The 2009 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Lane Kiffin. The 2009 season was Kiffin's first and only at Tennessee; he left to take the head coaching job at the University of Southern California (USC) on January 12, 2010. The Vols played their home games in Neyland Stadium and competed in the Eastern Division of the SEC. The Vols finished the season 7–6, 4–4 in SEC play, and lost in the Chick-fil-A Bowl 37–14 to Virginia Tech.

Personnel

Coaching staff Lane Kiffin – Head coach Monte Kiffin – Defensive coordinator Jim Chaney – Offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Ed Orgeron – Associate head coach/defensive line coach/recruiting coordinator Frank Wilson – Wide receivers coach Lance Thompson – Linebackers coach Eddie Gran – Runningbacks/special teams coach Willie Mack Garza – Defensive backs coach David Reaves – Quarterbacks coach James Cregg – Tight ends/tackles coach

Recruiting

Schedule

Schedule source: Dates and Matchups for all SEC Football Games for the 2009 SEC Season

Game summaries

Western Kentucky

Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin's tenure on Rocky Top got off to a smooth start. Jonathan Crompton threw five touchdown passes, leading the Volunteers to a 63–7 rout of Football Bowl Subdivision newcomers Western Kentucky and their largest margin of victory in nine years. "This is the way that we expect to play," Kiffin said. "We have high expectations here. I just talked to them about understanding that was one game and it's over. We've got to find a way to play better next week." In its first two drives, Tennessee looked as if it hadn't learned much under Kiffin, the youngest active coach in the division. Crompton threw a pass over the middle that was easily tipped by Thomas Majors and intercepted by Jamal Forrest, and Montario Hardesty fumbled after a hard hit. The Vols settled down after the first quarter, and Hardesty carried for 18 and 22 yards to help set up a 2-yard touchdown run by freshman Bryce Brown early in the second quarter. Bobby Rainey fumbled on the Hilltoppers' next play, and LaMarcus Thompson recovered for Tennessee. Crompton connected with Luke Stocker on his first of two touchdown catches to make it 14–0 only 7 seconds later.

Tennessee's defense looked every bit the stalwart it was in 2008, while the offense found the composure it was missing in last year's 5–7 season. Running backs broke through the line of scrimmage, wide receivers ran sound routes and Crompton threw accurately. "We really just tried to get our personality as a team on film. We wanted to be physical but smart. The game we just played is part of our resume, and we want to build that resume and send it out to our opponents," Vols safety Eric Berry said. The receiving corps hardly looked depleted by injuries, with Stocker, Marsalis Teague, Quintin Hancock and Brandon Warren each catching scoring strikes. Crompton, who was pulled with 12:26 left in the game, finished 21 of 28 with two picks, and his five TD passes was one more than his output last season. Hardesty finished with 160 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, and Brown had 104 yards rushing and a touchdown on 11 attempts. The Hilltoppers couldn't capitalize on the early turnovers and had minus-21 yards after their first 19 plays. Tennessee finished with 657 yards compared to Western Kentucky's 83.

Rainey had the Hilltoppers' only score on a 19-yard run with 2:41 in the third quarter that made it 35–7. The win was the Vols' easiest since a 70–3 victory over Louisiana-Monroe in 2000. Their 380 yards rushing were the most since 2004. The Vols were also joined by former Vols and current Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who before the game announced a $1 million gift for a new athletic training center. Though the attendance in the 100,011-capacity Neyland Stadium only reached 98,761, the fans turned out in droves as Kiffin and the Vols made the traditional "Vol Walk" from their buses to the stadium before the game. "I really had to make sure that I did not go up and down today, because that's what I talked about with our team a long time last night – dealing with the emotions of a wonderful scene like the Vol Walk, a wonderful event like running through the 'T' and playing in front of 100,000 people," Kiffin said. Western Kentucky went on to go 0–12 and finish last in the Sun Belt Conference.

UCLA

Even with offensive guru Norm Chow in the press box, UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel turned to his defense with the game on the line. It was the right call. UCLA stopped Tennessee's Montario Hardesty on fourth-and-2 in the closing minutes, and the Bruins made it two in a row against the Volunteers with a 19–15 victory Saturday. "We will be a better offense," Neuheisel said. "But given the way our offense was playing, I thought it was better to put it in [the defense's] hands." Trailing by 6, the Vols (1–1) had a chance to take the lead after driving 52 yards, but UCLA (2–0) held fast and Lane Kiffin lost for the first time as Tennessee coach. The Vols' defense, led by Monte Kiffin, had been battering the Bruins' offense for much of the day. UCLA had only 186 yards of offense compared to Tennessee's 208. The Bruins had four fewer first downs, held the ball for three fewer minutes and had 60 more yards in penalties. Tennessee reached UCLA's Kevin Prince many times, but usually after he released the ball. After Hardesty was stopped, Tennessee got a safety when Dennis Rogan sacked Prince, giving him a bloody mouth. An inept Jonathan Crompton couldn't do anything with the last-minute opportunity after getting the ball back, taking a sack and throwing three incomplete passes.

