Vols' defense sacked by Huskers' running game

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Just about the time No. 5 Tennessee seemed to fully come out of hibernation in Sunday night's Fiesta Bowl against Nebraska, one Cornhusker drive put them back in it for good.

After slashing NU's 17-0 lead down to just three points in the third quarter, the Volunteer defense seemed to die on the turf, giving up 96- and 99-yard back-to-back touchdown drives in the 31-21 loss.

"On those drives we had a couple mistakes on a couple plays, and they cost us the game," Tennessee defensive coordinator John Chavis said. "We let it get away from us. We let it get away."

Said Head Coach Phillip Fulmer: "I'm sure somebody's taken it 99 yards, maybe, but not quite like that. That was an impressive drive. Both of them were."

The 96-yard drive actually came first after UT, which ended its season 9-3, seized the momentum with a touchdown drive to end the first half and another touchdown on its first drive of the third quarter.

Behind 17-14, the Vols had buried the Huskers deep in their own territory at the 4-yard line with eight minutes and 52 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The game turned swiftly not long after, as the Huskers attacked the middle and right side of the Tennessee defensive line with a power rushing game. After a critical third-down pass from NU's Eric Crouch to tight end John Bowling got the Huskers out to their own 40-yard line, Crouch audibled into a quick fullback dive, which Willie Miller broke for 47 yards. One play after that, Crouch found another tight end, Aaron Golliday, for a 13-yard touchdown. It was a 24-14 NU lead. And it wasn't over yet for the Vol defense. Nebraska took over at its own 1-yard line with 1:16 left in the quarter and ran 10 straight running plays. Spanning two quarters, the most impressive Husker drive of the season -- and probably the least impressive defensive effort from Tennessee -- covered the 99 yards in just under three minutes. I-back Correll Buckhalter finished it off with a two-yard run for an insurmountable 31-14 lead. The Huskers hadn't run through a defense quite like that since the 1998 Orange Bowl against the Vols. After the game there were few answers from the UT defense, which came into the Fiesta Bowl ranked 10th nationally. Defensive end Shaun Ellis was surprised by a few of NU's play-action passes, which took advantage of an "over-aggressive pass rush." Others had a different take, none of which shed real light on UT's sudden defensive collapse. "We got tired a little bit," said defensive end Will Overstreet, fighting back tears. "It can hurt you a little bit, but I don't think that was the main problem. It was execution tonight." Overstreet paused. "What do you want me to say? They had great plays? Great drives? Yes. They had their offense put together. They executed well. We didn't execute well. They made big plays when they had to, first downs when they had to. I guess they're good. I'm not sure why we didn't make the plays." Fulmer said the Vols got a dose of the medicine they usually give to others. "We've been on that side, too," Fulmer said. "We've had people on their heels; they couldn't get up, couldn't recover. We've kept it. You know, now we know what it feels like." Like plenty of other Husker opponents this season, Tennessee also knows what it means to fall victim to a quick NU start. Nebraska scored a touchdown on its first drive and extended the lead to 14-0 with wingback Bobby Newcombe's 60-yard punt return. A Josh Brown field goal put the Huskers up 17-0. The Vols had their chances in the first half but didn't make good on any of them until late in the second quarter, when quarterback Tee Martin led an eight-play, 65-yard scoring drive that resulted in a Martin to Donte' Stallworth touchdown pass. Until that drive, Martin had completed only 3 of 10 passes and thrown two interceptions. "It's hard to spot a very, very good football team 14 points," Fulmer said. "We made enough mistakes tonight for two ballgames." While Martin heated up as the game went on - he finished 19 of 34 with 223 yards -- UT never got a running game established. Running backs Travis Henry and Jamal Lewis combined for only 50 yards. It didn't help that Tennessee tried to run outside the tackles, something no Nebraska opponent has done with much success this year. In addition, Martin, typically a running threat, was penned in all night long. The senior quarterback who led Tennessee to a national title in this stadium last year was paying close attention to the Husker pressure. "I knew it was big in their game plan to keep me in the pocket," said Martin, who was sacked three times. "I was about to scramble and get out of the pocket. I got tripped a couple of times, grabbed a few other times." When Martin did have time to throw, he took advantage of NU's soft coverage, which allowed Tennessee short slant pattern over the middle and guarded against the deep passes, which helped the Vols beat Florida State 23-16 in the Fiesta Bowl last season. Fulmer said the Vols threw more than they wanted to, the result of a running game that never got on track. UT did have a nifty trick play in the fourth quarter, which cut the Nebraska lead back to 31-21 when Martin threw a backwards pass to wideout Cedrick Wilson, who then lobbed a perfect 44-yard strike to wide open receiver Stallworth. Wilson had been a quarterback in high school. Fulmer said the team had been practicing the play since midseason. "We probably should have run it a long time ago, I guess, if we knew it was going to work like that," Fulmer said. After the touchdown, UT tried the rarely-seen deep onside kick, which failed when the ball went out of bounds. NU ran out the remaining 7:25 on the clock for the victory, amassing the last of its 321 ground yards. It left most of the Vols in a bad mood, though not to the point of rage. When it mattered most, UT got beat in the trenches. "You can't fault the kids; they played hard, all the way to the end," Chavis said. "But we ran up against a good, good team. They played their kind of football."