Is Tennessee a second tier SEC team as many seem to be enjoying saying this year? I am not sure of that yet.
I wasn't that impressed with Kentucky last night.
Let's see how Georgia and Tennessee goes. Then we will know more.
The Bulldogs have won their last three visits to Neyland Stadium. UT rallied for a 51-33 triumph a year ago in Athens—the Vols second straight win at UGA’s Sanford Stadium. The visiting team has won the last five games in this series.
“We have to play the run well, better than we have done to this point," said Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer. "Their two backs are quality backs, hard to tackle and certainly a challenge for anyone that plays them. We can’t forget about the past, obviously, but the first order of business will be to take on their run game and try to get the downs and distances in our favor. Defensively, our challenge is to be consistent in our gap patrol, playing off blocks and making the tackle. The big plays that we have given up have come from these areas that we have addressed during the open date.
Tennessee has never faced Arkansas State on the gridiron.
Coach Fulmer's Comments:
“As far as Arkansas State, we certainly have great respect for them. If you look at the film on them, you see a good looking football team on both sides. Offensively, it starts with their quarterback; Corey Leonard is a really good player, a guy that can throw the football. He has a great release; he is quick on the edge. He will fake the zone play and come out running. He is a very good quarterback. They are averaging about 456 yards a game in the two games they have played. It starts with stopping him.
“The running backs are good. They have a big, physical offensive front. They have four tight ends that they use a lot. They are good-looking athletes along with the receivers. We have to work to get ourselves off the field and try to keep them off the field as well.
“They have a solid kicking game, and we expect a heck of a football game from them. They took Texas to 21-13, and Texas had to recover an onside kick at the end of the game. We know we’re going to have to play well to beat a good Arkansas State team.”
The Vols won two of their last three contests in “The Swamp,” claiming a 34-32 win in 2001 and a 24-10 triumph in 2003.
This series recently has been dictated by the running game, as the team with the most rushing yardage has won 15 of the last 17 meetings (UF won in 2000 and 2002 despite being outgained on the ground).
Junior tailback Arian Foster has played extremely well in Tennessee’s two opening games this season, evoking memories of his breakout 2005 campaign, during which he rushed for at least 100 yards in each of his five starts. Foster leads the Vols deep corps of tailbacks this year, averaging 107.0 rushing yards per game. He is averaging 5.9 yards per carry and has a pair of rushing touchdowns so far.
"The running game, as I said, is crucial," Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer said.. "You go back and see that the team that has rushed the best has won the most games, We are working diligently to continue to find our balance from an offensive standpoint. I thought the second half of the Southern Miss game was more like we would like to look"
The biggest question mark for the Vols has not been the offense, however, as the defense has struggled in the season's opening two games. After giving up 471 total yards against Cal, 230 of which came on the ground, Tennessee once again came out flat against Southern Miss giving up 16 points and over 250 yards in the first half.
"We've got to tackle well," said Fulmer. "We've got to play good assignment football because of the potential for the option and the other things that we will see."
The key to the option, and the entire Florida offense, will be quarterback Tim Tebow who was a main contributor to the victory over the Vols last season in Knoxville.
"Their offense centers on their outstanding quarterback, Tebow," Fulmer said. "He is a really special football player, a big guy that can run and throw it."
The Tennessee Volunteers return home to take on the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles on Saturday night at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee was unable to stop the run against the California Golden Bears last Saturday. Can they stop the Golden Eagles or will their backs be tempted to clean off shelf space for the Heisman on Sunday morning? We look for this question to be answered on Saturday night in front of the faithful.
From utsports.com
Tennessee owns a perfect 4-0 record in its all-time gridiron series with Southern Mississippi, which dates to 1950. All four meetings took place in Knoxville, and two of the four wins were shutouts. The Vols posted a 56-0 triumph in 1950, and the three most recent clashes all have come during the Phillip Fulmer era. Fulmer’s Vols defeated the Eagles 42-0 in 1995, 44-20 in 1997 and 19-16 in 2000.
Fulmer is 13-1 all-time against current members of Conference USA (1-0 vs. East Carolina, 1-0 vs. Houston, 2-0 vs. Marshall, 6-1 vs. Memphis, 1-0 vs. Southern Miss and 2-0 vs. UAB) and has never lost to a C-USA team at Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee owns an all-time record of 45-4 (.918) against current Conference USA teams, and that includes an unblemished 32-0 mark at home. All four of UT’s wins over Southern Miss have taken place in Knoxville.
Last year Tennesse put a big whooping on Cal that was much worse than the final score indicated as Cal managed late meaningless scores. Unfortunately, this years Cal team probably has revenge on its mind.
From: UTSPORTS.COM
Tennessee and California have met three times previously on the gridiron, with all meetings taking place in Knoxville. The Bears posted a 27-17 win in 1977, and the Vols triumphed over Cal by a score of 38-12 in 1987. Most recently, in last year’s season-opener, UT defeated California 35-18 in Neyland Stadium.
One of Tennessee’s biggest special teams challenges heading into the 2007 season is the effort to replace departed placekicker James Wilhoit. A four-year starter for the Vols from 2003-06, Wilhoit ranks second on the school’s all-time scoring chart with 325 career points.
Junior punter Britton Colquitt earned first-team All-SEC honors a year ago and enters 2007 as the SEC's top punter according to the league's head coaches.
Following Tennessee’s practice on Friday, Aug. 24, head coach Phillip Fulmer announced that seniors Erik Ainge, Jonathan Hefney, Xavier Mitchell and Eric Young would serve as the Vols’ captains for the California game.
Quarterback Erik Ainge enjoyed a tremendously productive junior year in 2006 that saw him rank among the national leaders in numerous passing categories and climb in the UT records book.
Tennessee’s defense has allowed just six opposing ballcarriers to rush for at least 100 yards in the last 37 games. During that span, the opponents’ top rusher has averaged 77.2 yards per game.
Senior free safety Jonathan Hefney has a chance to stand atop Tennessee’s all-time list for starts by a position player,* as he enters 2007 with a streak of 36 consecutive starts.
Cornerback Eric Berry is one of the top three cornerbacks on the Vols’ defensive depth chart coming out of summer camp and could join select company if he is given the start at California. Berry would be the first defensive player and only the third player overall in the Philip Fulmer era to start a season-opener as a true freshman.
It always scares me when our pre-season press is talking about our kickers. Sure General Neyland made it plain that football is a game that consists of controlling territory . And the kicking game is a huge part of that. But is that all we have?
We couldn't stop Penn State's running game back on January 1st. Have we gotten that figured out now?
Is Berry that good at cornerback? Or are our other cornerback's that bad?
Tune in Saturday night and we will see if any of these questions are answered.
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