Vols 13, Irish 17
This one was a heartbreaker if there ever were one. Two weeks. Two quarterbacks. Two injuries. A tough Notre Dame defense made it impossible for the Vols to hold on to a first-half lead, despite a valiant (though inexperienced) effort by third-string Rick Clausen. Clausen did the best he could, and a superb effort by the Tennessee defense gave the Vols a shot at victory, but it wasn’t to be.
It doesn’t hurt our standing in the SEC East, but it does hurt that we have two remaining conference games and a third string quarterback. If Erik Ainge is hurt badly, the Vols are going to have take Kentucky and, ahem, Vanderbilt more seriously than they thought.