Adams: Vols' fashion won't matter with wins

Photo by Joe Howell

Tennessee kicker Chad Cunningham (96) reacts to kicking a 39 yard filed goal in the 4th quarter against South Carolina at Neyland Stadium October, 31, 2009.

Tradition took a beating at Neyland Stadium on Saturday night. So did South Carolina.

Tennessee celebrated Halloween by wearing black jerseys. Its wardrobe might have gotten mixed reviews, but its performance in a 31-13 victory was worthy of an encore.

As far as I'm concerned, so were the jerseys. At least, you can read the jersey numbers without binoculars.

Don't get me wrong. I'm sympathetic to the traditionalists in the crowd, some of whom were e-mailing me before the game, as black-jersey rumors gained credence.

One wrote: "I strongly advocate the removal from the UT program any person (or) persons who are part of taking the Vols out of orange jerseys."

Easy, guys. It's not as though the equipment managers delivered UT's orange jerseys to Goodwill in the dark of a Halloween night. And no one has proclaimed this "Big Black Country," although I suspect UT athletic director Mike Hamilton had the moniker copyrighted just in case.

The orange jerseys will make a comeback - probably next Saturday against Memphis, although no one will trust what Hamilton has to say on the subject after he denied the team would alter its traditional color scheme against the Gamecocks.

But don't even think about burying the black jerseys in the closet or relegating them to a Halloween costume. They earned a place in the rotation after the way UT handled South Carolina.

It has been almost 20 years since orange-clad Vols beat a Steve Spurrier-coached team that badly. If the black worked against Spurrier, maybe it will work against Florida's Urban Meyer and Alabama's Nick Saban, too.

Not that Saturday night was all black-jersey magic. The team looked better than the jerseys in a 21-3 first half against mistake-prone South Carolina, which didn't come close to playing up to its No. 21 national ranking.

The game was basically decided in the first 16 minutes when South Carolina fumbled the ball over to UT on three of its four possessions. The Vols converted each of the turnovers into touchdowns on mini-drives of 43, 27 and 22 yards.

UT's defense took it from there. All South Carolina could manage was a couple of field goals until it trailed 28-6.

The victory over a nationally ranked team was impressive enough on its own merits. It looked even better when you parlayed it with UT's previous two games.

After a 2-3 start when the Vols sometimes played as though they were headed for back-to-back losing seasons, they have beaten Georgia 45-19, lost a last-second game to Alabama by two points and knocked off the Gamecocks with a dominant defense and an efficient, opportunistic offense.

A letdown could have been expected after the previous week's near upset of Alabama. Instead, UT picked up where it left off, playing as confidently and aggressively as it has all season.

That aggression was epitomized by the first and last hits delivered by star freshman safety Janzen Jackson.

On Jackson's first hit, he jolted the ball loose from South Carolina tight end Justice Cunningham, whose fumble led to UT's first touchdown. His last hit separated wide receiver Alshon Jeffery from the ball on South Carolina's final offensive play.

UT might have a 4-4 record, but those hard-hitting highlights are indicative of a team that has looked anything but mediocre for the last month. Instead, it has looked like a team that could win the rest of its games.

If it can do that, you shouldn't care what it wears.

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

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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