Crompton again looked terrible in that first half

Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer didn't get their wish of putting up 60. I was pleased with the moral victory when compared to the loss to UCLA the week before.I consider this one a half-point each for team Up and team Down. That's 1.5 to 1.5.Ohio payed a visit to Neyland stadium the following week and the Vols looked pretty much atrocious throughout the game. There were issues on special teams and the offense struggled to get going all night long. But a win is a win.Another half-point each for Up and Down.Auburn came next.

The game started quite positively for Tennessee when Nu'Keese Richardson took off on the first play of the game for a 40-yard run out of the Nu'Gun package (A package that wouldn't rear it's ugly head until a few weeks later at a Knoxville gas station).The Vols would eventually miss a field goal on that drive, the first of many future problems with the kicking game, and Auburn took off.Crompton again looked terrible in that first half. However, once he was utilized in the hurry up offense late in the third quarter, Crompton actually started to look like a quarterback.Auburn won 26-22 in a score that was actually closer than the game really was.Score one for the Down's and a half-point for the Up's based on the Vols fourth quarter performance Down's lead 3-2.5 The hated Georgia Bulldogs came to town the following week. The game featured a couple of the up's and down's in the first half as Tennessee allowed a kickoff return. That was all erased, however, when Jonathan Crompton playaction passed his way to Lane Kiffin's first SEC win.

Tennessee won 45-19 and Vols fans were giddy again.Score 1.5 for the Up's. Up's lead 4-3 after five games. Then came the annual Alabama rivalry The Tide was ranked No. 1 at the time and Tennessee was a 17-point underdog.Tennessee held the Tide out of the endzone all day. Jonathan Crompton would put the Vols into position for the gamewinning field goal with three seconds remaining. A 44-yard attempt was all the seperated the Vols and instant respect for their new coach and the program. 1 team in the country on a blocked field goal the Vols could have packed it in With No. 24 South Carolina coming, however, they found more resolve than we fans could have imagined.Tennessee forced three first half turnovers en route to a 31-13 blowout.

Score another for the Up's, 7-5.At this exact point many, including myself, declared the Vols the hottest team in the SEC Florida and Alabama were scraping by their opponents. 1 'Bama to within it's final breath.Next came the biggest down of the season. Nu'Keese Richardson and Mike Edwards decided to create their own "Nu'gun" experience by holding up three men in a gas station parking lot in Knoxville with a pellet gun.Janzen Jackson was there, but was apparently oblivious to the attempted armed robbery as he was inside the store at the time.All three were charged and booked for a night in jail. The charges against Jackson were later dropped, but the other two were kicked off the team.Score a two-spot for the Down's. 7-7.Of course that incident happened roughly 50 hours prior to a visit to Ole Miss The Vols got McClustered to death in Oxford.