A weekly look at conquered favorites and other notables picking up the pieces of shattered ambition.

Phil's time growing short in the land where he was born and raised. When it came, it was always going to be from Rocky Top Talk, and finally, off another rout at the hands of Alabama to fall to 1-4 in the SEC, Vol diehard Joel has captured the zeitgeist for Tennessee's 2008 season in three visceral minutes:

Even the most patient Volunteers are apologizing to the physical genius of Eric Berry and making plans for a new coach in 2009, and the not so patient don't want to wait that long:

Put aside the losses for a moment. Put aside the inept offense. Put aside the decade that has passed without an SEC title. Put aside the utter inability to compete with Nick Saban and Urban Meyer in recruiting or on the field.

Just look at the empty seats in Neyland Stadium. Look at the uncommon number of fans dressed in red.

Look at the man, standing on Phillip Fulmer Way, holding two tickets in the air.

"Where are they?"
"Lower bowl."
"How much?"
"Fifty dollars for the pair."

So that has to be it, right? When $50 can buy two lower bowl tickets to the Alabama game?

Well, no, not necessarily. When Tennessee loses that game by 23 points, then, maybe, yeah. Seems like that's probably it.

Everything you know about LSU's defense: Revise, revise, revise. LSU's defense allowed 38 points, 440 yards and scoring drives of 78, 71, 72, 68 and 63 yards to Georgia's offense, not including a five-play, 51-yard drive by the Dawgs that ended in a missed field goal with the game already out of reach. The problem? The interceptions, of course:

"There were two touchdowns we couldn't do anything about," [defensive end Rahim] Alem said in reference to quarterback Jarrett Lee throwing two interceptions to backup middle linebacker Darryl Gamble that were returned for touchdowns.
[...]
"Everybody has turnovers, but when you throw two interceptions for touchdowns, those are game changers," Alem said. "It's hard to come back from that."

Actually, Alem has enough blame to go around: It's not only the freshman picks. It's also the acute lack of Bo Pelini on the sideline:

"I wish I could comment on the schemes we're playing, but I just do my job," Alem said. "We're giving up too many big plays. In two or three plays a game we're not gap solid, and they just gash us on running plays. That happened at Florida and at South Carolina."

A "no comment" on the schemes you're playing is a comment on the schemes, Rahim (at right, doing his job, more or less), and fortunately for your job, Les Miles happens to agree with you after another cavalcade of big plays and the second 50-plus-point effort by an elite opponent in three weeks. The Tigers are tenth in the SEC in pass efficiency defense, ninth in total D and next-to-last in points allowed, all categories they dominated Miles' first three years. The five opposing SEC quarterbacks to date have a solid 144 efficiency rating, up dramatically from 104 in '06 and '07 under Pelini.

That's not so good for the jobs of first-year co-coordinators Doug Mallory and Bradley Dale Peveto, who get a virtual bye against Tulane to whip something up for Nick Saban's return to Baton Rouge in two weeks. More of the same, and impatient Tiger fans will have a very clear message for them.

A mere 55-point loss, they could have tolerated. Colorado fans know they can't ask for much these days. The Buffs aren't in a position to compete with Missouri for the Big 12 North title or anything. But some freakin' points would be nice:

Plenty of Colorado football fans are angry with coach Dan Hawkins today because of his stubborn refusal to take the easy way out and kick a field goal Saturday night in Columbia, Mo., to avoid the embarrassment of a shutout.

Hawkins chose instead to try to score touchdowns. He defended the decision by saying a field goal would have been pointless when his team was down by 34 and 58 points respectively in the two instances in which he could have kicked one.

"You're not going to go, 'Hey, good for us. We didn't get shutout,'" Hawkins said. "I mean, nobody is ever going to do that."

That's true, although Hawkins true revolutionaries will stay the course, no matter how bad Michigan looks. ... Ron Zook is not happy with his quarterback, or anybody else, really. ... And it's gonna be alright at UCLA. It's gonna be alright at UCLA. It's gonna be alright ...