George W. Bush was president, “The Departed” was the nation’s highest-grossing film, and the iPhone had yet to be released the last time the Tennessee Volunteers triumphed against an Associated Press top-10 football foe.
On Oct. 7, 2006, Phillip Fulmer’s 13th-ranked Vols traveled to Georgia and spotted Mark Richt’s 10th-ranked Bulldogs a 24-7 lead before surging back for a 51-33 win. Since then, there have been 33 consecutive losses to top-10 teams, a tortuous skid that was extended last season with defeats against No. 9 Florida, No. 3 Georgia and No. 1 Alabama by the average score of 37-10.
Tennessee was unranked and often hapless in 29 of those 33 setbacks, but Jeremy Pruitt’s Vols are No. 14 entering Saturday afternoon’s CBS-televised showdown against Kirby Smart’s No. 3 Bulldogs inside Sanford Stadium. Pruitt helped contribute to Tennessee’s streak as Alabama’s defensive backs coach (2010-12) and defensive coordinator (2016-17), and he isn’t nearly as concerned about past Vols woes as he is about Saturday’s opponent.
“I think Georgia is one of the better teams I’ve seen in college football over the last couple of years,” Pruitt said this week. “These guys have a lot of team speed, and they’re big. They’re physical at the line of scrimmage and have good running backs. On the defensive side, they create a lot of negative plays. On special teams, because of their athleticism, they’ve got good returners.
“They don’t have a weakness.”