NASHVILLE — It turns out whatever ailed the University of Tennessee's defense in last weekend's embarrassing and costly loss at South Carolina was more of a one-game bug than a full-blown affliction.
Whether it was a fight in the locker room — a social media rumor that gained credibility this past week when ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit mentioned it as his reason to predict a Vanderbilt upset — or just a shaky unit that got exposed by a Gamecocks offense with a point to prove, there was reason for concern going into Saturday's regular-season and Southeastern Conference finale for the Volunteers.
Its pride bruised and its toughness challenged, Tennessee followed arguably its worst defensive effort since the dark days of Sal Sunseri as coordinator with its most impressive performance on that side of the ball all season.
A Vanderbilt team coming off back-to-back upsets of Kentucky and Florida, and needing a win at home to become bowl eligible, was thoroughly dominated in every aspect.
In earning its first shutout of the season, 56-0, the Vols' defensive front set the tone with 13 tackles for loss and three sacks, and a secondary that was without five injured regulars — and was absolutely torched by the Gamecocks — allowed Vandy an average of just 5.9 yards per completion.
The Commodores were just 3-of-17 on third-down conversions and 0-for-4 on fourth. Vanderbilt had possession for 43:45 — compared to UT's 16:15 — but never threatened to find the end zone, and its best scoring opportunity was a 39-yard field goal attempt in the first half.
Even when Vandy picked up 22 yards and a first down on a fake punt, Matthew Hayball was stripped of the ball. UT recovered, and two plays later, Jaylen Wright went 50 yards for a score.
The 10th-ranked Vols limited the Commodores to 254 total yards — 147 on the ground and 107 passing, averaging just 4.5 yards per play — as the program earned its first 10-win regular season since 2003.
As impressive as it was, the defensive performance only served to make last week's effort — or lack thereof — all the more bizarre. Losing at South Carolina would have been understandable, but to look so futile and utterly lost, compared with every other game, will just never make sense, especially with a likely College Football Playoff berth on the line.
But the Vols were able to shut out the outside noise and the disappointment of losing out on a spot in the four-team playoff with as impressive a response as could be expected.
"Our defense wanted to respond and did respond," Vols coach Josh Heupel said after the thrashing. "They were disappointed and hurt with the way they performed last week. At the end of the day, you've got be tough and physical. Tonight there were a lot of schemes we saw a week ago, but we played them better.
"A lot of people questioned the culture of our program and the toughness of our kids. The only way we've gotten here is because of the culture of our program."
The win should also solidify Tennessee's spot in a New Year's Six bowl — potentially the Sugar Bowl, but more likely either the Orange or Cotton. They'll have to wait another week to learn that destination, but even with last week's inexplicable loss, the resumé — two wins over top-10 opponents, more than TCU, Ohio State, Southern California and Alabama combined — certainly warrants an invitation to a premier destination.
"Ten wins hadn't been done in a long time here," Heupel said. "So much uncertainty when we took over two years ago, and this is the group that stayed and chose to be here. I'm really proud of what they accomplished."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.