Something old, something new: Tennessee Volunteers 20, Vanderbilt Commodores 10

Commence the 15:00 of post-game rambling. No fact-checking allowed.

For a half, it was almost just like old times. Well, after Jonathan Crompton's interception on the second play of the game. The defense was having their way with Same Old Vandy, holding them to three yards rushing and 25 yards total. Eric Berry also did what Eric Berry does, intercepting a pass and returning it 45 yards for a touchdown. With that pick six, he's within sneezing distance of the all-time NCAA record for interception return yards. If he gets the 15 or so yards he needs for the record next week against Big Blue Kentucky, he'll have obtained the record in a mere half a college career.

And the offense seemed to have discovered itself under the leadership of our fourth quarterback of the season, B.J. Coleman, who did what most new quarterbacks do best: hand off to good running backs, who in this case were Lennon Creer and Montario Hardesty. Creer finished the game with 80 yards, and Hardesty finished with 41. Arian Foster had 53 late in the game running out the clock.

Tennessee fans were also treated to Fulmer making good on his promise to Eric Berry to put him in a QB for a few plays. He ran for seven yards the first time he took a snap, which qualifies as a big play for Tennessee this season.

At the end of the half, Tennessee was up 20-0 and 122 yards to 25. No matter how decrepit Tennesse becomes, Vandy remains the Same Old Vandy.

Unfortunately, as we should have come to expect, the front fell off in the second half. Nearly, anyway. The defense began giving up great big huge chunks of yards. The offense became inept. The X-Gun, whether it was run by Gerald Jones or Eric Berry or Phillip Fulmer himself, began to experience the law of diminishing returns especially when there is a near-zero chance that any one of them is ever going to even think about possibly throwing the ball down the field. Our traditional QB, by this time it's easy to forget which one it was (it was Coleman), threw a pick six, and Vandy was threatening to turn Tennessee into the Same Old Tennessee, circa 2008.

In the end, the defense woke up, and the offense began to put some runs together at least enough to run out the clock.

Something old, something new. And tomorrow, something blue.

And the week after that, something. But that is all we know.