2009 Tennessee Volunteers football team The 2009 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the 2009 college football season . The team was coached by Lane Kiffin . The 2009 season would be his first and only at Tennessee – leaving to take the head coaching job at the University of Southern Cal on January 12 , 2010 . The Vols played their home games in Neyland Stadium and competed in the Eastern Division of the SEC . The Vols finished the season 7 – 6 , 4 – 4 in SEC play and lost in the Chick - fil - A Bowl 37 – 14 to Virginia Tech . Game notes . Western Kentucky . Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin ' s tenure on Rocky Top is off to a smooth start . Jonathan Crompton threw five touchdown passes Saturday , leading the Volunteers to a 63 – 7 rout of Football Bowl Subdivision newcomers Western Kentucky and their largest margin of victory in nine years . " This is the way that we expect to play , " Kiffin said . " We have high expectations here . I just talked to them about understanding that was one game and it ' s over . We ' ve got to find a way to play better next week . " In its first two drives , Tennessee looked as if it hadn ' t learned much under Kiffin , the youngest active coach in the division . Crompton threw a pass over the middle that was easily tipped by Thomas Majors and intercepted by Jamal Forrest , and Montario Hardesty fumbled after a hard hit . The Vols settled down after the first quarter , and Hardesty carried for 18 and 22 yards to help set up a 2 - yard touchdown run by freshman Bryce Brown early in the second quarter . Bobby Rainey fumbled on the Hilltoppers ' next play , and LaMarcus Thompson recovered for Tennessee . Crompton connected with Luke Stocker on his first of two TD catches to make it 14 – 0 only 7 seconds later . Tennessee ' s defense looked every bit the stalwart it was in 2008 , while the offense found the composure it was missing in last year ' s 5 – 7 season . Running backs broke through the line of scrimmage , wide receivers ran sound routes and Crompton threw accurately . " We really just tried to get our personality as a team on film . We wanted to be physical but smart . The game we just played is part of our resume , and we want to build that resume and send it out to our opponents , " Vols safety Eric Berry said . The receiving corps hardly looked depleted by injuries , with Stocker , Marsalis Teague , Quintin Hancock and Brandon Warren each catching scoring strikes . Crompton , who was pulled with 12 : 26 left in the game , finished 21 of 28 with two picks , and his five TD passes was one more than his output last season . Hardesty finished with 160 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries , and Brown had 104 yards rushing and a touchdown on 11 attempts . The Hilltoppers couldn ' t capitalize on the early turnovers and had minus - 21 yards after their first 19 plays . Tennessee finished with 657 yards compared to Western Kentucky ' s 83 . Rainey had the Hilltoppers ' only score on a 19 - yard run with 2 : 41 in the third quarter that made it 35 – 7 . The win was the Vols ' easiest since a 70 – 3 victory over Louisiana - Monroe in 2000 . Their 380 yards rushing were the most since 2004 . The Vols were also joined by former Vols and current Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning , who before the game announced a $ 1 million gift for a new athletic training center . Though the attendance in the 100 , 011 - capacity Neyland Stadium only reached 98 , 761 , the fans turned out in droves as Kiffin and the Vols made the traditional " Vol Walk " from their buses to the stadium before the game . " I really had to make sure that I did not go up and down today , because that ' s what I talked about with our team a long time last night – dealing with the emotions of a wonderful scene like the Vol Walk , a wonderful event like running through the ' T ' and playing in front of 100 , 000 people , " Kiffin said . Western Kentucky went on to go 0 – 12 and finish last in the Sun Belt Conference . UCLA . Even with offensive guru Norm Chow in the press box , UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel turned to his defense with the game on the line . It was the right call . UCLA stopped Tennessee ' s Montario Hardesty on fourth - and - 2 in the closing minutes , and the Bruins made it two in a row against the Volunteers with a 19 – 15 victory Saturday . " We will be a better offense , " Neuheisel said . " But given the way our offense was playing , I thought it was better to put it in [ the defense ' s ] hands . " Trailing by 6 , the Vols ( 1 – 1 ) had a chance to take the lead after driving 52 yards , but UCLA ( 2 – 0 ) held fast and Lane Kiffin lost for the first time as Tennessee coach . The Vols ' defense , led by Monte Kiffin , had been battering the Bruins ' offense for much of the day . UCLA had only 186 yards of offense compared to Tennessee ' s 208 . The Bruins had four fewer first downs , held the ball for three fewer minutes and had 60 more yards in penalties . Tennessee reached UCLA ' s Kevin Prince many times , but usually after he released the ball . After Hardesty was stopped , Tennessee got a safety when Dennis Rogan sacked Prince , giving him a bloody mouth . An inept Jonathan Crompton couldn ' t do anything with the last - minute opportunity after getting the ball back , taking a sack and throwing three incomplete passes . Lane Kiffin said he saw a few of his players trying to point fingers in the locker room after the game . " I told them that isn ' t what we are . That isn ' t what a championship mentality is . A little bit of finger pointing came out and we have to teach them , " he said . " You either win or you lose , and everybody on that team lost today . " For the Bruins , the win in Neyland Stadium in front of 102 , 239 fans was a big step toward recovering from last year ' s 4 – 8 finish . " We ' re hungry , " safety Rahim Moore said . " We are trying to come out every day and every weekend to prove to the world that UCLA is who UCLA is . " For the Vols , it means a lot of work this week as they prepare for a trip to Florida – especially on Crompton , who unraveled after throwing five touchdown passes in the season opener against Western Kentucky . On the first play after halftime , he threw his third interception of the day and second to Moore , who has five for the season . Kai Forbath kicked a 39 - yard field goal four plays later for a 13 – 10 lead . " I just read the quarterback , " Moore said . " I knew that Crompton had