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• John Adams makes a fantastic point, observing that the improvement of the offense has come from player development more than freshman contribution. And another gem from Adams:

  You think Georgia and South Carolina fans aren't concerned? If Kiffin and his staff can produce those kind of results in their first year, what can they accomplish with a full complement of their recruits? Recruiting didn't have much to do with UT's victories over the Bulldogs and Gamecocks. The Vols simply played harder and smarter. They also looked better coached.

• Mike Griffith congratulates himself on good timing, having read Bruce Feldman's Meat Market the week before the South Carolina game. I wonder what that makes having done it nine months ago around National Signing Day. In Mike's defense, there's really no bad time to read Feldman or Meat Market.

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More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

6 months ago: Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer waves to fans after an NCAA college football game against Kentucky, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2008, in Knoxville, Tenn. Tennessee won 28-10. Fulmer's wife Vicky, second from left, looks on. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

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One year ago today, just as Vol fans were coming to terms with the extreme disappointment of 2008 and rolling out the Wyoming Hail Mary Haiku, news broke of a pending press conference to announce the release of Phillip Fulmer as Tennessee's head coach. It was the most mournful open thread we've ever had at RTT, and video of the press conference confirms why.

We at RTT loved Fulmer, and the tributes to the man who devoted almost all of his career to the University of Tennessee football program commenced immediately. (That doesn't mean that we thought he should not have been released -- we never took a position on the matter.) The optimism rampant on Rocky Top right now is in stark contrast to the despair that permeated last season, and no one here is saying that Mike Hamilton made a mistake. Tennessee football is trending back in the right direction under Lane Kiffin, no doubt, and we're enjoying it immensely.

Yet we're hopeful that Vol fans can somehow both simultaneously appreciate the Kiffin Chimera and appreciate Fulmer's great contribution to the program. We understand that as difficult as it is for fans to reconcile their feelings toward both staffs, it has to be much, much more difficult for Fulmer to transition from where he was one year ago today to publicly supporting the program. But he is a good man, and as awkward as it must be, we hope that the day comes sooner rather than later that all wounds are healed and that Fulmer and the new regime both feel comfortable enough to join hands.

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

Ball in hand. Where it belongs.

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One of the more interesting changes to the Tennessee Volunteers this year is found in the turnover statistics.  Quickly now, and without peeking, answer the following questions to yourself.  (Nobody's going to ask how many you know, so don't bother Googling; the answers are below the jump.)

• How many interceptions has Jonathan Crompton thrown in 2009?
• How many interceptions did Jonathan Crompton throw in 2008?
• What was Tennessee's turnover margin in 2009?  In 2008?
• True/False:  Tennessee is on pace to recover more fumbles in 2009 than 2008.
• True/False:  Tennessee is on pace to lose more fumbles in 2009 than 2008.
  

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Best trick. Warming up in all orange and then making the switcheroo right before racing out of the tunnel in black jerseys and orange pants.

Best hit, I. Janzen Jackson, "capping off" on Gamecock tight end Justice Cunningham, knocking the ball loose and treating the guy to an in-air somersault to boot.

Best hustle. Either Dan Williams (official credit) or Ben Martin (Lane Kiffin's credit), who recovered the first fumble nearly fifteen yards downfield from where they started the play.

Best call. Tennessee's second play on offense, a 38-yard Jonathan Crompton to Austin Johnson touchdown pass down the middle. According to Kiffin, most defenses take that play away, but they knew from film study that it would work against South Carolina.

Best rinse and repeat. Two plays after Tennessee had turned a forced fumble into seven points, Rico McCoy forced another fumble, Wes Brown recovered it, and the offense turned it into another touchdown.

Best move. Montario Hardesty on his first touchdown, juking right and making the defensive back utterly whiff on one of the prettiest spin moves I have ever seen on his way to the end zone and six points. Call it The Move.

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More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

2 days ago: Tennessee's Montario Hardesty (2) gets away from South Carolina's DeVonte Holloman (21)during the second half of a NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009 in Knoxville, Tenn. Tennessee won 31-13. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

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It's 185 miles from my front door to Neyland Stadium, which means I don't make it in for all of them anymore.  Night games are particularly problematic, because for me it means an immediate turnaround afterwards and an arrival back home somewhere between 3:00-4:00 AM (thank you, daylight savings), and the alarm clock will be waiting at 7:00. 

I never worry about falling asleep on the drive - I'm either too excited with winning or too frustrated with losing, and mentally engaged either way.  But there had been too many night games recently like Auburn - or worse, Alabama last year - that left the orange car flags in the postgame caravan at half-mast. 

But driving back last night, I remembered how much fun the little things are when you win.  Like stopping for coffee at some obscure gas station well after midnight and more than a hundred miles from Knoxville, only to find four other people at the same gas station wearing the same shade of orange you are.  And making eye contact with them coming in and out of the door, and sharing a smile instead of glances of equal frustration.  Or getting honked at by someone who also has Tennessee paraphernalia on their car even though you're both in a different state.

You also enjoy the little things in the stadium more when you're up 21-3 at halftime, like The Pride of the Southland's inspired Halloween performance that showed that while numbers may be down, be not afraid:  there will still be Thriller on Halloween  (complete with what may be the first-ever Pride dance number, and Bill Williams' unexpected ability to scare children of all ages).

But the greatest little thing/staple crop of Tennessee football is an eighteen point victory over a Top 25 SEC rival that leaves you still asking questions about ways we could've played better. 

In search of perspective while enjoying the win...

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So after much speculation, rumors from a couple anonymous players, and a surprising amount of debate on the end of Tennessee fans, the team didn't disappoint.  True to the form they've shown with the Eric Berry Heisman campaign, the Tennessee Volunteers showed up during warmups in the all-orange uniforms and switched over to black jerseys prior to running through the T.  Even the coaches made a clothing switch to further the effect.  While nobody was surprised that the move was made, the effect was still quite tangible, and somehow appropriate for a night where a fair portion of the student section was dressed up in costume.

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When we were kicking off after we turned South Carolina's first fumble into a touchdown, I (and a thousand others, I'm sure) yelled, "Let's do that again!" The team promptly complied.

I yelled the same thing on the next kickoff, and while it the team a couple of drives, they did it again. I didn't yell it again after that, so I take full responsibility for the cessation of converting Gamecock fumbles into Volunteer TDs.

Anyway, here's the animated drive chart from last night, showing Tennessee's great game and my failure to stay aboard the superstition train. (Click on the FULL SCREEN VERSION LINK for the big 'un.)