In 1926, the Tennessee football program hired General Robert R. Neyland in 1926 for one purpose – beat Vanderbilt.

The legendary head coach must still be on payroll.

The Volunteers throttled Vandy 48-0 Saturday, defeating the Commodores for the 21st straight time. Since Neyland’s first game, UT holds an astounding 64-9-3 advantage in the series.

Current UT coach Phillip Fulmer said the dominating win was a perfect way to send out the seniors in their final home game.

“The leadership of this football team has been incredible,” he said. “I couldn’t think of a better way to show the character of this football team than the way they played today.”

After back-to-back impressive showings by the Tennessee offense and defense, the Vols seem to be clicking at the right time of the year.

Saturday’s win kept alive UT’s slim chances of playing for a conference crown and kept it in the running for a BCS at-large bid.

Fulmer said the Volunteers would only focus on what they could control, though.

“I’ve been doing this long enough to know not to pay attention to it (BCS),” Fulmer said. “I do believe we are capable of being a BCS team.”

Losses by top-10 teams TCU, Ohio State and Washington State have moved the Vols closer to an at-large bid, but playing in the SEC Championship Game is more important to the team right now, according to senior linebacker Robert Peace.

“We want to get to Atlanta and I think we’re playing as well right now as any BCS team,” Peace said. “But all we can worry about is Kentucky (Saturday’s opponent).”

If the domination of Vanderbilt was any indication, Peace and the rest of the Vols shouldn’t worry too much.

The Commodores entered the matchup fresh off a 28-17 upset of the Wildcats, but never found any offensive spark against UT.

“They manhandled us,” Vandy head coach Bobby Johnson said. “There wasn’t much we could do about it.”

The Vols’ supremacy was due in large part to the Tennessee defense and quarterback Casey Clausen.

Vanderbilt spent most of the game trying to stop the Vol running game, holding UT to just 162 yards on the ground.

“The threat of the run with them is just as good as them actually running,” Johnson said.

So Clausen took advantage and made the most of his last home game, throwing for 262 yards and three touchdowns.

The Vols’ co-captain took advantage of man coverages most of the day, hooking up with junior Tony Brown on a 16-yard TD strike in the first quarter and a 38-yard TD pass to sophomore Chris Hannon early in the third.

Clausen said the next Tennessee quarterback would have a strong receiving corps.

“They’ve grown a lot since the beginning of the year,” he said. “Whoever the quarterback is next year will have a lot of fun with these receivers.”

On Saturday, Clausen had his own fun with his lone senior receiver. Mark Jones had three catches for 45 yards, but didn’t stop on the offensive side of the ball.

Jones returned a Vandy punt 58 yards for a score in the first quarter and returned an interception 51 yards to set up another Vol touchdown.

“Mark’s been close all year,” Fulmer said. “Everything worked out for him today.”

Things were working out for the Tennessee defense, as well. The shutout was the defense’s first of the year and the third in a row against Vandy.

“When you can hold anyone scoreless three straight years, that’s an accomplishment,” UT defensive coordinator John Chavis said. “We’ve been looking for a shutout and it’s nice to finally get one.”

Tennessee’s first-team defense has only allowed one touchdown in its last four games.

Fulmer said the performance is just a sign of the unit’s growth.

“We started out the year with a pair of safeties that had more game experience than the rest of the starters combined,” Fulmer said. “You’re finally starting to see some of that youth evolve and grow.”

Youth is something Vanderbilt understands. The Commodores entered the game without a single senior starter on the Vols’ Senior Day.

Johnson said he had wanted to end the season on different note.

“I would like to have built on something better than this,” Johnson said. “I think there was this misconception that we had arrived.”

After two strong performances, it may be the Vols that have arrived – at their potential at least. On a five-game winning streak and one win away from a 10-win season, Clausen said the postseason should take care of itself.

“All we can control is what we do,” Clausen said. “And right now, we’re doing that well.”