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Fulmer, Vols can build on 2007 recovery...

Fulmer, Vols can build on 2007 recovery plan

By: Magnolia Tribune - September 2, 2008

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=feldman_bruce&id=3564522

PASADENA, Calif. — A 27-24 overtime loss to a beleaguered UCLA team was hardly the birthday present Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer was looking for. In fact, being serenaded with the “O-ver-rated” chant by UCLA fans as he walked off the field was probably the last thing he wanted. Fulmer, who turned 58 on Monday, is again faced with trying to rally his team after another dismal start to a season.

“We probably made enough mistakes to lose three, four or even five games tonight,” said Fulmer, whose team has a week off before facing UAB followed by games against Florida and at Auburn.

The 11-day layoff is probably a very good thing for a program that will surely go from being ranked No. 18 to unranked while it sorts out issues in every facet of the game. Then again, the time off also will give Vol Nation ample time to dissect what has to be one of the more nauseating losses in recent UT history.

The feeling surely must sting even more than both of Tennessee’s two demoralizing defeats in 2007. The first of those was a 45-31 pounding at Cal, where the Vols yielded almost 500 total yards. The second was a 59-20 demolition in Gainesville, where Florida gained 554 total yards.

Those games were blowouts. They were the kind of games where Tennessee got brutalized the way the Vols usually beat on Kentucky or Vandy. But still, they were also games against supposed scoring machines.

That certainly wasn’t the billing the 2008 UCLA Bruins received. This loss was more than just the Vols failing to uphold SEC pride on a prime-time Monday night stage by losing to a Pac-10 team. Tennessee lost to a rebuilding Pac-10 team. Most Vols fans had already marked down a W before packing all of their bright orange garb and flying cross-country for what was supposed to be another clinic in SEC football.

UCLA was beyond depleted. Never mind those bold newspaper ads talking about the future of Bruins football as it relates to USC, Rick Neuheisel’s squad was relying on a patchwork offensive line and a third-string QB. The Bruins also saw three more offensive starters get knocked out of the game in the first quarter. QB Kevin Craft even gift-wrapped four first-half interceptions for the Vols. When the UCLA junior finally found a rhythm, the Vols looked like they knew that their missed opportunities would come back to haunt them.

espn.com
9/2/08

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Magnolia Tribune

This article was produced by Magnolia Tribune staff.