If you were to only look at Tennessee’s 7-4 record this season, you wouldn’t think that there was anything special about this team.

The Volunteers lost four games against quality opponents — Oklahoma, Florida, Arkansas and Alabama — and won seven games against opponents that they were supposed to defeat. They’ll probably beat Vanderbilt on Saturday, win eight regular-season wins for the first time since 2007 and finish second in the SEC East. Tennessee’s season will end the way most analysts predicted it to end.

But in Knoxville, where hope springs eternal, the expectations are always overblown. Every game, every play, every moment and every decision matters. Most importantly, every mistake is viewed as more than a mistake. Mistakes are considered complete failures.

This season started out like most of Tennessee’s recent seasons. The Vols had another a young squad, fighting its way through another front-loaded schedule. This team — just like Tennessee’s previous squads —  fell apart when it mattered most.

Oklahoma 31, Tennessee 24.

Florida 28, Tennessee 27.

Arkansas 24, Tennessee 20.

And just like that, 2015 became another what if season for the Vols. What if Tennessee hadn’t blown its 17-0 lead against Oklahoma? What if Tennessee hadn’t played conservatively after taking a 27-14 lead against Florida with 10:19 left in the fourth quarter? What if the Vols’ offense had made better usage of its red zone opportunities against Arkansas?

None of these laments were new. What if has been Tennessee’s theme since Lane Kiffin left the Volunteers to become Southern Cal’s head coach in 2009. But this season was supposed to be different. This was supposed to be the season that Tennessee would finally get a statement win and loudly proclaim, “WE’RE BACK!”

Instead, every close loss hurt like hell, and the Vols’ hype train ran out of gas before it could gain any momentum.

But then, in Tennessee’s next game after its loss to Arkansas, something amazing happened. The Vols coaching staff made bold decisions and got lucky.

Down 24-3 in the second quarter against Georgia with the ball Georgia’s 47-yard line, Tennessee’s offense decided to go for it on fourth-and-2. On the fourth-down play, WR Von Pearson ran a quick out rout. But as Pearson was about to make his cut, he slipped and fell to the ground. Fortunately for Pearson, QB Joshua Dobbs severely underthrew the football and it landed right in Pearson’s lap, leading to a first down for Tennessee.

Four plays later, the Vols decided to go for it on fourth-and-8. Dobbs threw his pass behind WR Josh Smith, but Smith reached back, made an unbelievable grab, did a spin move and bolted for a 39-yard touchdown.

In a snap, Tennessee was back in the game. But the Vols’ fortune didn’t stop there.

On Tennessee’s kickoff after its touchdown, the Vols’ special teams forced Georgia RB Sony Michel to fumble the football, and Tennessee recovered it on Georgia’s 25-yard line. Five plays later, Tennessee scored another touchdown, and Vols went into halftime only down seven.

Tennessee eventually took a 38-31 lead in the fourth quarter, but needed Lady Luck to strike a couple more times to make sure it sealed the victory. Georgia WR Reggie Davis dropped what would have been a game-tying touchdown pass, and Trevor Daniel’s final punt defied every law of physics by bouncing at a 90-degree angle out of bounds at Georgia’s 1-yard line.

Tennessee needed all the luck in the world to overcome its 21-point deficit against Georgia, but the Vols got the job done. Truth be told, it’s the win over Georgia that makes this team different from Tennessee’s previous young squads. For once, the Vols found a way to win a game they weren’t supposed to win.

That Tennessee win means more than any other win since 2007. It’s the reason Tennessee fans are looking forward to the 2016 season — a year in which the players from coach Butch Jones’ splashy 2014 recruiting class will be juniors. If Tennessee had lost to Georgia, every Volunteers fan would have lost whatever sliver of hope they still had. There would be no reason to believe that Tennessee’s players would learn how to win, and most fans would be clamoring for Jones to be fired.

But this Tennessee team is different. This team is special. And next season, playing in a division in flux, the Vols might find their way forward.