some skills , but I also knew that he could throw a pick because any quarterback can . I was just sitting back and reading the quarterback . " Kiffin , who has pledged not to shuffle quarterbacks during games , stuck with Crompton . Tennessee went three - and - out on its next two drives , and Forbath answered with field goals of 31 and 47 yards to give UCLA a 19 – 10 lead with 2 : 39 in the third quarter . Forbath , who beat Tennessee with an overtime field goal in California last season , made four field goals in the rematch . Prince finished 11 - for - 23 for 101 yards and the one touchdown . Johnathan Franklin had 80 yards rushing . In the second quarter , Crompton fumbled a snap at the Tennessee 36 , and Jerzy Siewierski recovered . A few plays later , Prince threw a 12 - yard touchdown pass to Chane Moline as he was being hit , tying the score at 10 with 7 : 09 before halftime . Crompton threw interceptions on the next two drives . He overthrew Gerald Jones on the first and hit Moore instead . On the second , he threw right to Alterraun Verner . " I didn ' t do a very good job today taking care of Jonathan , " Lane Kiffin said . " I gave him a couple of calls unfortunately that didn ' t put him in the best position . We ' ve got to do a better job around him . " Crompton completed 13 of 26 passes for 93 yards . Hardesty finished with 89 yards rushing . But the Bruins couldn ' t capitalize on either . UCLA went three - and - out on the first , and Forbath missed a 51 - yard field goal to end the half . UCLA had its own problems hanging onto the ball . The Bruins fumbled five times , losing the ball once . Willie Bohannan sacked Prince , causing a fumble , and Gerald Williams recovered at the UCLA 11 . Hardesty took care of the rest on the next play to put Tennessee up 10 – 3 with 2 : 58 in the first quarter . " We really didn ' t get into our groove as an offense , " Crompton said . " When you don ' t , some doubts come , but the upside is we were in that game at the end . We had four turnovers and we still came up 1 yard short . That is the one positive . " UCLA went on to go 7 – 6 and finish eighth in the PAC - 10 Conference . Florida . Tenneesee coach Lane Kiffin jogged to midfield , briefly shook hands with Florida ' s Urban Meyer and then darted toward the locker room . Kiffin kept his head up the whole way . Who could blame him ? After all , he had more reason to be encouraged than embarrassed after his Southeastern Conference opener against the top - ranked Gators . Tim Tebow ran for 76 yards and a touchdown , Caleb Sturgis kicked three field goals and Florida eked out a 23 – 13 win over the Volunteers on Saturday . It wasn ' t the beatdown many expected . It gave Kiffin reason to believe Tennessee ( 1 – 2 , 0 – 1 ) is on the right track . It gave Meyer a big enough scare that it could help the defending national champions the rest of the way . " It wasn ' t how we envisioned or hoped , " said Tebow , whose streak of games with a TD pass ended at 30 . " But it ' s a win and it ' s good enough for all of us . " The Gators ( 3 – 0 , 1 – 0 ) won their fifth straight in the series and set a school record with their 13th consecutive victory , now the longest in major college football after losses by Utah and Southern California . Florida started counting down the days for this one more than nine months ago , right after Kiffin vowed to sing " Rocky Top " all night long after beating the Gators . Kiffin also riled up Florida with his false allegations of NCAA violations by Meyer . Kiffin ran out of the tunnel just before the opening kick and had 90 , 000 Florida fans screaming , pointing and yelling obscenities at him . One guy even tried to torment Kiffin with a poster of Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis , Kiffin ' s former boss . Kiffin said afterward that his plan from Day 1 was to take the focus of his players and put it on him . " It worked perfectly , " Kiffin said . " It took all the pressure off the players . We played the No . 1 team in the nation with no pressure on them . . . . It was all on me . We were 30 - point underdogs in this place and it really helped them go out and play ball . " Kiffin refused to claim a moral victory , though . So singing " Rocky Top " will have to wait at least another year . He didn ' t even consider humming the tune . " No , we lost a game , " Kiffin said . " Maybe I ' ll come back here for basketball and sing it for [ coach ] Bruce [ Pearl ] . " Florida ' s postgame celebration was about as conservative as its game plan . There was no trash talk and no one trying to rub it in . The Gators were clearly disappointed with their performance , even though they had reason to celebrate . Tebow , return man Brandon James and Florida ' s defense gave the Vols fits for the third straight year . Tebow completed 14 of 19 passes for 115 yards , although he also had two turnovers that Tennessee turned into 10 points . James returned three kickoffs for 97 yards , helping set up Florida ' s first 13 points , but he also dropped a pass in the end zone . And the defense harassed Jonathan Crompton and twice held the Vols to short field goals when they were in position for touchdowns . Ahmad Black intercepted Crompton on fourth down with about 2 minutes to play , ending Tennessee ' s last chance at pulling off the upset . " I ' m not happy , " said Crompton , who threw three interceptions and fumbled a snap last week against UCLA . " Don ' t want to lose if you ' re a competitor . Hate losing more than you like winning . Look at the positives . Got a chance to capitalize early and late . " Tebow took over down the stretch . After his two nifty , 4 - yard runs , the Gators looked like they would put the game away . But Tebow fumbled at the Vols 4 , and Tennessee scored seven plays later to make it 23 – 13 . It was Tebow ' s second turnover of the game . He threw an interception in the first half that Tennessee turned into a field goal . The Gators had some excuses for their lackluster offense . Receiver Deonte Thompson missed the game because of a hamstring injury . Running back Jeff Demps played with a 101 - degree fever . And tight end Aaron Hernandez had to be isolated Friday because of flu - like symptoms . Meyer put it all on Tebow , who ran 24 times . His best plays were short gains late . He started right on a third - and - 3 , looked to throw and then cut back left and headed toward the sideline . He eluded Wes Brown ' s grasp , then tiptoed down the sideline for a 4 - yard gain . Instead of possibly