Tennessee hits rock bottom with loss to Wyoming

In theory, this game could have been an opportunity for the Vols to win one for lame duck Coach Phil Fullmer.  Tennessee has been frustrated all year with their inability to produce on offense, and what better outlet for that frustration than an overmatched Wyoming team who entered the game as the lowest scoring team in college football?  From the outrage that the Tennessee players expressed at how the firing of their coach was handled and the way they’re making a “villain” out of athletic director Mike Hamilton this had all the makings of a spot where UT players would rally around Fullmer and “stick it” to the administration that fired him.

Instead, they did what they’ve done all year—and what eventually cost Fullmer his job:  roll over and underachieve en route to a 13-7 loss.  This defeat was particularly ugly given not only the aforementioned emotional backdrop but the opponent—Wyoming entered the game a 24 point underdog, which was justified given their status as a Mountain West bottom feeder.  They’ve only won one conference game this year, against woeful San Diego State.  Before Saturday, their only other win against a Division 1A/FBS school was an opening game win over 2-8 Ohio.  They’ve also beat 1-AA/FCS North Dakota State.

And now they’ve defeated the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville and have become the first Mountain West team ever to beat the Vols on any field.  A few years ago this would have been among the biggest upsets of the decade, with the huge, orange clad crowd that filled Neyland Stadium along the banks of the Tennessee River providing one of the most intimidating environments in college football.  This year, however, it’s another benchmark that indicates just how far this Tennessee team has fallen.  The pointspread notwithstanding, it’s not even a particularly surprising outcome.

Wyoming didn’t so much “spring the upset” on Tennessee as much as it fell in their laps by default.  The Volunteers could only muster 118 yards of total offense against a Cowboy defense that the entire MWC has torched all season long with BYU scoring 44 against them, Utah 40 and TCU 54.  The Wyoming “offensive juggernaut” meanwhile produced 266 yards of total offense on 167 yards rushing and 99 yards passing.  The two teams combined for 30 first downs, or as many as Texas alone produced in their rout of Baylor.  That strange sound heard at the end of this game was that of former UT coach Johnny Majors tap dancing on the grave of Phil Fullmer’s coaching career.

With the loss, Tennessee fell to 3-7 which represents only the 2nd time in the program’s storied history that a Vols team has lost 7 games.  They’ve been held to single digits in three consecutive games for the first time since 1964.  And most significantly, perhaps, despite the announced attendance of 99,489 it was obvious to anyone that 102,000 seat Neyland Stadium wasn’t even two-thirds full.

Not surprisingly, Tennessee’s coach didn’t even try to offer an explanation for the loss:

"Obviously it's been a really hard week on everybody. If anything, I should be apologizing to the fans and everybody for this whole week coming about."

The Vols have a bye week before they conclude their season with a game at Vanderbilt—a team no doubt anxious to ‘kick Tennessee while they’re down—and home against Kentucky.  There’s a very realistic chance that UT could lose both which would have them finish at an almost unfathomable 3-9.  Wyoming, meanwhile, is shooting for a .500 finish with games at UNLV and home against Colorado State.