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The impact of UCLA's comeback victory over Tennessee last Monday night has been far-reaching. It reached my living-room couch Saturday afternoon.

As I immersed myself in a day of college football, I realized I viewed the games differently.

No matter how abysmal a team might have looked initially or how inevitable the outcome of a game might have seemed, I switched back later - just in case. I call this the "Craft Effect," named after UCLA quarterback Kevin Craft, whose second-half transformation against UT bordered on the miraculous.

A quarterback isn't supposed to throw like my mother-in-law in the first half and play like Tom Brady in the second. Change is supposed to take time and practice. Instead, it was as though someone flipped a switch or waved a wand. The same guy who threw four first-half interceptions suddenly started threading passes between defenders with radar-like certainty.

I couldn't explain it. And five days later, I still couldn't shake it.

Neither could my wife. As Ohio State University kicked off against lowly Ohio University, my wife declared, "I hope Ohio University kills them."

Ohio University can't beat Ohio State. How ridiculous.

But is it any more ridiculous than what Craft did last Monday night?

His turnaround was so extreme, his surname might become an integral part of our sports lingo, applied to teams as well as players, and used as a noun, verb or adjective.

When a team that appears hopelessly incompetent in the first half rallies to victory in the second, you might say, "I never saw that Craft coming." Or: "Dude, did you see how they Crafted them up in the second half." Or: "Man, they were Crafty."

The term could transcend sports. Suppose the fast-food restaurant that seemed incapable of filling your order as directed finally gets it right. The appropriate response accompanying your look of utter amazement should be: "Is your last name 'Craft?' "

Or maybe the acquaintance who usually wouldn't lift a finger unless it were self-serving commits an act of random kindness. You can only say: "Holy Craft!"

Apparently, not everyone grasped the significance of Craft's reversal of fortune. A depressed correspondent, who identified himself as a UT and SEC fan, emailed me to say he was so distraught over UCLA's unlikely victory, he wouldn't watch SEC football for the rest of the season.

Huh?

Once past the initial devastation of the unfavorable outcome, any fan - UT, SEC or otherwise - should be heartened by the message Craft delivered. Change can occur in a flash. Pigs can fly high and fast.

Even the team which got Crafted could benefit from the Craft Effect.

So what if critics are projecting a 2-4 start for the Vols after their fourth-quarter collapse against UCLA. Games change. Teams change.

Craft happens.

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

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.