Did UT win?

KNOXVILLE -- In a season of disappointment, Tennessee fans are just looking for any glimmers of hope they can find from their football team.

Despite a lackluster, 13-9 victory over Northern Illinois before a less-than-sellout crowd announced at 99,539, but in reality much smaller, the fandom could take away three positives:

* Their team won the game and any win right now is welcome after a 1-3 start and a ranking in the infamous Bottom Ten.

* Quarterback Nick Stephens played well in his debut, throwing a 52-yard touchdown pass to Denarius Moore with 9:49 left in the third quarter for the only touchdown of the game and finished a respectable 10 of 17 or 156 yards and also set up a field goal with a 43-yard strike to Gerald Jones.

* The Tennessee defense was able to bow its necks and keep Northern Illinois out of the end zone, holding the Huskies to three fields goals after they had gotten a first-and-10 at the 11 twice and a first-and-goal at the Vol nine after forcing a Stephens fumble on a sack late in the third quarter. Northern Illinois would have at least forced overtime had it scored a TD on any of the three ventures inside the red zone.

Otherwise, in the big picture, a four-point win over a team you were favored to beat by 16 is not reassuring with a trip coming up to Georgia next week.

"It's a win and we'll take it,'' said embattled head coach Phillip Fulmer. "We beat a good football team tonight. Our defense again played very well and our offense made some plays. I am proud of Nick. He ran the offense well and made some big plays for us.''

Tennessee's offense was still nothing to write home about. Take away the two long pass plays and it produced just 130 total yards against a mid-major that was 2-10 last year. Ever more disconcerting was the fact the Vols could not get one yard at the end to put the game away and keep Northern Illinois from getting the ball back. After Montario Hardesty went for nine yards on first down to the 18 to set up a second-and-one, three straight dives into the line failed to advance the needed yard and Northern Illinois got the ball back for one last play with 14 seconds left.

What proceeded was a play out of the famous Cal vs. Stanford game where the ball was lateralled repeatedly by Huskie players until it was lost out of bounds as time expired on the NIU three.

"That was extremely disappointing,'' said Fulmer of his offensive line's inability to get enough push to get the first down in that situation. "We were running safe plays, but we should have been able to get at least a yard in that situation and avoid the dramatics at the end.''

The defense saved the day with its outstanding play once again. It held a Northern Illinois offense that had put up 85 points in its previous three games to field goals of 25, 24 and 25 yards by Mike Salerno on possessions that had the Huskies in position to score touchdowns.

"That's our job description,'' said sophomore safety Eric Berry, "to keep the other team out of the end zone.''

The Vol defense limited Northern Illinois to just 198 total yards and 12 first downs -- none in the fourth quarter.

"We've always played well in big change situations,'' said Chavis of the opportunity NIU had after forcing the fumble on a sack and recovering from the nine. "It's always been a big deal for us and it was again tonight.''

The defense also set up one of two Daniel Lincoln field goals. Berry made a leaping interception on a pass midway through the second quarter and returned it 48 yards to the NIU 16. Tennessee appeared to get first-and-goal at the 5, but an ineligible receiver penalty forced a 36-yard field goal by Lincoln that tied it at 3-3 with 6:50 left in the first half.

The half ended that way and Tennessee, which had stuck with the short passes in the first half, came out and hit a long one on its first offensive play of the second half -- a 43-yarder from Stephens to Jones to the NIU 21 and after failing to get a first down, settled for a 34-yard field by Lincoln to go up 6-3 with 12:37 left in the third quarter.

The Vols came back on their next possession and hit the 52-yarder from Stephens to Moore to build a 13-3 cushion, but NIU wouldn't go away.

The Huskies put together a 10-play, 68-yard drive to get a Salerno field goal with 4:45 left in the third quarter and trim the lead to 13-6 and then sacked Stephens for a 14-yard loss on Tennessee's next possession and got the ball at Vol 9 to set up a Salerno field goal that trimmed it to 13-9.

Tennessee put together a drive early in the fourth quarter in which Arian Foster gained 40 of his 75 rushing yards on the night, but after getting to the NIU 4 with 7:26 to play and having a chance to put the game away, Stephens took a sack back to the 14 and Lincoln's missed a 32-yard field goal with 6:39 left and the defense had to keep NIU at bay and preserve the win. It allowed the Huskies no
first downs and just 14 total yards in the fourth quarter.

Stephens replaced Jonathan Crompton, who never entered the game.

"Nick did not disappoint me,'' said Fulmer. "I am proud of the way he managed the game and threw the ball. It was a good game for him.''

From all indications, this is now Stephens' team as the Vols head to Georgia next week.

Despite the lackluster offensive display, defensive coordinator John Chavis was upbeat about the Vols' chances heading to Georgia next week.

"If we didn't think we could beat them, we'd stay home and not even show up,'' said Chavis. "Georgia is a great football team and we'll have to play very well to have any opportunity to beat them. We'll play as well as we can play and hope we'll have some opportunities.''