Defense wins championships.

Hang around any college football team for any length of time, and you're bound to hear the phrase.

Most of the time it rings true, as it did for Tennessee on the way to a national title in 1998. But lately, a strong defense alone doesn't exactly equate to championships - or even a lot of wins - for Tennessee.

Despite having the SEC's best defense in yardage allowed this season heading into Saturday's game (TV: WVLT, 3:30 p.m.) at No. 10 Georgia, UT remains 2-3 and winless in conference play.

That trend is frustrating for defensive end Wes Brown although, he said there hasn't been any finger pointing.

"It can be frustrating," Brown said. "But if we win 41-40 or if we win 3-2, whatever the case may be, we just want to win the game. Defensively, we're not satisfied. We're 2-3. We want to make the other team score less points so we can win. Right now, we just want to win. Do anything for a win right now."

The obvious comparison is 2005, when Tennessee finished 5-6 despite a defense that allowed 18.6 points a game, finished second in the nation in total defense and second in the nation against the run.

Last season, Tennessee's defense was down for much of the year. It steadily improved, especially in the secondary, but the Vols finished 70th in the nation and 10th in the SEC in total defense and 61st in scoring defense. Despite all that, UT's offense was productive enough to average 32.5 points per game and help pave the way to Atlanta for the SEC championship game.

"If I had my druthers, I'd probably be great on defense and really good on offense and great in the kicking game," Fulmer said, smiling.

Tennessee's defense certainly has done its part this year.

In addition to ranking fifth in the nation and tops in the SEC in total defense at 244.4 yards per game, the Vols are eighth in the SEC and 26th nationally in scoring defense with 16.6 points allowed per game.

That total isn't all on the defense, either. Take away a UCLA punt-block touchdown, a Florida punt-return touchdown and a fumbled snap in the end zone Auburn recovered for a touchdown, and UT would rank fourth in the conference.

Yet even with its success, defensive coordinator John Chavis isn't totally pleased with his defense.

"Our offense will get it going. I've seen a tremendous amount of improvement in them," Chavis said. "The big thing is we've got to go get stops. We've got to get off the field. We need to get our average plays per possession down to give our offense more time to score, and then we need to make some big plays.

"We've done a great job getting turnovers in terms of interceptions, but we don't have a fumble recovery. We haven't made that happen this year."

UT's offense is focused on making things happen from here on out. They got a spark from quarterback Nick Stephens last week, who provided two of UT's three longest pass plays this season against Northern Illinois. But UT's offense, which ranks 109th in the nation in passing efficency and 106th in points per game, has all but cancelled out the defense's strong start.

Still, UT coach Phillip Fulmer said there's no set formula for winning ballgames.

"You can do it a lot of different ways," Fulmer said. "It doesn't matter. You can win ugly, just as long as you win. Find a way to win. That's what we need to do right at this moment. We've had our struggles offensively, not only not making plays to win the game, but we've made plays that lost the game."

And despite recent history, Chavis says defense is still a must to win championships.

"If you're going to win championships," he said, "it's a fact you've got to play not good, but you've got to play great defense."

Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.