Is Phil Fulmer's Job at Tennessee Beyond Saving?

That means one more loss would free Hamilton from the language of the contract.

It wouldn't free him from the six million dollar buyout. But it also wouldn't put him in a potentially unethical situation—it would free him with a clear mind and conscience to pull the trigger on a move if that's what he deemed best for the program.

What it would also do is create a perverse second half of the season.

Ever seen those movies where the troubled head coach is told he has to win every game or he'll be fired?

Truth can be stranger than fiction.

The least of us who are already cheering for Tennessee to lose so we can get a new head coach might have a more tangible reason to do so after Saturday. If the Vols lose to Georgia, Fulmer would have to finish 6-0 to get that guaranteed extension.

Look, we don't know if Tennessee is good enough to score enough points to beat Georgia. Or Alabama. Or Vanderbilt. Or anyone else on the schedule that's left. And we won't until we see it play out.

Tennessee will be the underdog at least twice more, and probably rightfully so, but you just don't know until you see it. It's pointless to discuss Tennessee's odds of beating Alabama right now. All they can do is play Georgia.

So finally...having said all the negative...it remains true that if the Vols somehow find a way to beat Georgia, they remain relevant for another week.

Not waiting for next year or the next head coach, but still relevant in 2008—and relevance is the best cure for apathy.

If the SEC football gods are even kinder and LSU beats Florida on Saturday night, the Vols will be just one more Florida slip-up (and an assumed Vanderbilt collapse) from being back in the driver's seat in the SEC East. Stranger than fiction indeed.

Beating Georgia won't save Fulmer's job. But it can keep it alive for another week.

Whether it builds towards eight wins and a contract extension, or the potential to be a player in the SEC East race...all that will have to work itself out each and every week. But Fulmer, and the Vols, would still be alive in the present moment for 2008.

A schedule that should bring an Alabama team ranked no lower than No. 2 to Knoxville on Oct. 25 will offer an additional opportunity to make some noise in 2008.

Every season tells a story, and while this one has been a nightmare for the Vols thus far, it's going to be interesting to the finish either way.

Will Fulmer get to eight wins, and if he does, what will Hamilton do with the state of the program as it currently is?

If he doesn't, then is that it? And if so, who's next in Knoxville?

Or can Tennessee pick up an upset in there somewhere to stay relevant in the SEC East race?

Can we still somehow play for a championship this season while we're playing for Fulmer's future?

All the tension, emotion, and both the present and future direction of the Tennessee program come together in Athens on Saturday.

Lose, and the apathy grows and you're one more loss away from your guaranteed extension.

Lose, and more fans cross the point of no return, which sooner or later Hamilton is going to cross if the losses keep piling up.

Lose, and the opportunity to leave the university you've done so much for on your own terms slips further and further out of your own hands.

But win...

Win, and we live to play this game all over again next week.

But at least we'll have something to play for.

Go Vols.

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