Tennessee snags SEC East

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- After all Tennessee overcame to get to this point, the lopsided losses, the calls for the coach to be fired, blowing a 17-point lead was no reason to get down.

Now the resilient Volunteers are heading back to Atlanta, Southeastern Conference East champions after a 52-50 four-overtime victory over Kentucky on Saturday.

“I think at one time during the season we were 1-2 and everyone had given us up for dead,” Volunteers Coach Phillip Fulmer said. “We had one of those Sunday night player meetings, where you pound on the podium and tell them what they need to do to be a better football team, and to their credit, they have listened.”

Tennessee’s Antonio Reynolds stuffed quarterback Andre Woodson’s two-point conversion attempt in the fourth overtime, ending one of the wildest games in the history of this rivalry and capping off the Volunteers’ improbable rally from 1-2 in the SEC.

The Volunteers (9-3, 6-2) earned a shot at Louisiana State in next week’s SEC title game by beating the Wildcats (7-5, 3-5) for the 23rd straight time, the longest active winning streak by one team over another in major college football.

Tennessee and Georgia finished tied atop the East, but the Volunteers earned the title thanks to their 35-14 win over the Bulldogs on Oct. 6.

“To win that game under such circumstances, we were very fortunate,” said Tennessee’s Erik Ainge, who threw for a career-high 397 yards and seven touchdowns. “We somehow got it done. it wasn’t perfect on either side, but we find a way to get it done.”

Kentucky trailed, 31-14, late in the third quarter but scrambled to tie it on a 20-yard field goal by Lones Seiber at the end of regulation.

The teams traded touchdowns in the first overtime, but the Wildcats seemed to get the break they needed when Sam Maxwell intercepted Ainge at the goal line.

Three straight Kentucky runs put Seiber in range to win it, but his 35-yard attempt was blocked by Dan Williams.

“Coach called it desperation block,” Williams said. “You’ve got to believe you can get it. If you don’t, you lose.”

Woodson matched Ainge throw for throw, passing for 430 yards and six touchdowns, but the Wildcats couldn’t repeat the magic that propelled them to an overtime victory over No. 1 Louisiana State in October.

“It was a great college football game, but the way I look at it, the wrong team ended up winning,” Kentucky Coach Rich Brooks said. “The streak lives.”

The Volunteers seemed out of the SEC East race after being crushed, 41-17, at Alabama last month.

Earlier this season, Tennessee was pounded, 59-20, by Florida. After the Alabama loss, Tennessee won five in a row.