Patchwork lineup on defense was in need of more fixes

Tennessee was bent.

It was even broken again by injuries.

But no matter how many third-stringers or walk-ons it had on the field with the game in the balance, the Vols never gave into Vanderbilt. A patchwork lineup, a few makeshift formations and a lot of gritted teeth were enough for them hold off the Commodores and quite literally hobble to a 31-16 win on Saturday at Neyland Stadium.

"Whoever the coaches put out there, we have full trust in them," UT defensive tackle Wes Brown said. "The coaches know what they're doing, they know who they can trust and whoever is out there we have full trust in them.

"But you couldn't write a better ending for it with the defense on the field. Making a play like that, we've just been working hard in practice and busting our tails, and we deserved to win. This team, these seniors, we deserve it because we worked so hard for it."

The Vols certainly had to grind for it with so many players missing from the starting lineup, and even the clincher wasn't easy.

Brown barely snagged a desperation pass in the closing seconds off the turf, generated some momentum on his aching knees and carried a tackler the last few yards for a 25-yard interception return to finally put the game away, and there was unanimous agreement the touchdown won't win any beauty contests. But nothing UT did would against the Commodores.

With LaMarcus Thompson scratched before the game, the Vols were short a third starting linebacker and had to insert Greg King in his place - until the true freshman also had to be removed and taken to the locker room.

Safety Janzen Jackson was already out with his legal troubles, cornerback Marsalous Johnson was sidelined with thumb surgery and starter Art Evans also went down midway through the game against the Commodores.

But the Vols adjusted.

They played less man coverage. They moved Dennis Rogan back to safety, they mixed up their pressure and got solid contributions from a few seldom-used reserves.

And when all else failed and Vanderbilt started stringing together drives, UT coach Lane Kiffin leaned on some seniors that weren't exactly healthy to carry them to the finish line - and the end zone.

"What a neat play for the last play to be for Wes," Kiffin said. "You can't have a guy that's worked harder since he's been here and gone through more things. I mean, this guy can barely make it through practice day-to-day, drill-to-drill.

"To see him just shows you that if you want something bad enough, it can happen. The fact he could intercept the ball like that, carry a guy on his back, it's a really neat story."

The other characters only made it better.

Rico McCoy battled through a knee injury to finish with a team-high 15 tackles in his last home game.

Dan Williams limped off the field at one point and required medical attention, but the senior defensive tackle returned and finished with two tackles for a loss and a sack.

The seniors might not have shared many snaps with the guys filling out a cobbled lineup, but the Vols made do anyway.

"I thought some guys stepped up and some guys that maybe we weren't familiar with their names were out there on defense especially," Kiffin said. "But we really only gave up one touchdown on defense. They moved the ball at times on us but we were able to play pretty well in the red zone for the most part there.

"We would have liked to have played better. We have a long ways to go to be a championship team, but it was good to see some things today and at the end of the day to win for our seniors and our fans."

It took a few new faces to come up with it. But the old ones were the most important when it counted.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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