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LSU quarterback Matt Flynn, right, and lineman Herman Johnson react after their 50-48 triple overtime loss to Arkansas. The Tigers face Tennessee in the SEC title game for a likely invitation to the Sugar Bowl.

“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 a school-record seven touchdowns. “We somehow got it done. It wasn’t perfect on either side but we find a way to get it done.”

The Volunteers began the season ranked No. 15, but were out of the polls completely following two blowout losses in their first three games. They won their next three to climb back to No. 20, but a 24-point loss at Alabama dropped them out again.

Fans were calling for coach Phillip Fulmer’s job after the loss to the Crimson Tide. His players responded by winning their next five games.

“We were 1-2 and everyone had given us up for dead,” 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.”

Ainge has been the catalyst, completing 64.2 percent of his passes for 2,908 yards with 27 touchdowns and eight interceptions. With decent numbers against LSU and in the Volunteers’ bowl game, the senior will be second on the school’s all-time yardage list for a season, behind only Peyton Manning.

He’s been helped by having Arian Foster in the backfield. The junior tailback’s 1,107 yards rushing are tied for the 11th-most in school history for a single season. He had 118 against Kentucky along with 98 receiving yards.

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These teams met in the 2001 SEC championship game. Tennessee was ranked No. 2 and was set to play for the BCS title with a win, but No. 21 LSU upset the Volunteers 31-20.

Tennessee leads the all-time series 20-6-3. The teams split their meetings in 2005 and 2006, with each winning on the road.

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Johnson still directing Utes offense

Brian Johnson, who led Utah to an upset of Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl, is ready for his first season as the Utes' offensive coordinator. At 25, the ex-QB will be the youngest with that job at the FBS level.

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