The Tennessee Volunteers, who began the season with national championship aspirations, have just lost 16-15 to the perennial 4th-in-the-SEC-east South Carolina Gamecocks.

The Vols fall to 3-4 overall and 2-4 in the SEC. They are 0-3 in the SEC East. They were favorites to win it.

2005 is shaping up to be the worst season for Tennessee football in a very long time. Add to that the fact that pre-season expectations were higher than they had been for a very long time, and you have serious problems on Rocky Top.

Brace yourselves.

This is not going to be pretty.

Pete Fiutak of College Football News says the Tennessee Volunteers’ schedule is as brutal as it gets:

Well, there is some excuse for Tennessee. I don’t care what any formula says, playing at Florida, at LSU, Georgia, at Alabama, and at Notre Dame is as brutal as it gets. Based on winning percentage, the teams with the toughest schedules played so far are: 1) Arkansas, 2) Oklahoma, 3) Tennessee, and tied for fourth are South Florida and Michigan. Going into this weekend, if you want to go by the teams with the toughest schedules yet to be played, they are 1) Cal, 2) Stanford, 3) Iowa, 4) USC, 5) Kansas.

John Pennington has an excellent piece on GoVolsXtra today (subscription required) featuring a fictional conversation between Tennessee Volunteer head coach Phillip Fulmer and the ghost of former head coach General Robert R. Neyland.

Fulmer is studying tape when the ghost of Neyland enters and starts doling out advice, including when to throw, when to quick kick, etc. After dispensing his tips, Neyland prepares to leave because he’s got to get back to his game against Bear Bryant and Alabama:

“You know how the Bear couldn’t beat me in life? Streak’s still intact.”

Fulmer mulls this over. “General, why don’t you sit back down and tell me a little more about this quick-kick idea. By the way, how do you handle the call-in shows?”

Neyland looks bewildered.

“They don’t have call-in shows in the afterlife?”

“They do but not in heaven.”

An excellent piece, John.

South Carolina Gamecock head coach Steve Spurrier is saying that the Tennessee Volunteers should expect a bag full of trick plays this afternoon:

“We’re a pretty loose team,” he said. “It’s not the end of the world if we get beat. They’re the ones that have a little heat on them – oh no, let’s don’t lose to South Carolina.

“There’s probably a little more pressure on their team. We should be loose and let it fly. We can run all of our trick plays. We’ve been saving about 20 of them.”

How will the trick plays fair when they’re run by Gamecocks instead of Gators and when they’re run against the likes of Mahelona, Haralson, Hall, Simon, and Gaither?

Tune in tonight at 7:45 p.m. on ESPN2.