Tennessee Miracle Makes Vols Lock for SEC East Crown, Potential CFP Dark Horse

On Oct. 6, 2001, former Georgia quarterback David Greene—then a redshirt freshman—connected with fullback Verron Haynes for a touchdown on Rocky Top in which former Georgia play-by-play broadcaster Larry Munson famously said, "We just stepped on their face with a hobnail boot and broke their nose. We just crushed their face."

Fifteen years later, on Oct. 1, 2016 in Athens, Georgia, Tennessee returned the favor.

After true freshman Georgia quarterback Jacob Eason hit fellow true freshman Riley Ridley to put Georgia up 31-28 with just 10 seconds left, Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs heaved up a prayer. That prayer was answered when sophomore quarterback-turned-wide receiver Jauan Jennings hauled in the game-winning, 43-yard touchdown as time expired to crush the hopes and dreams of Georgia fans.

Head coach Butch Jones immediately put it in proper perspective, according to quotes emailed by Georgia.

"

Kind of surreal. I saw the ball, tight spiral, had good lift. I thought we had a chance. It’s one of those moments in time that you’ll remember forever. I’ve also been on the other end of them, too, and you remember them forever. I think it’s a great illustration that you play until the clock hits zeros.

From my vantage point I could see him come down with the ball, land on his back, and all I could see was a mad rush to the field. The thing I was worried about was replay, but there was no replay needed for that. It’s something I’ll remember for a lifetime.

"

They also locked up the SEC East title, barring some sort of unforeseen injury that derails the Volunteers hype train.

The entire offseason—one in which the Vols were picked to win the SEC East by the media at media days—the knock on Jones' crew was that it couldn't close, after blowing two-score leads in three of its four losses in 2015.

So far in 2016, it's been the exact opposite.

The Vols have come back from three-score deficits in back-to-back games—wins over Florida and Georgia, which were picked to finish second and third in the division, respectively.

"Just resiliency," Jones said. "Eleven straight wins—fifth-longest streak in school history. But really the most important thing is that it’s one step closer. We needed to be 1-0 [today], and we were 1-0. Puts us to 5-0 overall. Just finding ways to win football games, what can I say?"

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The fight, resiliency and calmness Tennessee has shown this season under very trying circumstances can't be ignored, and it has the program in the SEC East driver's seat.

With head-to-head wins over its two biggest division rivals—and the only two teams that have looked anywhere close to division-title contenders this year—Tennessee fans should start booking reservations in Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 3. 

Florida, with the one conference loss on its resume, has massive offensive line issues that were evident on Saturday in a 13-6 win at Vanderbilt. It also major quarterback concerns, with Luke Del Rio still sidelined with an MCL sprain. Not to mention the Gators' unenviable task of having to slow down LSU's running back attack of Leonard Fournette and Derrius Guice next week, and they have Georgia left on the schedule—which will hand at least one more loss to one of Tennessee's two primary foes.

Georgia is already sitting with two SEC losses, which will make a division title more fiction than reality this year.

That's not to say Georgia can't improve. It certainly can, especially considering its offensive line looked great for the majority of the Tennessee game (for the first time all season) and Eason has settled into the starting role nicely.

But that mountain is too steep for first-year head coach Kirby Smart to climb now.

Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

The Vols have their sights set on more than just the division title, though.

Two games into the brutal four-game stretch that included the games versus Florida and at Georgia and sends the Vols to Texas A&M next week before returning home to host Alabama, Jones' crew is sitting pretty. 

They got over the Florida hangover in time to pull off a miracle in Athens and now have the knowledge and experience with veteran leaders such as Dobbs and running backs Alvin Kamara and Jalen Hurd to help make sure history doesn't repeat itself heading into the trip to College Station.

This is the kind of game Tennessee needed if it wants to be a legitimate College Football Playoff team.

While the Vols are loaded with experience, nobody on this roster had been in the situation Tennessee was in after the win over the Gators last week. It became "the hunted" with one win over Florida and managed to prevail this week over another rival despite the schedule-makers doing the team no favors.

Survive and advance.

Even if Tennessee drops a game in the next couple of weeks, the bye week comes on Oct. 22. With only one loss, write it in ink that the Vols will be in the College Football Playoff discussion. The last four SEC East opponents they face are South Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt.

Get ready for the SEC Championship Game to be a de facto national quarterfinal.

The Vols have come of age before our very eyes, navigated to the most important part of their brutal four-game gauntlet and emerged as one of college football's most dramatic teams.

Vols fans could probably do without some of the late-game stress, though.

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics courtesy of cfbstats unless otherwise noted. All recruiting information is courtesy of Scout.com. Odds provided by Odds Shark.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.