KNOXVILLE - One of Tennessee's two long losing streaks to a bitter rival is not like the other.
An 11-year run of futility against Florida has been supremely frustrating for the Volunteers, particularly after the Gators scored the game-winning touchdown on fourth-and-14 late in last month's game in Gainesville.
The current eight-year skid against Alabama, Tennessee's biggest traditional rival, isn't even the longest in the series - the Crimson Tide won 11 in a row from 1971 to 1981.
What it has been, however, is a brutal reality check for the Vols, who have endured one of the worst stretches in program history in the same span Alabama has won three national championships and three Southeastern Conference titles in nine seasons under coach Nick Saban.
"Everyone talks about the Florida rivalry or the Vandy rivalry, but there's just a little bit different feeling about Alabama," said Vols left tackle Kyler Kerbyson, who's from Knoxville. "There's more tradition to it. There's a lot of stuff that goes into it more than just the game. People really feel for this game. They wait for it all year.
"With that in mind, you've got to have a different mentality going into it and a different mentality to win the game and (for) your preparation. I think that's what helps drive me a lot, is being from here and growing up a UT fan, is thinking about all the other fans that I know, my family and how important this is to them."
Saban has never lost to Tennessee as Alabama's coach, and the margin of victory for the Tide in their past eight wins against the Vols is 23.5 points. The Vols have been outgained by nearly 160 yards per game during the streak.
Alabama has beaten Tennessee by 31 points three times during the streak, and the closest game other than the memorable 2009 contest that ended 12-10 was last season, when Tennessee lost 34-20 after trimming a 27-0 deficit to 10 points in the third quarter. Tennessee has led Alabama all of three times (2007, 2010 and 2011) for a grand total of 14 minutes and 14 seconds during the losing streak.
The gap between the two programs couldn't be much bigger than it has been during Saban's tenure, but the Vols left for Tuscaloosa on Friday confident they now have enough talent and are good enough to play with - and beat - Alabama.
"That's kind of the standard we've set for ourselves," linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin said. "If we come back with anything less than a win, it's unacceptable. In previous years we kind of didn't know how our talent matched, or we didn't know how to win games. We've won games here, and we're just trying to keep building our program and keep building the standards and expectations."
The Vols were coming off the biggest win of head coach Butch Jones's first season when they last ventured to Tuscaloosa, where Tennessee hasn't won since 2003.
Top-ranked Alabama led 21-0 after the first quarter and 35-0 at halftime.
"When we went down two years ago," Kerbyson recalled, "it was almost like, 'survive.' It wasn't the same. We were losing a lot more then. It had almost become a usual thing to lose, and now it's different. We've turned this around, and we believe in ourselves and we believe in each other, everyone around us and everyone in the organization that we can be successful."
That hasn't been the case in this rivalry since probably 2009, when Lane Kiffin - now in his second season as Alabama's offensive coordinator - got the Vols to within Terrance Cody blocking Daniel Lincoln's field goal as time expired of a colossal upset of the nation's No. 1 team and eventual national champion.
That game was six years ago today.
The 2009 Vols entered that year's Alabama game with a 3-3 record, with the losses by a combined 18 points, and were coming off an open date after a 45-19 dismantling of Georgia.
The 2015 Vols are also 3-3, with the losses by a combined 12 points, and they're coming off an open date and a win against Georgia.
"We expect to win," Tennessee safety Brian Randolph said. "We know we're talented. They're probably just as talented. I feel like we've been through it all this year, been through the losses. We finally got a good win on our shoulders. We all like the feeling of it, so we're just trying to get it again."
On Monday, Jones said Alabama's program is "elite," and then he said that's the level his Vols are trying to reach.
A competitive showing would signal Tennessee is well on its way.
An upset would be the program's biggest win in years.
"It's been a long time since we beat them," Kerbyson said. "It does mean a lot. I definitely want to get that monkey off my back. It was a huge relief when we beat Georgia. It felt like a weight was lifted. I want to get that same feeling this week."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.