There's No Joy In Volville After UCLA Loss

The Tennessee Volunteers started the 2008 season the same way they did a year ago by losing on the West Coast to a Pac 10 team.

The UCLA Bruins rallied from a 14-7 halftime deficit to stun the Big Orange 27-24 in overtime.

This time the Vols weren’t expected to struggle as they had against California in ’07.

The Tennessee players and coaches have been upbeat throughout the preseason and planned to go to the Left Coast and claim a victory.

Nevertheless, a third-string quarterback who threw four first-half interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown, dissected the Big Orange secondary in the second half.

Kevin Craft turned it around in the second half by completing 12 of his last 14 passes in regulation; including a TD pass with 1:27 remaining to give UCLA a 24-21 lead.

Tennessee’s Daniel Lincoln booted a game-tying field goal with no time left on the clock to send the contest into overtime.

However, Lincoln pulled a field goal attempt wide left in overtime to hand the Bruins the win.

The message boards were rocking-and-rolling when the game ended.

The Left Coast Pac 10 backers were having fun gigging Tennessee and the SEC.

Here’s a few of my favorites.

Lalive wrote: The mighty SEC??? Hope that's not the best ya'll have to offer. (Sporting News)

itsyouallnoty'all wrote: Bwaaaahaaaahaaaaahaaa! SEC vs. 3rd string QB, 2nd string RB. Way to go Tennessee! (Sporting News)

SCHeismanU wrote: Norm Chow was the best "recruit" of the off season. How Chow pulled this win off was unbelievable. UCLA's last drive with a 3rd string QB was all Chow. Tenn losing to a projected 5/6 place Pac10 finisher says it all. Go Pac10. Fight On! (Sporting News)

Finally, BarefootSerpent wrote: This game should have been played at Heinz field because Tennessee kept letting UCLA catchup! Nevertheless, when your starting QB is worse than their 3rd string QB, you know it's going to be a long night. (Sporting News)

The Vols struggled in many areas against UCLA. The special teams allowed a touchdown on a blocked punt. Lincoln missed field goals besides the one that decided the game.

Jonathan Crompton looked slow in making his decisions. He did not move around well in the pocket and often was a sitting target for UCLA defenders.

Crompton poorly threw too many passes in his 19-for-41 effort that produced 183 yards and one interception.

The offensive line didn’t look as good as last year. However, Crompton at times taking too long to make decisions might have contributed to some of that.

There was no sign of a new offensive coordinator with a bag full of touchdown producing plays.

Dave Clawson’s new offense looked a lot like the Tennessee offense did before David Cutciffe returned to the Vols.

Aside from the G-gun set with Gerald Jones, the offense looked vanilla and ineffective.

The Tennessee defense provided four first-half interceptions, including one returned for a TD. However, UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow made changes at halftime that helped the Bruins generate an offense.

If the Vols overall performance against the Bruins is any indication of what is ahead for the Big Orange it could be a long year.

But remember, Fulmer was able to rally his team in 2007 when the future looked the darkest.