being forced to punt , the Gators scored a touchdown to make it 23 – 6 . " Unbelievable , " Meyer said . " Vintage Tebow . He had a hell of a day . . . . He kind of took that game over on that drive . That was one of the best plays . I can ' t wait to see that on film . He was this far from out of bounds and got the first down . " On the next possession , Tebow used a nasty spin move to escape All - American safety Berry and Gerald Williams , then hit Dennis Rogan so hard the defender ' s helmet flew off . " I don ' t think he ' s human , " Kiffin said . " I really don ' t . There were times when I asked [ the coaches in the booth ] on the headset , ' Is he ever going to wear down ? ' But he never does . Our defense worked hard and you just prayed to get it to third - and - 4 , because if it was third - and - 3 , he was going to put his head down and run over people . " Tebow and the Gators had their heads down afterward . Meyer even said he had to lighten the mood in the locker room . " I think there ' s so much pressure on this team to perform perfectly , which is good , " Meyer said . " I ' d rather be on that end than on , ' Boy , great job . We lost by 10 . ' I don ' t want to do that . There ' s a lot of pressure on these guys and I felt it in there . " Florida went on to go 13 – 1 and finish # 3 in the final AP poll . Ohio . Jonathan Crompton threw for two touchdowns as Tennessee turned to its unsteady passing game to beat Ohio 34 – 23 Saturday night . Crompton threw a 26 - yard screen pass to Bryce Brown to give the Vols ( 2 – 2 ) a 31 – 20 lead with 2 : 38 in the third quarter and lobbed a 3 - yard scoring strike to Brandon Warren at the end of the first . With a stable of tough running backs , the Vols relied on their strong running game in their first three games to protect the turnover - prone passing game . Against the Bobcats , they rushed for 177 yards while Crompton completed 17 of 34 passes for 222 yards . Ohio ( 2 – 2 ) kept Tennessee uncomfortable by taking advantage of mistakes and passing for 319 yards against a Vols defense that entered the game allowing an average 88 . 33 yards by air per game . Crompton threw his eighth interception of the season to Noah Keller , who returned it 10 yards to the Tennessee 30 . Theo Scott connected with LaVon Brazill on a 2 - yard touchdown pass four plays later , giving the Bobcats a 14 – 7 lead with 7 : 08 in the first quarter . Scott finished 30 - for - 52 . Brazill had 92 yards on eight catches , and Taylor Price added 90 yards on four catches . Chris Garrett took advantage of the Vols ' poor special teams coverage and returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown . Tennessee , which entered the game ranked fifth in total defense in the FBS , held the Bobcats to only 21 yards rushing on 17 carries . The Vols were also strong on the ground on offense . Montario Hardesty ran 20 times for 140 yards and an 11 - yard touchdown and now has 1 , 531 career yards rushing . Bryce Brown added 56 yards rushing and caught two passes for 60 yards , including a 34 - yard catch on the second play of the game . Tennessee will have a tough time regrouping before facing Auburn at home next week with several Vols leaving the game because of injury . Coach Lane Kiffin said starting middle linebacker Nick Reveiz was likely lost for the season after taking a hard hit on his right knee . Even though rain earlier in the day kept the attendance at Neyland Stadium down , the 95 , 535 in attendance made up the second - largest crowd in Ohio ' s history . Ohio went on to go 9 – 5 and finish 1st in the Eastern Division of the MAC Conference . Auburn . Auburn took a big step under first - year coach Gene Chizik , winning on the road against a top - notch defense . Chris Todd threw for 218 yards and a touchdown , and Ben Tate ran for 128 yards and a score to help the Tigers beat Tennessee 26 – 22 and jumped out to their first 5 – 0 start since 2006 on Saturday night . " This one of those old - school , physical SEC games and we did a good job executing most of the night , " Chizik said . Auburn ( 5 – 0 , 2 – 0 Southeastern Conference ) , which came from behind in its other four games this season , never trailed in its first road game of the season and has now won five straight over the Vols – its longest streak in the series . Tennessee ( 2 – 3 , 0 – 2 ) isn ' t faring nearly as well in its rebuilding efforts under new coach Lane Kiffin . The Tigers met some resistance early from Tennessee ' s defense , but slowly wore it down as they held the ball nearly 10 minutes longer than the Vols . Auburn ' s third - ranked offense racked up 459 yards . " They are so complicated , " Kiffin said . " There are so many things they do . " Tennessee made the score look closer when Jonathan Crompton threw a 32 - yard touchdown pass to Denarius Moore as the clock expired to cut the final margin to 26 – 22 . No extra point was attempted . The Vols defense , which entered the game ranked eighth in the Football Bowl Subdivision , forced the Tigers to punt six times and limited them to field goals by Wes Byrum on four drives . The Auburn offense entered the game averaging 45 . 3 points and 526 . 3 yards and ranked third in the FBS . " We ' re trying to prove something every time we hit the field , " Auburn fullback Mario Fannin said . " We know what we have in mind , and that ' s a championship . We ' re just going to keep pushing forward and get better every week . " Tennessee ' s offense couldn ' t stay on the field . The Vols went three - and - out three times in the first half , and Crompton fumbled a snap at the Vols 30 on the first play of a first - quarter drive . The Vols converted only four of 17 third downs . By the middle of the second quarter , Auburn managed to take advantage of the weary Vols defense and drove 87 yards in 2 : 32 . Tate scored on an 11 - yard run to put the Tigers up 13 – 0 with 8 : 07 left before halftime . The Tigers again drove easily on the Vols on a 70 - yard drive in the fourth quarter , and Todd connected with Terrell Zachery on an 11 - yard touchdown pass to give them a 23 – 6 lead . Crompton managed to miss his receivers in every way possible : He overthrew , underthrew and hit them in the head and at the feet . He also didn ' t get any help from his targets , who dropped several passes that were accurately thrown . At halftime , Crompton had completed only four passes for 62 yards . Still , thanks to some success in the Vols ' 2 - minute offense , he finished 20 for 43 for 259 yards and two touchdowns . " There were drops . It was bad . There was no rhythm , " Kiffin said . " We ' re not good enough to overcome drops . You start adding those drops in , and we ' re going to struggle . " Todd , who completed 19 of his 32 attempts , had his choice of receivers , completing passes to eight different targets . The Tennessee defense was noticeably frustrated , and defensive end Chris Walker and tackle Wes Brown spoke to the entire team in a huddle at the sideline after Tate ' s touchdown run . " We have to make those plays because the defense was on the field a lot of time in the first half , and that goes somewhat on us , " Hardesty said . " We ' ve got to stay on the field on third downs . We ' ve got to keep drives going . " Auburn went on to go 8 – 5 and finish tied for 4th in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference . Georgia . Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin didn ' t defeat Florida as promised . He did deliver on another guarantee with a 45 – 19 win over the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday . " [ Kiffin ] basically made a promise to us that we wouldn ' t lose to them anymore , forever or until he leaves , " Volunteers safety Eric Berry said . " He ' s not going to let Georgia beat us . " The first - year coach got some help from Jonathan Crompton , who passed for a career - high 310 yards and threw for four touchdowns . Kiffin had emphasized the Georgia game to his players due to its importance in recruiting . Because the state of Tennessee doesn ' t produce many elite prospects , coaches traditionally have recruited in Georgia , and 12 current Vols hail from the bordering state – including Berry . " I told the guys last night , I don ' t know all the Tennessee history or tradition of all the matchups , " Kiffin said . " There are a lot of great teams in this conference . But I told them , to me , this is the biggest matchup . " It was his first Southeastern Conference victory and kept the Volunteers ( 3 – 3 , 1 – 2 ) from going 0 – 3 in the league for a second season in a row . Georgia ( 3 – 3 , 2 – 2 ) dropped to 3 – 3 for the first time under coach Mark Richt . " They played better . They coached better . It ' s very obvious their team was a better team by a long shot , " Richt said . The Vols ' passing game had faltered at times this season , with Crompton struggling with his accuracy and his receivers often dropping passes when he was on target . But by halftime Saturday , Crompton had already thrown for 205 yards and three touchdowns . He finished 20 - for - 27 . Georgia ' s offense never reached the red zone , and the Tennessee defense held it to 241 yards compared with the Vols ' 472 . The Bulldogs found other ways to put up points . Brandon Boykin scored on his second 100 - yard kickoff return of the season , and Bacarri Rambo returned Crompton ' s interception 28 yards for a TD . Blair Walsh kicked a 52 - yard field goal , and Zach Renner blocked a punt by Chad Cunningham that sailed through the end zone for a safety . " I don ' t know that I ' ve ever been involved in a game where the defense didn ' t let a team into the red zone one time , " Kiffin said . Crompton was a perfect 4 - for - 4 for 67 yards on a drive late in the first half , finding Marsalis Teague on a 5 - yard touchdown pass for a 21 – 10 lead with 2 : 40 left . He also connected with Gerald Jones on a 51 - yard score , the Vols ' longest pass of the season . Despite being Tennessee ' s most productive receiver returning from last season , Jones had struggled with drops and mistakes while recovering from an ankle injury and wrist surgery . He had a season - best 105 yards receiving and two touchdowns . It was Georgia ' s Joe Cox who played the role of struggling quarterback . Cox finished 19 - for - 34 with 146 yards and no touchdowns . On the opening drive of the third quarter , Cox fumbled a snap , recovered and threw to Tennessee ' s Dennis Rogan while under pressure . The interception set up a 30 - yard field goal by Daniel Lincoln to give the Vols a 24 – 12 lead . " It ' s so frustrating to come out and have so many things go wrong , " Cox said . " It ' s embarrassing . We are not doing the things we need to do as players . " The SEC ' s leading receiver , Georgia ' s A . J . Green , finished with only 60 yards on eight catches . Its leading rusher , Tennessee ' s Montario Hardesty , had 97 yards on the ground and a touchdown . Richt opened his career by winning four out of his first five meetings with Tennessee , but the Vols have won three of the last four . The game has often been one of the SEC East ' s premier matchups , but for the first time in 38 meetings neither team was ranked coming in . " We ' ve got a long way to go to become a good football team , " Richt said . Georgia went on to go 8 – 5 and finish tied for 2nd in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference . Alabama . Mount Cody kept Alabama ( No . 2 BCS , No . 1 AP ) perfect with a pair of super - sized plays . Terrence Cody , the Crimson Tide ' s 350 - pound nose guard , blocked a 44 - yard field - goal attempt on the final play – his second block of the fourth quarter – and Alabama escaped with a 12 – 10 victory over rival Tennessee on Saturday . He muscled the Tide to another win , with pure brute force . " I didn ' t really get off the ground , " Cody said . " I just reached my arm up . That ' s how I got it . I knocked [ the blocker ] back . He was on his back . " Alabama ( 8 – 0 , 5 – 0 Southeastern Conference ) was about to have its bid for perfection knocked down , too . Then Cody broke through the line on the last play and practically ran into Daniel Lincoln ' s low kick . Relieved Alabama fans chanted " Cody ! " as the All - American ambled toward the locker room . Leigh Tiffin booted four field goals – including a 50 - yarder and a 49 - yarder – to provide all Alabama ' s points and the Tide survived Mark Ingram ' s first college fumble and some problems for the nation ' s top defense . The last few minutes were all about survival – much like in then - No . 1 Florida ' s squeaker over Arkansas last week . " You talk about how fragile a season is , " Tide coach Nick Saban said . " You ' re controlling a game , even though you may say it ' s winning ugly . We ' re still ahead 12 – 3 and totally controlling the game with 3 minutes , 29 seconds and the ball . That ' s how fragile a season can be . You make one mistake and you have to go overcome it . I hope that there ' s a lot of lessons our team can learn from this . " His team gets some time to absorb them with an open date before No . 