After hearing the talk, UT defense makes statement

They had heard the talk all week and most of it wasn’t good.

Writers, talk show hosts, sportscasters, fans – heck, even Billy Bob at the hardware store – said they had no chance of stopping Arkansas’ Darren McFadden.

And when it was all over, junior linebacker Jerod Mayo spoke for the defense.

"He’s a great back," he said of McFadden. "But he’s not going to win the Heisman Trophy in Neyland Stadium, I promise you that."

Mayo and his Tennessee teammates made sure of that Saturday with their best performance of the season, quieting the star tailback and shutting down the Razorbacks in a 34-13 win.

McFadden got his numbers, rushing 22 times for 117 yards, but scored as many touchdowns as you or I did – none.

That would be one less TD than Mayo, whose 34-yard interception return late in the game served as an exclamation point to end the best sentence this up-and-down Vol team has composed in 2007.

It was hard to believe this was the same defense which has been so pliable against the run, missed tackles, covered poorly and subjected long-time defensive coordinator John Chavis to more heat than it’s put on quarterbacks this year.

Yesterday, with the offense playing mistake-free but ordinary football, it was the defense which had its day in the chilly November sun.

"What’s done is done," linebacker Rico McCoy said of the earlier struggles, which included allowing 45, 59 and 41 points in road losses. "We just had a good feeling all week. It was a championship ball game and we knew we had to get it done."

With a rush defense rated 74th in the nation entering the game, few though the Volunteers could get it done. But this is why sports are the best reality show going – they don’t follow a script.

And the reality yesterday was that when the defensive line plays to its ability and the back seven tackles well, this defense can stop anyone, even an NFL-ready back like McFadden.

"It was all what the players did," the embattled Chavis said.

Chavis expressed confidence all week, even when logic suggested there was none to express. He said all week he had a plan.

That plan was to funnel everything between the tackles and wrap up. Except for a handful of plays, his players executed that plan perfectly.

"I think we came running on the field at least four times today because the defense did something to fire us up," quarterback Erik Ainge said. "When we do what we did on defense and we’re able to run the football, it makes the game easy."

Ainge wasn’t great Saturday, completing only 12-of-25 passes for 128 yards. But he didn’t have to be great – just mistake-free – because the defense made McFadden’s Heisman dreams vanish.

"They did a great job on defense of scheming," McFadden said. "They kept us off-balance. They did a great job at tackling and I don’t think there were too many times I was missed. They did a great job."

Like their head coach, Phillip Fulmer, who all but scolded the media for being negative after yesterday’s game, the players acknowledged the week’s doomsday tone served as a motivator.

In fact, Mayo asked for an extra helping of criticism with Vanderbilt coming to town next week.

"Every time you guys talk bad about us, we come out and play good," he said. "So keep talking bad."

Too late, Jerod. At least for a week.