When Tennessee hosts Ole Miss Saturday at Neyland Stadium, it will mark Lane Kiffin’s return to Rocky Top as a head coach.
Kiffin, who is in his second season with the Rebels, served as Tennessee’s head coach in 2009.
He guided the Vols to a 7-6 record, including a 4-4 mark in the Southeastern Conference.
Kiffin’s last game with the Vols was a 37-14 loss to Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl on Dec. 31, 2009.
On Jan. 12, 2010, Kiffin left Tennessee to become USC’s head coach.
Ahead of Saturday’s game, Vols Wire will look at each of Kiffin’s victories as head coach of Tennessee.
This installment will revisit the Vols’ 45-19 victory against Georgia on Oct. 10, 2009.
Tennessee entered the 2009 campaign after finishing 5-7 in 2008, leading to the dismissal of longtime head coach and VFL Phillip Fulmer.
Oct 10, 2009; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers defensive tackle Montori Hughes (93) and guard Jacques McClendon (65) dump the Gatorade on head coach Lane Kiffin following their victory over the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee defeated Georgia 45-19. Mandatory Credit: Paul Abell-USA TODAY Sports
Kiffin was 2-3 in his first five games at Tennessee.
Tennessee opened the season with a 63-7 victory over Western Kentucky. The Vols then lost consecutive games to UCLA and Florida. UT bounced back to beat Ohio before losing to Auburn on Oct.3, setting up an SEC tilt against Georgia.
Kiffin picked up his first SEC win when the Vols defeated Georgia.
Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Crompton went 20-of-27 for a career-high 310 yards. He had three touchdown passes, but had an interception returned for a score by Georgia’s Bacari Rambo.
The two SEC East rivals slugged through a scoreless first quarter. The Vols scored first when Crompton connected with Gerald Jones on a 6-yard touchdown pass with 13 minutes, 59 seconds remaining in the second frame.
It was one of three scoring strikes for Crompton in the quarter and helped the Vols open a 21-12 lead by halftime.
Crompton also had touchdown passes to Denarius Moore and Marsalis Teague in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, Daniel Lincoln kicked a 30-yard field goal. Montario Hardesty scored on a 39-yard run and Jones caught a second touchdown pass to put the game out of reach.
UT’s Bryce Brown closed out the scoring with a 1-yard plunge in the fourth quarter.