9 LSU visits . Tennessee ( 3 – 4 , 1 – 3 ) kept alive its hopes for coach Lane Kiffin ' s first huge victory with Eric Berry ' s fumble recovery and Jonathan Crompton ' s 11 - yard touchdown pass to Gerald Jones with 1 : 19 left . Then Tennessee ' s Denarius Moore recovered the onside kick at the Vols ' 41 with no time outs remaining . Crompton hit Jones on a 14 - yarder before Tennessee was pushed back by a false start . On second down , the much - maligned Crompton hit Luke Stocker for a 23 - yard gain to get the Vols into position for the potential game - winning kick . But Cody and the Tide made a big push , and Alabama , second in the BCS standings , still controls its destiny in the national title race . " It ' s a difficult loss to deal with , " Kiffin said . " You come into a hostile environment and play the No . 1 team in the country , as I said before by far the No . 1 team in the country and the best - coached team around . You come in here and outgain them by [ nearly ] 100 yards and miss three field goals . " I don ' t believe in moral victories , we should have won that game . " He said Lincoln hasn ' t regained his leg strength since a quadriceps injury . " He can ' t kick the ball up high , " Kiffin said . " If you kick the ball up high it ' s never going to get there , so we can ' t allow the penetration up front . " Tiffin ' s 49 - yarder with 6 : 31 left had barely cleared the uprights for the 12 – 3 lead and , it turns out , the decisive points . That came after Cody batted Lincoln ' s 43 - yard field goal attempt with his left hand . " Neither was an exceptionally good kick , but they both went through and that ' s what counts , " Tiffin said . " I don ' t know if I watched either one of them go through . " Tennessee would get new life when Ingram lost the first fumble of his career in 322 touches , giving the Vols the ball back at the Bama 43 . All - American safety Eric Berry jarred the ball loose as Ingram was going down , and then recovered it . Crompton overcame a sack on the first play and completed 4 - of - 4 passes for 42 yards and the TD to make it 12 – 10 . Alabama had nearly made it three games in a row without allowing a touchdown . The Volunteers now have tested two No . 1 teams . They lost 23 – 13 to then - No . 1 Florida earlier and Kiffin ' s team came even closer this time . Tennessee was unranked the last time it beat an AP No . 1 , topping Auburn 38 – 20 in 1985 . " On the sideline , we just knew we were going to win in those last 4 seconds , " Stocker said . " I dont think there are enough words to explain how we feel . We are just speechless . " Alabama was held without an offensive touchdown for the first time since the Mississippi State game in 2007 . The Vols outgained Alabama 341 – 256 and Crompton outplayed the Tide ' s Greg McElroy . He was 21 of 36 passing for 265 yards with an early interception . McElroy ' s 18 of 29 produced only 120 yards . Ingram , who emerged as a Heisman Trophy contender the past two weeks gained 99 yards on 18 carries and surpassed 1 , 000 yards on the season . After Cody ' s first block , McElroy passed for a first down and ran for another to move the Tide in position for Tiffin ' s field goal that made it a two - score game . After a roughing the punter on Tennessee , Alabama was in position to milk the clock and secure the victory . But the normally sure - handed Ingram gave the Vols another shot . Tennessee got close , but Mount Cody was ultimately too big to kick over . Alabama went on to go 14 – 0 and win the BCS National Championship game over Texas . South Carolina . Lane Kiffin gave his players a treat , letting Tennessee wear black jerseys for the first time in 87 years . The Volunteers thanked their coach with a resounding victory . Decked out in black jerseys for the first time since adopting orange tops in 1922 , Tennessee turned three South Carolina fumbles into touchdowns and beat the Gamecocks ( No . 22 BCS , No . 21 AP ) 31 – 13 Saturday night . " It ' s a players ' game , and our players had been begging for them for a while , " said Kiffin , who got his first win over a ranked foe . " I think it gave us some energy . I think you saw that in the way they came out and played early . " Captains Eric Berry and Montario Hardesty approached athletic director Mike Hamilton on Wednesday , asking to wear an all - black uniform . A local Knoxville company quickly produced the black jerseys with orange numbers . Black pants couldn ' t be completed in time , so the Vols opted for orange bottoms . And how ' s this for a twist : Tennessee helped Florida . The Gators clinched the SEC East and a spot in the conference title game when the rival Vols beat South Carolina . After warming up in their traditional orange home jerseys , the Vols ( 4 – 4 , 2 / 3 Southeastern Conference ) seemed to take the Gamecocks by surprise as they took the field in Halloween - inspired uniforms . " The guys were excited and I think it gave us a little extra excitement and had us ready to play , " Vols defensive tackle Dan Williams said . Jonathan Crompton threw two touchdowns , Hardesty ran for two more and Rico McCoy forced two fumbles . South Carolina ( 6 – 3 , 3 – 3 ) fumbled on its first two drives on a rainy night , having entered the game with only five for the season . Tennessee , hampered by turnovers early in the season , did not give the ball away for the first time this season . The Gamecocks began clicking on offense in the second half as the Vols sputtered . Stephen Garcia connected with Moe Brown on a 31 - yard touchdown pass to cut the margin to 28 – 13 with 2 : 05 left in the third quarter , but it was too little too late . South Carolina outgained Tennessee on offense 365 yards to 341 and had four more first downs . Garcia completed 25 of 50 for 300 yards and an interception . Justice Cunningham coughed up the first fumble on the third play of the game , and 42 seconds later Crompton hit Austin Johnson on a 38 - yard touchdown toss . Crompton completed 12 of 24 for 142 yards . On the second play of the following drive , Kenny Miles lost the first fumble of his career , and Tennessee answered with a 14 - yard run by Hardesty , who finished with 121 yards rushing . " We had two fumbles in five plays , and it ' s hard to beat a team when you spot them those points , " Garcia said . Even when they weren ' t fumbling , the Gamecocks couldn ' t find much offense in the first half . They first made it to Tennessee