your own dirty work. But sometimes you need help to get where you want to go in life.

Tennessee wants to go to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game on the first day of December. After getting undressed 59-20 at Florida on Sept. 15, the Vols needed help. Atlanta seemed as near as Atlantis.

Then Tennessee got help Saturday night from Auburn, of all people. The Tigers upset Florida 20-17 in The Swamp.

The SEC East race is on again.

"It energized our team,'' said offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe. "It energized everybody in the East.''

Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina each had an SEC loss when they woke up Saturday morning. (We'll start including Kentucky in this scenario if they win at South Carolina on Thursday).

UT's loss, however, was the most damaging because it was head to head against Florida, and that's the first tie-breaker provision.

So when the Vols scattered for their open date, they knew unbeaten Florida had to lose twice in order for Tennessee to have any chance at Atlanta.

"I think everybody knew there was a chance they could lose to LSU,'' said UT punter Britton Colquitt, "but everybody kind of wrote Auburn off.

"This is good because people see that they're human. They can be beat.''

Florida looked super-human against Tennessee. Even after the Gators' lackluster win at Ole Miss a week later, help from struggling Auburn seemed a poor bet.

But the Tigers humbled Florida on a most humbling college football weekend when five of the top 10 teams bit the dust.

Next up for the Gators: No. 1-ranked LSU in Death Valley.

Next up for Tennessee: An energized Georgia at Neyland Stadium.

"Opportunity is there,'' said linebacker Rico McCoy. "I know Georgia is thinking the same way.

"We're going to see who capitalizes on it. It just opens up everyone's eyes.''

Most Vol eyes were glued to the screen watching Florida lose. The others quickly got the news.

Receiver Josh Briscoe was at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes retreat in Dayton, Tenn. Auburn's kicker had no sooner split the uprights than the text messages and phone calls started.

"As soon as the game was over, I got word,'' Briscoe said. "We know in the SEC anything can happen and we have just as much chance of winning as anybody else does.''

Quarterback Erik Ainge watched the landscape change from San Diego, where he was getting away from it all with his girlfriend.

"We're excited,'' said Ainge, "because we know it gave us a chance.

"Even if we won out, they still had to give us a chance.''

Based on UT's performance in its first four games, winning out is a long shot. For what it's worth, it's not unprecedented.

In 1997, Tennessee opened SEC play with a 33-20 loss at Florida. Gloom and doom descended.

The Vols got help from LSU, who beat Florida on Oct. 11. They got more help from Georgia, who beat the Gators on Nov. 1.

Behind Peyton Manning, the Vols won out. They went to Atlanta and claimed an SEC title.

In 2001, the Vols needed help again after losing at home to Georgia on Oct. 6. They got it when Florida pinned a second loss on the Bulldogs. UT then upset Florida on Dec. 1 and went to Atlanta as SEC East champion.

Speaking of Georgia, UT offensive lineman Anthony Parker was in Athens when the earth moved. He witnessed the Bulldogs chewing up Ole Miss, then watched the Gators go down on TV.

"It puts everybody on an equal playing field again,'' said Parker. "All the teams in the East have a tough schedule left, so really, it's anybody's game.''

For now at least, that includes the team that limped out of The Swamp three weeks ago with seemingly no hope in the world.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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