Sadly for all its fans, it is still true that the Tennessee Volunteers have not yet beaten the Georgia Bulldogs, this year's Southeastern Conference champions, in Knoxville in this century. The last UT victory in the series was in 1999. There was no championship again for Tennessee for the seventh straight year. Head Coach Phillip Fulmer's career appears to have peaked with the national championship and back-to-back SEC championships in 1997 and 1998. It has been all downhill ever since then.

The Vols appeared lackluster, undisciplined, unprepared, and generally lacking in intensity, enthusiasm, and mental toughness. All of these can be traced back to poor coaching and a lack of leadership. Penalties were far too common on both sides of the ball, but especially on offense. Perhaps this was a carryover effect from the off-field problems that plagued the team this summer, as there was no question that this might have been the most talented bunch Fulmer has ever had at UT.

Most UT faithful were all for Fulmer replacing Johnny Majors, despite the circumstances under which it occurred. However, Majors left a team that was loaded with talent. He had finally gotten UT back to national prominence. While Fulmer is a great recruiter for sure, Majors was also good at it, too, with Fulmer's & others' help.

Majors had a revolving door of assistants because he was very demanding and very hard on them. However, he hired the best & the brightest. He held them accountable for the positions they coached on the team. Many of them have benefited from that and gone on to be head coaches and coordinators in the NFL.

Fulmer just hasn't kept the coaching talent level up on a par with the player talent level. That is the reason the Vols haven't won any championships since 1998 are unlikely otherwise to do so again during his tenure. Until and if he jettisons the dead weight on his staff and brings in brighter, fresher minds, UT will continue to be adrift despite ample athletic talent.

Tennessee hasn't won a big game at home in ages. They simply haven't protected their home turf. This wears on the home crowd. They had tons of empty seats for the last three home games against South Carolina, Memphis, and Vanderbilt. They missed out on a bowl altogether and turned in a losing season, both firsts in Fulmer's career as head coach.

In both the Florida and Georgia games, Tennessee got beat in the kicking game. Georgia had better punting, better coverage, better returns, and everything about their special teams were better than the Vols were. Credit UT’s defense for hanging in there, but their other hallmark down thru the ages has been the kicking game. They simply must get someone else on their staff that knows how to coach special teams. General Neyland must be spinning in his grave.

This year marked three wins in a row for Georgia at Neyland Stadium for first time in the entire history of the series, dating back to 1899. That is the sad commentary for those the donors and alumni who pump money into the Big Orange program and must be counted upon to fund the massive stadium improvements that Athletics Director Mike Hamilton has in mind for the next several years.

None of UT’s receivers ever got open enough to catch the ball, nor did they get open enough to do anything with it when they do catch it. That is coaching, pure & simple, teaching them how to properly run routes and get open. The Vols didn't have anyone open on slants, curls, hooks, or in the flat all year to speak of.

UT didn't have to run either Brent Schaeffer or James Banks off the campus. Schaeffer's offenses were no worse than some of the others on the team. They could have worked with him and gotten him tutored and eligible with the required number of hours this past summer. Banks begged to come back. He should have been given at one last chance. Both may have learned their lessons.

On top of that, Schaeffer may come back to bite UT running Urban Meyer's option offense at Florida soon. The lack of the availability of the talents of both these guys are a big loss to the team, but the All-America wideouts the Vols have that aren’t being coached properly is a mystery. Many of them will play in the NFL but are underachieving due to poor coaching in college. Also inexplicable is the lack of utilization of the UT tight end, who would provide a mismatch in every secondary they have faced.

The home crowd was into the Georgia game from the get-go. No way the home fans could be blamed for that loss. They were loud & proud. The team and most especially the coaches simply let them down. The crowd got back into and behind them in the second half comeback, too.

In their two biggest SEC East games, Florida and Georgia, the Vol offense was totally shut down. UT’s schemes were far too predictable. Their formations were dead giveaways to everyone now. They desperately need new blood in the Tennessee offense.

Tennessee didn't get a decent rush on a punter all season. On top of that, they rarely fielded punts well. They got pinned deep several times in the Georgia game. Precious field position was lost by soft special teams play. That alone could very well have cost UT the game.

Fulmer is at a similar crossroads to Tommy Tuberville when he pulled the trigger, fired a lot of his staff, including both coordinators, and brought it fresh coaching talent. If Fulmer survives, he simply must do the same. This should have been done years ago. He should have been replacing at least a couple of his staff already at a minimum. Now it will require wholesale changes.