KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The sea of orange was again seeing red. And Phillip Fulmer was left to do what he does best in such situations -- deliver a concession speech.

Fulmer has the drill down by know, no notes necessary. A Tennessee loss to Florida is becoming as common as Steve Spurrier becoming agitated with one of his quarterbacks. The circumstances change, but the results are all too familiar.

A controversial 27-23 defeat Saturday to Florida at Neyland Stadium left Vols fans to pelt the field with debris and Fulmer to clean up the mess. For the seventh time in eight meetings, the man who has the best winning percentage among active Division I-A college coaches fell to his nemesis with the visor.

	Phillip Fullmer says some coaches are too hard on players during the spring.

In eight seasons at UT, Fulmer has lost just 15 games. But seven have come against Spurrier and the Gators.

For most of the world, it is no shame losing to Florida. The Gators have won a slew of Southeastern Conference titles and claimed the 1996 national championship.

But this has become increasingly aggravating to the Vols, who now need the Gators to lose two conference games in order to have a shot at representing the league in the SEC title game.

Not that the Gators are their old imposing selves, which has to make losing to them all the more disheartening. Florida hasn't won the SEC since 1996 and had lost three straight to end the 1999 season. They had not won a game against a ranked team since last year's victory over Tennessee and had their share of woes coming into the game.

With quarterback Jesse Palmer being strung along on Spurrier's short leash, with an anemic rushing attack, with a defense that was manhandled for most of the day. . .the Gators still won.

UT outrushed Florida by 164 yards, controlled the clock for 36:52 to 23:08. The Gators ran nine plays for 1 yard in the first quarter and had just three first downs at halftime.

"We stole this game," Spurrier said. "Tennessee outplayed us. Tennessee deserved it more than us."

Vols fans will point to the controversial 3-yard touchdown catch by Jabar Gaffney with 14 seconds remaining, the one that appeared to be stripped by UT defensive back Willie Miles.

"The world knows it wasn't a catch," Miles said afterward. "I can't do anything about it but keep my head up. The world knows. . . I thought I got a hand in there and he dropped it."

No matter. It should have never come down to that play. Not when you move inside the opponents' 20-yard line five times and come away with five field goals. Not when pound the ball on the ground, but inexplicably throw a sideline pass that is intercepted and returned for a touchdown. Not when you have a player, Travis Henry, rush for 175 yards. Not when you pin the opponent back at its 9-yard line, just more than two minutes remaining, only one drive to its credit all day, and allow a 91-yard game-winning drive.

Fulmer, to his credit, would not be drawn into the game-ending controversy. "It's irrelevant," he said. "We can bounce that ping pong ball back and forth all day. We aren't going to hang anything on one play or one official. It's done."

Perhaps Fulmer knows too much about his team, one that is rebuilding after the loss of several key contributors, one that is trying to find its way with a new quarterback. But this game was there to be had, and Fulmer was left to talk about "pride" and "great effort" and "playing our hearts out."

"Our pride is hurt, but the sun will come up and we will fight again," he said.

There is no reason to doubt him.

Fulmer has delivered similar eulogies, with the Vols always emerging strong from their mourning period.

After all, they have plenty of experience.

Dawgs barking
Perhaps Georgia used its week off to see that the season does not have to be over. Even though the Bulldogs suffered the indignity of losing at South Carolina a week ago, they could see that the SEC race is not over. Not the way Tennessee and Florida played.

If the Bulldogs win their remaining games, they can still claim the SEC East title, which so many predicted them to do. Games await against Tennessee and Florida.

"We may be the laughingstock of the SEC right now, but we know how hard we've worked to get ready for this season," said offensive tackle Jonas Jennings. "Now we've got to go out and shock some people."

Unlikely hero
Jabar Gaffney didn't figure to be on the field for the Gators on Saturday, let alone have 91 receiving yards and the game-winning touchdown.

Gaffney is a walk-on who is lucky to be on the team.

Last year, after having been offered a scholarship to attend Florida, Gaffney was charged with grand theft when he was accused of stealing money and valuables from the locker room at Florida Field, the Gators' home field and site of a Florida high school championship game.

Gaffney pleaded guilty to petty theft, and Spurrier took away his scholarship and kicked him off the team.

"We encouraged him to transfer somewhere," Spurrier said. "I told him he was finished, basically."

But Spurrier listened to Gaffney's pleas. "Coach is a forgiving person. He believes every person deserves a second chance."

Spurrier gave it only after his athletic director and several school officials signed off. And only after Gaffney agreed to pay his own way to Florida this season.

The forgotten QB
The knock on his door last Sunday morning came from teammates who were interested in more than just idle conversation. They were there to tell Gary Godsey that it was his time to step up as Notre Dame's starting quarterback.

Opportunity knocking?

"I always knew I could play," said Godsey. "I just had to go out and show them."

Making his first collegiate start, Godsey completed 14 passes in Notre Dame's 23-21 victory over Purdue. That was one more completion than highly-acclaimed Purdue quarterback Drew Brees.

Not bad for a guy recruited to Notre Dame as a tight end.

Godsey took over for Arnaz Battle, who suffered a broken bone in his left wrist during an overtime loss to Nebraska.

The 6-foot-6 236-pound Godsey, whose brother George is the starting quarterback at Georgia Tech, dreamed of playing for the Irish. And he was undeterred when Notre Dame coach Bob Davie told him he could sign with the Irish -- as a tight end.

Davie had promised recruit C.J. Leak during his recruitment in 1998 that he would not recruit another quarterback. That's what he told Godsey, although he did promise him a chance at quarterback. (Leak later changed his mind and signed with Wake Forest).

"He was up front with me, whereas other coaches might not have been," Godsey said. "When I got here, I had it in my mind I would be a quarterback. I didn't know Arnaz was going to get hurt, but I knew I'd get my shot sometime."

Consistently inconsistent
How do you explain Stanford upsetting No. 5 Texas? Last year the Cardinal suffered a 69-17 beating to the Longhorns, lost to San Jose State, yet still went on to win the Pac-10.

This year, they again lost to San Jose State, prompting running back Deonce Whitaker, who rushed for 254 yards and two touchdowns against the Cardinal, to say of them: "Everyone knows what they have up there and what we don't. It's like Beverly Hills getting beat by Watts."

But the Cardinal bounced back, defeating the Longhorns 27-24 after blowing a 20-9 lead in the fourth quarter.

Bob Harig covers college football for the St. Petersburg Times.