Best quote. "Build a fence, and don't anybody open a gate," uttered by defensive coordinator John Chavis, according to one of the Daves from LFS. Perhaps the most effective metaphor of the season.
Best guts. Coach Fulmer, who elected to go for the first down on 4th and 1 at the 46 on the first drive. The offensive line was so excited by the vote of confidence that it practically picked up the line of scrimmage and relocated it a full three yards down the field. The entire drive was a success, resulting in +7 in points and -5 in minutes.
Worst smack. The three Arkansas defenders who were all bouncing and jawing at Austin Rogers when the first pass play to him didn't work.
Best payback. Rogers, who got the last word in a way that really counts, finishing the drive with a 16-yard yard touchdown reception. Rogers added an exclamation point on the next series by eliciting a 15-yard personal foul penalty from a defender.
Best reverse. Me, for telling just about everybody who asked this week that I wasn't going to the game. I ended up getting free tickets at the last minute from an Arkansas fan (thanks!), and so I went. They weren't the best seats -- upper deck, last row, Arkansas section, with the back of my head nearly touching the JumboTron -- but you could see everything on the field, and we had a fantastic time talking with all of the extraordinarily classy and gracious Hog fans surrounding us.
Best decision. To squib every kickoff after Felix Jones returned his first and only to midfield.
Biggest surprise. Realizing that I'd missed Dave, what's his last name, Neal, Thomas, Barry? Roan? Whatever, LFS hasn't been the same this year without the color guy from previous seasons who re-joined the team this week.
Best I-am-not-a-fluke. Antonio Wardlow, who got a piece of yet another punt. Is it safe to consider him a special teams specialist now?
Best sneaky stat. 6-0. With all of the talk of the demise of home field advantage, the Vols are undefeated in Neyland this year.
Biggest need. Equipment for the officials. The center judge (who is actually shaped like a center) got knocked over pretty good by Hardesty on one of his bulldozing runs, and some other poor guy just tripped on grass while trying to race Arian Foster down the sideline on his 59-yard TD run.
Best ball hog. The Tennessee offense, for having first half drives of 4:45, 7:15, and 5:32.
Worst decision/best stop. Houston Nutt decided to go for the first down on 4th and 1 with about 6:00 minutes remaining in the half, but also decided to keep both Darren McFadden and Felix Jones on the sideline for the play. They failed. We succeeded. However you want to look at it.
Best use of hankies. Tennessee had back to back false start penalties on 3rd and goal just before halftime, giving them essentially five downs to get into the end zone. They scored on the fifth try with a down to spare.
Best backfire. Coach Nutt called a timeout with one second left in the first half so that Casey Dick could heave one toward the end zone. Eric Berry not only picked off the pass, he returned it 37 yards and threatened to take it all the way.
Best stat. Tie: (1) McFadden and Jones, 22 yards in the first half. (2) Tennessee, 34, Arkansas 13. Not necessarily in that order.
Did I miss anything? Leave your own post game awards below.