territory with 9 : 29 left in the second quarter but stalled at the Vols 47 . An illegal block by D . J . Swearinger cost South Carolina a 73 - yard punt return for a touchdown by Stephon Gilmore . The Gamecocks drove 55 yards before halftime , but on third - and - 3 at the Tennessee 25 , Willie Bohannon dropped Miles for a 5 - yard loss . Spencer Lanning kicked a career - long 47 - yard field goal to cut the margin to 21 – 3 at the half . Tennessee ' s woes on special teams continued . With Daniel Lincoln sidelined by a quadriceps injury , Chad Cunningham took over field goal duties . Lincoln had two field goals blocked in a 12 – 10 loss last week at Alabama , including what would have been a game - winning 44 - yard shot at the end of the game . Devin Taylor blocked Cunningham ' s first attempt , a 40 - yarder in the first quarter . His second attempt , a 39 - yarder with 4 : 23 left in the game , was good and drew a huge cheer from what was left of the Tennessee crowd . Up 14 – 0 early in the second quarter , Kiffin opted to go for it on fourth - and - goal at the 2 - yard line rather than attempt a field goal . Crompton found Kevin Cooper , who stumbled into the corner of the end zone . The last time the Gamecocks were ranked as high as No . 21 was before the 2007 Tennessee game , when they were ranked No . 15 . South Carolina – which has never won consecutive games in the Tennessee series and only won in Knoxville once – lost that game in overtime 27 – 24 . " Like I told the guys , if we want to win some of these games against good teams , we ' ve got to play well , " South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said . " We had turnovers , had a punt return called back , had some opportunities here and there , but we didn ' t execute . " South Carolina went on to go 7 – 6 and finish tied for 4th in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference . Memphis . Jonathan Crompton threw for a career - high 331 yards and five touchdowns and ran for another as Tennessee routed Memphis 56 – 28 on Saturday night . Crompton surpassed his career high of 310 yards with a 10 - yard pass to Denarius Moore on Tennessee ' s first drive of the second half . He tied his career high of five touchdown passes on the next play with a 16 - yard connection to Moore to make it 49 – 7 with 12 : 38 left in the third quarter . Crompton finished 21 - for - 27 and no interceptions and was replaced by backup Nick Stephens halfway through the third quarter . Tennessee ( 5 – 4 ) gave coach Lane Kiffin his first winning streak and dominated the game much as it ' s done the series . The Vols hold a 21 – 1 advantage against Memphis and have won all 12 meetings in Knoxville . But the games between the state rivals often have been closer than the record indicates . Six of the 10 meetings between the two teams since 1991 have been decided by fewer than two touchdowns . David Oku took the opening kickoff 69 yards , and Bryce Brown scored on a 1 - yard run 2 minutes later . Memphis ( 2 – 7 ) could do nothing to catch up . The Vols never punted with Crompton in the game , though they turned the ball over when they couldn ' t convert a fourth - and - 2 at the Tigers ' 29 and when Dennis Rogan muffed a punt return . Memphis drove 93 yards in its 2 - minute offense and scored on a 36 - yard run by Marcus Hightower to cut Tennessee ' s lead to 35 – 7 with 58 seconds left in the half . The Vols responded with a 55 - yard drive and Crompton ' s 1 - yard touchdown run with 4 seconds on the clock . The Tigers have been hampered with injuries this season , and it especially showed on defense . The Vols had their way passing nearly the entire game with wide - open routes . Crompton , who until a few games ago was more likely to throw interceptions than touchdowns , had his selection of scoring targets in Moore , Gerald Jones , Luke Stocker , Quintin Hancock and Nu ' Keese Richardson . Stephens also hit Moore for a TD . Jones led the receiving corps with 97 yards on four catches . Crompton was only 5 yards and a TD pass short of tying his previous career high at halftime . By the break , Tennessee had outgained Memphis 382 yards to 104 and had gained 11 more first downs . Memphis entered the game with the 100th - ranked defense , giving up an average 416 . 5 yards . Tennessee finished with 566 yards . The Vols rank 13th in the nation in defense , but were playing second - and third - string players by the time Curtis Steele scored on a 1 - yard run and again on a 3 - yard run in the middle of the third quarter . The scores cut Tennessee ' s margin to 49 – 21 . Steele finished with 144 yards on 21 carries in addition to the two touchdowns . Will Hudgens was 19 of 31 for 194 yards and an interception . Tennessee ' s Eric Berry , the Southeastern Conference ' s career interception return leader , inched closer to the NCAA career record when he picked off Hudgens and returned the ball 7 yards . Berry has 494 career return yards , 5 yards shy of Florida State ' s Terrell Buckley . Memphis went on to go 2 – 10 and finish last in the Eastern Division of Conference USA . Mississippi . Dexter McCluster says being 5 - foot - 9 and 170 pounds has its advantages on the football field . No Tennessee defender could argue with the Mississippi standout Saturday . McCluster rushed for 282 yards and finished with 324 all - purpose yards , setting two Mississippi records , and the Rebels ran over the Volunteers 42 – 17 . He broke the Rebels ' single - game rushing record of 242 by Dou Innocent in 1995 . He eclipsed the all - purpose mark of 317 yards by Deuce McAllister in 1999 . " My size works to my advantage , " McCluster said . " When they see me , it ' s too late . " McCluster scored on runs of 15 , 23 , 32 and 71 yards in Ole Miss ' first win against the Volunteers since 1983 . " For 170 pounds he is special , " said Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt . " He can make the first one miss . He has game breaking speed . Hs you can see , he won ' t just run out of bounds on a long run . He ' ll cut back against the grain and separate to get into the end zone . " It ' s the most rushing yards given up by the Volunteers . Tennessee had yielded 217 yards to Colorado ' s Mike Pritchard in 1990 and Alabama ' s Bobby Humphrey in 1986 . " We didn ' t have a way to tackle him , " Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin said . " He set a school record for rushing yards , and we probably set a record for missed tackles . " Ole Miss ( 7 – 3 , 3 – 3 Southeastern Conference ) – off to its best start since 2003 – clinched bowl eligibility for the second straight year with the victory . Tennessee ( 5 – 5 , 2 – 4 ) was without three of their celebrated freshmen – wide receiver Nu ' Keese Richardson , safety Janzen Jackson and defensive back Mike Edwards . The trio was arrested early Thursday morning for attempted armed robbery in Knoxville . McCluster scored his first touchdown just 1 : 31 into the game and added another with 1 : 20 left in the opening quarter . His 32 - yard scamper came in the third quarter and Ole Miss opened the fourth quarter with McCluster ' s 71 - yarder . " It was a big challenge to cover him , " said Tennessee defensive end Chris Walker . " We had to know where he was at all times and he lines up at wide receiver and he lines up at tailback , so it was really hard to adjust to that . " Brandon Bolden added 46 rushing yards and two touchdowns for the Rebels , who finished with 492 yards of total offense , including 359 on the ground . It was former Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron ' s first return to Oxford since he was fired in November 2007 after three seasons . In his first year at Tennessee as defensive line coach the Vols have improved , but struggled against the Rebels . Jevan Snead , who was 13 of 20 passes for 133 yards , was sacked only once . Jonathan Compton finished 20 of 37 for 176 yards and two Tennessee touchdowns . He hit Jeff Cottam with a 16 - yard TD in the first quarter and Denarius Moore with a 25 - yarder in the second quarter . But the Vols ' offense never got untracked , gaining just 275 yards over all , 99 on the ground . Their only other score was a 27 - yard field goal by Daniel Lincoln in the third quarter . Ole Miss went on to go 9 – 4 and finish 3rd in the Western Division of Southeastern Conference . Vanderbilt . Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin has had to reach so far down his depth chart because of injuries that even he wasn ' t sure who was on the field . The Volunteers beat in - state rival Vanderbilt 31 – 16 on Saturday night playing with a third - string middle linebacker , a walk - on outside linebacker and walk - on placekicker Devin Mathis . " That ' s the kicker , right ? " Kiffin quipped when asked about Mathis . After missing the postseason last year , the battered Volunteers ( 6 – 5 , 3 – 4 Southeastern Conference ) became bowl eligible with the victory . Tennessee hasn ' t missed out on a bowl game in consecutive seasons since 1977 – 78 . The Commodores ( 2 – 10 , 0 – 8 ) finished without a conference win for the first time since 2002 . Tennessee entered halftime with the momentum , but Vanderbilt had plenty of chances to take advantage of a Vols defense fielding inexperience players and guys like senior linebacker Rico McCoy , determined to play despite having an injured knee . " We just couldn ' t take advantage of some opportunities , " Vandy coach Bobby Johnson said . " It ' s a tough way to end the season . " The Commodores had a chance to tie the game before halftime but stalled on fourth - and - 2 at the Tennessee 38 with 51 seconds left . Instead , Tennessee drove for a quick touchdown to go up 24 – 10 . Vandy ' s Steven Stone was called for a 15 - yard roughing the passer penalty , and Jonathan Crompton was perfect on four pass attempts . His 16 - yard TD pass to Luke Stocker capped the 30 - second drive . " That was a big momentum shift , " Vanderbilt linebacker Chris Marve said . " That just put us down even further , so we had to come out for the second half with an ever larger deficit . " Crompton finished 20 - for - 34 for 221 yards , two touchdowns and an interception . Montario Hardesty ran for a career - high 171 yards and a touchdown . The Vols struggled to move the ball in the second half , and Vanderbilt had a shot to pull within four points with about 6 minutes left . On third - and - goal at the 3 , MacKenzi Adams attempted a pass for John Cole in the end zone . The ball bounced off Cole and into the hands of Tennessee ' s Dennis Rogan , but a pass interference call on Rogan kept the Commodores ' drive alive . With a fresh set of downs , Vanderbilt couldn ' t move the ball , and Adams took a sack for a loss of 9 yards . Ryan Fowler kicked a 32 - yard field goal to make the score 24 – 16 with 2 : 54 left , and the Commodores couldn ' t pull any closer . Adams was 19 - of - 35 for 174 yards , a touchdown and an interception . Vandy ' s Warren Norman had 73 yards rushing and 61 yards on kickoff returns . Norman ' s 1 , 923 all - purpose yards broke Herschel Walker ' s SEC freshman record of 1 , 805 . He also became the Commodores ' single - season leader for all - purpose yards . " It doesn ' t mean too much to me because I ' m not about breaking records , " Norman said . " It ' s an honor though , just being mentioned with Herschel Walker . That ' s pretty cool . " Crompton ' s third - quarter interception ended a streak of 142 straight pass attempts without one , one shy of Casey Clausen ' s school record of 143 . After struggling to find consistency on field goals with an injured Daniel Lincoln and punter Chad Cunningham , Tennessee called on Mathis for the first time this week . Mathis hit a 25 - yard field goal and connected on three extra point attempts . Mathis was a walk - on last season and nearly earned a starting job as Lincoln struggled . He spent the spring semester studying in Mexico and did not participate in the Vols ' fall camp . Tennessee finished its senior day in style when senior defensive tackle Wes Brown , who ' s played with injured knees for the past two seasons , intercepted Adams ' pass and ran 25 yards for a touchdown with 3 seconds left , carrying Norman on his back for the last 5 . His teammates piled on top of him in the end zone . " Everybody was saying , ' That might have been the ugliest thing I ' ve ever seen , ' " Brown said . " I felt [ Norman ] hopping on my back , but I didn ' t want to be denied . I wanted to score , and I couldn ' t ask for a better ending . " Vanderbilt ended the season at 2 – 10 and finished last in the Eastern Division of Southeastern Conference . Kentucky . Montario Hardesty ran for three touchdowns , including a 20 - yard game winner in overtime , as Tennessee outlasted Kentucky 30 – 24 on Saturday night , the Volunteers ' 25th straight victory against their border rivals . Hardesty , who also ran for a career - high 179 yards , scampered up the middle for the final score after Kentucky ' s Lones Seiber missed a 49 - yard field goal in