Adams: Reliving history for all the wrong reasons

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Before America turned back its clocks to standard time, Tennessee turned back the calendar at Williams-Brice Stadium.

The Vols fell behind so quickly in coach Steve Spurrier's presence, it seemed like the mid-1990s again. And it seemed like Spurrier was still coaching the Florida Gators instead of the South Carolina Gamecocks.

The Gators - uh, Gamecocks - drove 82 yards for a touchdown in just five plays and 98 seconds on their second possession. They led 21-0 five minutes into the second quarter.

Fortunately for the Vols, the Gamecocks couldn't maintain their Gators impersonation. Unfortunately for the Vols, they never got out of character in a 27-6 defeat.

UT's season-long struggle has reached historical proportions. The 2008 Vols have become only the ninth team in school history to lose as many as six games in a single season.

That's not to say the Vols have hit bottom. They've got three more chances to tie the school record of seven losses in a season (1977).

But surely, they've already lost too many games to save coach Phillip Fulmer's job. It's just a matter of when and how UT chooses to bring the Fulmer era to a close.

Aside from South Carolina's fast start, the loss wasn't strikingly different from UT's succession of failures this season.

It was obvious from the outset that UT's offense was overmatched. No news there.

South Carolina, which ranks fourth nationally in defense, held UT to 34 yards rushing; sacked quarterbacks Nick Stephens and Jonathan Crompton six times; returned an interception for a touchdown; and set up another touchdown with a 38-yard fumble return.

UT did come up with a couple of offensive surprises. It replaced Stephens with Crompton after Stephens threw his first interception of the season in the second quarter. It also finally managed to capitalize on one of the many deflected passes that have characterized its offense.

Late in the second quarter, a Crompton pass bounced off wide receiver Gerald Jones into the hands of tailback Arian Foster, who gained 26 yards on the play. Just when you thought the Vols were on to something, Crompton's next pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage and fell uneventfully to the ground.

The second half was uneventful as well. Like any other UT opponent with an above-average defense, South Carolina simply had to play up to its capabilities on defense and not produce any disasters on offense.

You know how it goes. You saw it against Florida, Georgia, and Alabama - just to name a few.

Those three teams combined with South Carolina to outscore UT 112-35. In those same four games, UT totaled only 167 yards rushing.

The rushing totals are as embarrassing as the won-loss record for a team that's tumbling toward unimagined depths for a once-proud program.

The Vols went 5-6 in 2005. Three years later, they're 3-6. Only once before in school history - from 1977 through 1980 when coach John Majors began rebuilding the program - did UT have two six-loss seasons in a four-year period.

Now, another rebuilding job is in order. You just don't know who's going to lead it.

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

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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