ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- If it truly was the last game in this storied rivalry for Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer, who could blame him if he burns the tape?

	Dale Zanine/US Presswire
	A long 2008 season continued for Tennessee and Phillip Fulmer.

Part of his enduring legacy at Tennessee will be how he turned the tide against Alabama.

Before Saturday night's 29-9 beatdown at Neyland Stadium, he'd won 11 of his 15 meetings with the Crimson Tide. Never had Alabama won two in a row on his watch as head coach -- until Saturday night.

Despite a gallant effort by Tennessee's defense in the first half, it was a 60-minute reminder of everything that's wrong with the Vols' program right now.

They can't consistently drive the football. They're lacking in offensive playmakers. They kill themselves with bone-headed penalties, and they generally look like a second-tier SEC team -- the likes of which Fulmer once beat up on with relative ease.

The only thing easy about Tennessee football right now is getting out of Neyland Stadium at game's end. In both of their rivalry games this season (Florida and Alabama), there's been more orange spread out across campus and heading to their cars than in the stadium.

And on this Saturday, there were pockets of crimson-coated Alabama fans sitting throughout the West stands, meaning an awful lot of Tennessee fans sold their tickets.

"It was like a home game out there for us," Alabama offensive tackle Andre Smith said of the 25,000 or more Crimson Tide fans in attendance.

For Fulmer, it was another difficult pill to swallow. His team was beaten in just about every phase. And as much as any other time this season, he almost looked resigned to what most in Tennessee are now convinced will be his fate.

That after 30-plus years at his alma mater as a player and coach, this will be his final season as head coach.

"Our guys have held pretty tight," Fulmer said. "We are in a battle top to bottom. I'm just concerned with winning that fourth game, getting ourselves bowl eligible and finishing up the season the best we can."

The Vols (3-5, 1-4 SEC) are now 11-16 this decade against their three biggest rivals -- Alabama, Florida and Georgia. The Crimson Tide, since Nick Saban's arrival, have beaten the Vols by a combined 70-26 margin the last two years. Since 2002, Tennessee has lost 30 games, and 12 of those losses have been by 17 points or more.

It's not the direction Fulmer or anybody at Tennessee expects the program to be going, which means Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton will face a difficult decision in the next month.

The reality, though, is that the more the Vols keep losing and the more they keep tumbling in the SEC's hierarchy, the less difficult that decision becomes for Hamilton.