An examination of the scores involving UT's remaining opponents suggests the Big Orange has several more likely losses on the horizon. In fact, every team left on the schedule except hapless Louisiana Lafayette appears capable of vanquishing the Vols, now 4-3 overall and 2-2 in SEC play.
Here's a look at how the future foes fared:
- South Carolina (Saturday). The sixth-ranked Gamecocks (6-2, 3-2) came out flat against visiting Vanderbilt, fell behind 17-0 after one quarter and eventually fell 17-6. It was Steve Spurrier's first loss to Vandy in 15 tries as head man at Duke, Florida and Carolina. The Old Ball Coach will be looking for redemption and looking to extend his mastery of Phil Fulmer – Spurrier is 8-4 head to head – this Saturday evening in Knoxville.
- Louisiana-Lafayette (Nov. 3). The Ragin' Cajuns (1-7) took a 32-25 lead on Florida Atlantic when quarterback Michael Desormeaux scored on a 32-yard run with 1:03 remaining. ULL blew the lead in the final minute of regulation, however, and lost 39-32 in overtime.
- Arkansas (Nov. 10). The Razorbacks (4-3, 1-3) got 110 rushing yards from Heisman candidate Darren McFadden and 101 from Felix Jones in a 44-8 pasting of home-standing Ole Miss. Casey Dick passed for just 96 yards but notched three TDs. The Hogs took Tennessee to the woodshed (31-14) last year in Fayetteville.
- Vanderbilt (Nov. 17). The Commodores (4-3, 2-3) stunned No. 6 South Carolina 17-6 in Columbia. It was Vandy's first win over a team ranked that highly in 70 years, dating to a 7-6 upset of No. 6 LSU in 1937. MacKenzi Adams, replacing Chris Nickson as the starting quarterback, threw two first-quarter TD passes.
- Kentucky (Nov. 24 at Lexington). The eighth-ranked Wildcats (6-2, 2-2), coming off an upset of No. 1 LSU a week earlier, got 415 passing yards and five touchdowns from quarterback Andre Woodson but still came out on the short end of a 45-37 score against visiting Florida. For the sake of comparison, Tennessee managed just 13 offensive points in a 59-20 loss to the Gators in September.