It was 60 minutes of brilliant, shut-down defense. You'd be hard-pressed to match it in recent Tennessee football history.

It was so dominating, it paid off in not one, but two victories over Georgia.

We're talking about the second half of 51-33 win at Sanford Stadium in 2006, and the first half of a 35-14 romp in Knoxville in 2007.

Why bring up the past now?

Because it's the best blueprint for how the Vols (2-3, 0-2 SEC) might spring a gigantic upset Saturday against No. 10 Georgia (4-1, 1-1).

Kickoff is 3:30 p.m. (TV: WVLT).

It's pretty much a given Tennessee isn't going to all of a sudden become an offensive juggernaut in its sixth game of a puzzling season. The Vols have averaged 10.3 points in their past three games.

To have a chance Saturday, it's a must for the UT defense to keep Georgia in reasonable check. And it would be appreciated if the defense could throw a few bones the offense's way.

Like in 2006, for example.

In Tennessee's most recent visit to Athens, the Vols trailed 24-7 in the first half before scoring a late TD to make it 24-14 at the break.

The second half, seemingly with no warning, became a Tennessee avalanche.

UT intercepted three passes, recovered a fumble and scored a touchdown on a blocked punt.

The first two interceptions, by Antwan Stewart and Jonathan Wade, led to short-field scores for the offense. So did a fumble recovery by Jerod Mayo.

Georgia's only touchdown of the second half came on a kickoff return.

"I remember at halftime,'' defensive coordinator John Chavis said, "being really disturbed that we had not executed.

"We turned it up a little bit (the second half) in terms of being aggressive. We had to, to try to get their offense off the field and get the ball back.

"The biggest thing was our guys came out the second half and executed and when they do that, it makes calling defenses very easy.''

Last year in Neyland Stadium, turnovers weren't a factor. It was just plain stops. Five of Georgia's first six possessions were three-and-out and - bonus points - there was another blocked punt.

By the time the Bulldogs achieved their second first down late in the first half, they were down 28-0.

"Really and truly,'' Georgia coach Mark Richt said this week, "I think Tennessee just played pretty stinking good.

"I don't have any excuse other than they took to it to us physically.''

Chavis said the Vols played mistake-free and that the tackles had their best game of the year. Hot-shot freshman tailback Knowshon Moreno gained 30 yards on 13 runs.

And keep in mind this was a defense that had been torched by Florida in its previous SEC game.

"We'd had our struggles and not played up to our standard that we were accustomed to,'' Chavis said.

"But we felt as a staff we were getting better and had the talent to be better.''

Safety Eric Berry was a true freshman last fall. In his mind, the Georgia game was an epiphany, a key step in the defense's maturation.

"When a defense is playing together like that,'' Berry said, "it probably sounds kind of corny, but it's an amazing feeling to have 11 guys on the same accord, knowing what to do and when to do it.

"It's a wonderful thing, man.''

UT coach Phillip Fulmer would consider it a wonderful thing if his defense came up big again on Saturday.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.