After Arkansas completed the over the knee (OTK) spanking over our beloved Vols (OTK I discovered through Google is a porn genre (NSFW)) Chris Fowler succinctly summed it up best: “Tennessee was uninspired and apathetic.” Coach Fulmer has fooled all of the pundits, again, all but us here at the LWS. Follow along as we peel off the layers of this stinky onion.
Coach Fulmer has a Master Plan. Much like Doctor
Pavlov and his slobbering dogs, Fulmer has a firm handle of the Tennessee Fanbase, his Team and his own destiny. Clearly, he has his giant “Dinty Moore” thumb on the pulse of the operation.
(One can see Fulmer’s thumbprints on the cans)
The basic tenets of Fulmer’s plan are:
- Beat Florida through a proxy. Unable to defeat the Gators himself, Fulmer allowed the most complete SEC West Team (sorry LSU, Les Miles is holding you back) to take the Vols to the woodshed thus propelling the Razorbacks higher in the standings and into the SEC Championship Game.
- Keep Coach Cutcliffe at Tennessee. The dismal offensive performance will most certainly end CBS and ESPN’s constant comparison of last year’s dismal offense to this year’s vastly improved offense. This comparison makes Coach Cut look like an Uber-Coach. After being manhandled by the Arkansas Defense, Coach Cutcliffe now looks like damaged goods that no other school will want him as a head coach.
- Win a Bowl Game. This is the most important part of Fulmer’s plan. There is no room for error here. Prior to the LSU Game, the Vols were being considered for a BCS Bowl Berth. After the LSU loss a BCS Bowl seemed unlikely. However, the Vols were still being considered for a Major Bowl game. In fact, one scenario had UT back in the ciTrUs Bowl against Wisconsin. Now, after being smoked by the Razorbacks, Tennessee has the opportunity to play in a winnable bowl game against a lesser team. This future bowl win will be the crowning jewel on a highly successful season.
But there are many unanswered questions like: Why didn’t Erik Ainge play? Well he had an ankle injury you would say, but now that we know Fulmer’s plan, the severity of the injury seems to be in doubt. Why did Fulmer stop running LeMarcus Coker? Why continue running that crazy Mustang Defensive scheme? We just don’t know the answers to these questions. With Vanderbilt looming next week, how will these puzzle pieces fit into Fulmer’s plan?
Houston Nutt was obviously a willing conspirator to Fulmer’s plan. These two fine coaches have planned and executed ‘operations’ before. Case in point, Tennessee’s 1998 National Championship season. 
Why else would Arkansas Quarterback Clint Stoerner stumble and drop the ball unless he was ordered to do so by Houston Nutt? Fulmer needed that play and Houson Nutt was more than willing to help. But all favors have strings attached, and Coach Nutt called in that favor last night. It just happened to fit in Fulmer’s plan and immediately became a ‘win-win’ for both coaches. What Houston Nutt needed was validation of his controversial hire of High School Coach Gus Malzahn. This win over the Vols legitimized the Malzahn hire and virtually assured the Vols a Bowl Game that they can win soundly. Coach Fulmer was merely returning the favor to Coach Nutt.
We here at LWS believe that Fulmer is a MENSA-like genius. His execution has been flawless. The fruits of this plan will eventually yield the desired results that will again appease the unruly and boisterous Tennessee fanbase.
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