Adams: Kentucky brings out the best in Vols

Forgive the Kentucky Wildcats for not appreciating the historical significance of Saturday night. For them, it was like any other trip to Neyland Stadium.

They came. They lost. They went home.

For UT fans, this was the goodbye game for longtime head coach Phillip Fulmer. For Kentucky, it was routine.

The 28-10 victory looked more like the UT-Kentucky series than the UT season.

The Vols scored four touchdowns, didn’t commit a turnover and won their 24th consecutive game over the Wildcats.

It was an appropriate sendoff for a coach who has won almost 75 percent of his games in 17 years and never lost to Kentucky. It also was a totally out-of-character performance for a team that had already tied a school record with seven losses.

If you just dropped in on the tail end of the regular season, you would have never guessed the Wildcats were bowl eligible. They didn’t look any more competent than all the other Wildcats who spent an afternoon or evening stumbling around Neyland Stadium.

It’s hardly shocking that UT’s sixth-ranked defense strangled the life out of Kentucky’s ineffective offense. But who were those UT guys on offense in the second half? Better yet, where have they been all season?

Quarterback Jonathan Crompton completed a 63-yard touchdown pass to Denarius Moore. Gerald Jones ran 55 yards to set up another touchdown. That’s dazzling stuff for a team that ranks 116th nationally in total offense.

Who says they never got the hang of first-year coordinator Dave Clawson’s offense? It just took them 11½ games.

Maybe they just needed more incentive.

Never mind that the team lost seven games. It wasn’t about to lose Fulmer’s last game.

“This team showed its true character the last two games,” Fulmer said before his players carried him off the field for the last time.

UT’s effort was apparent from the outset, even when its offense was struggling as it has most of the season. The Vols needed 12 plays to cover 35 yards on a tedious scoring drive to end the first half. But the bottom line is what mattered for an offense that has sabotaged itself on so many occasions this season.

The drive was more about persistence than talent. The Vols needed four plays to make the final yard to the end zone.

But they made it.

The second half was a breeze by comparison. And the rare runaway victory should have an impact on more than one UT coach.

Lane Kiffin was probably taking notes. It’s just a matter of time before the former Oakland Raiders coach is introduced as Fulmer’s successor.

The next coach saw more than a losing team. He saw a team that didn’t quit even though there was no championship or bowl bid hanging in the balance. He saw a team that didn’t lose its resilience even when it lost to Wyoming. He saw a team that was determined to send its coach out a winner even though it couldn’t save his job.

Kiffin learned something else about his next team. He learned that it doesn’t lose to Kentucky.

Ever.

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

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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