HALL OF FAME : Tennessee Starts New Era With Bang

The Tennessee era under Coach Phillip Fulmer couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. And if Boston College Coach Tom Coughlin happens to move to the professional ranks, his reign will have ended with a thud.

Fulmer won his first official game as coach of the 17th-ranked Volunteers on Friday, 38-23, over Boston College in the Hall of Fame Bowl.

Heath Shuler ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more to lead Tennessee, which took a 31-point lead before surrendering two touchdowns and two two-point conversions in the last six minutes of the game.

Tennessee’s sophomore quarterback scored on carries of one and 14 yards and had touchdown pass plays of 27 yards to Cory Fleming and 69 yards to Mose Phillips.

Shuler completed 18 of 23 passes for 245 yards and gained 31 yards rushing in six attempts before being replaced late in the third quarter by Jerry Colquitt, who threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Fleming during the fourth quarter.

Although the Volunteers (9-3) finished with four victories under Fulmer, this was the coach’s first since succeeding Johnny Majors, who was forced out after 16 seasons at Tennessee.

The long-time assistant won three games while his former boss was recovering from heart bypass surgery in September.

“I don’t feel any differently than I felt the first three ballgames, and all the ball games for that matter,” Fulmer said. “It’s exciting for Tennessee to win, and I’m just really glad to be part of it.”

No. 16 Boston College finished 8-3-1 after going 4-7 in Coughlin’s first season. The coach has been the focal point of speculation about the New York Giants’ coaching vacancy, but Coughlin insists there has been no official contact from the NFL team.

“My future is I’m standing here at the podium as the head coach of Boston College,” Coughlin said.

On the Eagles’ first appearance in a Bowl game since 1986, Coughlin said: “I think that’s probably the poorest tackling performance I’ve seen in my life.”

Boston College fell behind, 14-0, in the first 10 minutes and the Eagles never recovered. Glenn Foley threw two touchdown passes to Pete Mitchell, covering 12 and 17 yards, and Darnell Campbell scored on a seven-yard run.