the Wildcats ' overtime chance . Tennessee ( 7 – 5 , 4 – 4 Southeastern Conference ) made sure its streak of dominance over Kentucky ( 7 – 5 , 3 – 5 ) didn ' t end in coach Lane Kiffin ' s first year on the job . The win also likely locked up a New Year ' s Day bowl for the Volunteers and clinched second place behind Florida in the SEC East . Kentucky forced overtime on a 33 - yard field goal by Seiber , set up when Ashton Cobb knocked the ball out of the hands of Luke Stocker following a completion and the Wildcats recovered . Kentucky ended the season at 7 – 5 and finished fifth in the Eastern Division of Southeastern Conference . Virginia Tech ( Chick - fil - A Bowl ) . Ryan Williams isn ' t keeping track of his records . " Someone eventually will break them anyway , " Virginia Tech ' s fantastic redshirt freshman running back said . Probably , but in just one season Williams has already made a quite an impression . He capped a brilliant debut season with a record - setting game , running for two touchdowns to power Virginia Tech ( No . 11 BCS , No . 12 AP ) past Tennessee 37 – 14 in the Chick - fil - A Bowl on Thursday night . " I just saw green , " said Williams of his two touchdown runs . " When I see green , I take advantage of it . " The Hokies ( 10 – 3 ) took the lead with a field goal in the final seconds of the first half and outscored Tennessee 20 – 0 in the second half on their way to a sixth straight 10 - win season . The only team with a longer active streak is Texas with nine . Williams , a redshirt freshman , had 117 yards rushing to become Virginia Tech ' s single - season rushing leader with 1 , 655 yards . Williams also set Atlantic Coast Conference records with 21 rushing touchdowns and 22 total touchdowns this season but said " I really don ' t care about records . " The Hokies outrushed Tennessee ( 7 – 6 ) 229 – 5 . " Ryan was something tonight , particularly at the start of the second half , " Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said . " We got after them good . " Tennessee ' s star running back , Montario Hardesty , could not keep up with Williams . The Volunteers ' senior had 18 carries for 39 yards and a touchdown . " We got gassed ; we got tired , " Tennessee defensive end Chris Walker said . " You could tell especially on defense we weren ' t making plays . " Ryan Williams is a really great player . " Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Crompton was taken to a local hospital after the game for precautionary reasons , according to a school spokesman . Crompton suffered an undisclosed injury late in the game . Vols junior safety Eric Berry confirmed after the game he will enter the NFL draft . Tennessee was hurt by two turnovers which led to 10 points for Virginia Tech , and a dropped pass that cost the Vols a touchdown . " For whatever reason , we didn ' t play well today , " Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin said . " I was surprised we weren ' t able to run the ball better . " Rashad Carmichael intercepted a pass by Crompton in the first quarter to set up Williams ' first touchdown run . Crompton fumbled when sacked by Nekos Brown late in the fourth quarter . John Graves recovered at the Tennessee 13 to set up Matt Waldron ' s third field goal , a 22 - yarder . Virginia Tech players dumped a cooler of water on Beamer seconds later . Virginia Tech fans in the sellout crowd of 73 , 777 cheered , and Beamer raised his fists in response . Williams sat out the fourth quarter after a left ankle sprain . Virginia Tech fans cheered when Williams left the trainer ' s table and ran on the sideline , but Beamer gave the fourth - quarter carries to Josh Oglesby and David Wilson . Wilson had a 3 - yard touchdown run with 5 : 14 remaining . Williams passed Kevin Jones ' school - record record 1 , 647 yards rushing in 2003 . North Carolina ' s Don McCauley held the ACC records with 19 rushing touchdowns and 21 total in 1970 . Clemson ' s C . J . Spiller matched the total touchdown mark this season . Georgia Tech ' s Robert Lavette also rushed for 19 touchdowns in 1982 . Williams passed Jones with his seventh carry of an eight - play touchdown drive in the third quarter . He had long runs of 21 and 32 yards in the drive before setting the record on a 6 - yard run to the 3 . Tyrod Taylor scored from the 1 for a 24 – 14 lead . He completed 10 of 17 passes for 201 yards with an interception . Crompton completed 15 of 26 passes for 235 yards with a touchdown and an interception . Waldron , who had a 21 - yard field goal at the end of the first half , added a 46 - yarder – the longest of his career – to push the lead to 27 – 14 early in the fourth quarter . Tennessee ' s had a chance to get back into it , but wide - open Denarius Moore dropped a deep pass from Crompton on the Vols ' next drive . Kiffin said the play " really took the wind out of our sails . " Williams had two short touchdown runs to give the Hokies a 14 – 0 lead in the second quarter . Tennessee then responded . Hardesty ran through 301 - pound defensive tackle Cordarrow Thompson ' s tackle for a 4 - yard run to cap an 80 - yard drive . Janzen Jackson ' s interception set up Crompton ' s 2 - yard touchdown pass to Moore with 18 seconds remaining in the first half . Instead of running out the clock , Taylor threw from his 33 to Jarrett Boykin , who was stopped inside the Vols ' 5 as the clock apparently expired . Tennessee players left the field but were summoned back as a video review showed Boykin ' s knee hit the ground with 2 seconds remaining . " I knew that there was time left looking at the clock when Boykin made the catch , " Taylor said . Waldron ' s 21 - yard field goal gave Virginia Tech a 17 – 14 halftime lead . The Hokies , who won the Orange Bowl last season , have back - to - back bowl wins for the first time in school history . Virginia Tech ended the season at 10 – 3 and finished # 10 in the final AP Poll . Controversy . On November 12 , three freshman Vols players — safety Janzen Jackson , receiver Nu ' Keese Richardson , and defensive back Mike Edwards — were arrested in Knoxville on charges of attempted armed robbery . Edwards and Richardson were permanently dismissed from the team on November 16 . Jackson has been reinstated after the charges were dropped and returned to the team for the November 28th game against Kentucky . 2010 NFL Draft . The 2010 NFL Draft was held on April 22 – 24 , 2010 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City . The following University of Tennessee players were selected :