Lane Kiffin said he saw a few of his players trying to point fingers in the locker room after the game. "I told them that isn't what we are. That isn't what a championship mentality is. A little bit of finger pointing came out and we have to teach them," he said. "You either win or you lose, and everybody on that team lost today." For the Bruins, the win in Neyland Stadium in front of 102,239 fans was a big step toward recovering from last year's 4–8 finish. "We're hungry," safety Rahim Moore said. "We are trying to come out every day and every weekend to prove to the world that UCLA is who UCLA is." For the Vols, it means a lot of work this week as they prepare for a trip to Florida – especially on Crompton, who unraveled after throwing five touchdown passes in the season opener against Western Kentucky.

On the first play after halftime, he threw his third interception of the day and second to Moore, who has five for the season. Kai Forbath kicked a 39-yard field goal four plays later for a 13–10 lead. "I just read the quarterback," Moore said. "I knew that Crompton had some skills, but I also knew that he could throw a pick because any quarterback can. I was just sitting back and reading the quarterback." Kiffin, who has pledged not to shuffle quarterbacks during games, stuck with Crompton. Tennessee went three-and-out on its next two drives, and Forbath answered with field goals of 31 and 47 yards to give UCLA a 19–10 lead with 2:39 in the third quarter. Forbath, who beat Tennessee with an overtime field goal in California last season, made four field goals in the rematch. Prince finished 11-for-23 for 101 yards and the one touchdown. Johnathan Franklin had 80 yards rushing. In the second quarter, Crompton fumbled a snap at the Tennessee 36, and Jerzy Siewierski recovered. A few plays later, Prince threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Chane Moline as he was being hit, tying the score at 10 with 7:09 before halftime.

Crompton threw interceptions on the next two drives. He overthrew Gerald Jones on the first and hit Moore instead. On the second, he threw right to Alterraun Verner. "I didn't do a very good job today taking care of Jonathan," Lane Kiffin said. "I gave him a couple of calls unfortunately that didn't put him in the best position. We've got to do a better job around him." Crompton completed 13 of 26 passes for 93 yards. Hardesty finished with 89 yards rushing. But the Bruins couldn't capitalize on either. UCLA went three-and-out on the first, and Forbath missed a 51-yard field goal to end the half.

UCLA had its own problems hanging onto the ball. The Bruins fumbled five times, losing the ball once. Willie Bohannan sacked Prince, causing a fumble, and Gerald Williams recovered at the UCLA 11. Hardesty took care of the rest on the next play to put Tennessee up 10–3 with 2:58 in the first quarter. "We really didn't get into our groove as an offense," Crompton said. "When you don't, some doubts come, but the upside is we were in that game at the end. We had four turnovers and we still came up 1 yard short. That is the one positive." UCLA went on to go 7–6 and finish eighth in the Pac-10 Conference.

At No. 1 Florida

Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin jogged to midfield, briefly shook hands with Florida's Urban Meyer and then darted toward the locker room. Kiffin kept his head up the whole way. Who could blame him? After all, he had more reason to be encouraged than embarrassed after his Southeastern Conference opener against the top-ranked Gators. Tim Tebow ran for 76 yards and a touchdown, Caleb Sturgis kicked three field goals and Florida eked out a 23–13 win over the Volunteers on Saturday. It wasn't the beatdown many expected. It gave Kiffin reason to believe Tennessee (1–2, 0–1) is on the right track. It gave Meyer a big enough scare that it could help the defending national champions the rest of the way. "It wasn't how we envisioned or hoped," said Tebow, whose streak of games with a TD pass ended at 30. "But it's a win and it's good enough for all of us."

The Gators (3–0, 1–0) won their fifth straight in the series and set a school record with their 13th consecutive victory, now the longest in major college football after losses by Utah and Southern California. Florida started counting down the days for this one more than nine months ago, right after Kiffin vowed to sing "Rocky Top" all night long after beating the Gators. Kiffin also riled up Florida with his false allegations of NCAA violations by Meyer. Kiffin ran out of the tunnel just before the opening kick and had 90,000 Florida fans screaming, pointing and yelling obscenities at him. One guy even tried to torment Kiffin with a poster of Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, Kiffin's former boss. Kiffin said afterward that his plan from Day 1 was to take the focus of his players and put it on him. "It worked perfectly," Kiffin said. "It took all the pressure off the players. We played the No. 1 team in the nation with no pressure on them. ... It was all on me. We were 30-point underdogs in this place and it really helped them go out and play ball." Kiffin refused to claim a moral victory, though. So singing "Rocky Top" will have to wait at least another year. He didn't even consider humming the tune. "No, we lost a game," Kiffin said. "Maybe I'll come back here for basketball and sing it for [coach] Bruce [Pearl]." Florida's postgame celebration was about as conservative as its game plan. There was no trash talk and no one trying to rub it in. The Gators were clearly disappointed with their performance, even though they had reason to celebrate.