As Tennessee ended a losing streak four years in the making, senior placekicker Michael Palardy made the longest run of his career Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
Palardy raced down the field in jubilation after his game-winning field goal ended Tennessee’s 19-game losing streak to nationally ranked opponents.
His teammates immediately joined his joyful romp, finally congregating in the far corner of the stadium from where Palardy had nailed the field goal on the game’s final play to beat 11th-ranked South Carolina, 23-21.
You might have flashed back to another UT celebration three years ago at Tiger Stadium and looked for a late-arriving flag. Not this time.
There was no flag. No review.
The celebration continued for a program that has only come close to a victory of this magnitude since it beat 21st-ranked South Carolina in October of 2009.
Just two weeks ago on the same field, UT lost to then No. 6 Georgia in overtime when the football slipped from Pig Howard’s grasp as he stretched and strained toward a pylon.
And three years ago, there was the near upset of 12th-ranked LSU, which had to wait out a brief UT victory celebration before an official’s flag graced it with another play — the game-winning play.
This victory held up, though. And the Vols got just what they deserved.
So did Butch Jones, their enthusiastic first-year coach.
Since preseason camp, he has stressed how slight the Vols’ margin of error would be. And from then until now, he has pleaded for playmakers to emerge.
The Vols heeded his words Saturday.
They had fewer than half as many yards in penalties as South Carolina (84-40). They didn’t throw an interception or lose a fumble; the Gamecocks did both.
But the Vols couldn’t achieve victory solely on the mistakes of their opponent. They had to take it.
They did just that on their game-winning drive, which consisted mainly of one, long play — a 39-yard pass completion from quarterback Justin Worley to freshman wide receiver Marquez North to the South Carolina 26.
North rose above cornerback Ahmad Christian and pinned the ball to his chest with his left hand. Four plays later, Marlin Lane burst through a hole in the South Carolina line to leave Palardy with an extra-point-size field goal.
The victory was enhanced by the performance that preceded it. In its last two games, Tennessee has held its own with two opponents ranked in the top 11.
Contrast that with the Vols’ previous 11 games against nationally ranked opponents, who prevailed by an average of 22 points.
Even this season, UT lost to Oregon by 45 and to Florida by 14. But the defeats didn’t linger with them, which is a credit to the coaching staff as well as to the veteran players in a program that has absorbed so many setbacks the last few years.
Neither in the loss to Georgia nor the victory over South Carolina did the Vols play as though they were doomed to failure. They overcame deficits in both games, weathered shifts in momentum and stayed within striking distance until the final seconds.
Two good games against good opponents doesn’t mean the team or the program has arrived. Nonetheless, the Vols are making headway, and they’re doing so against perhaps the toughest schedule in the country.
No. 1 Alabama is next, in Tuscaloosa. That’s followed by games against Missouri and Auburn, both ranked in the most recent top-25 polls.
Tennessee’s margin for error is still slight. Its need for more playmakers is still great.
But its nationally ranked opponents are no longer unbeatable.
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