The Tennessee Volunteers (6-3, 3-2 SEC) can point to the stretch run of Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Kentucky, knowing a sweep puts them in the SEC championship game on Dec. 1.
It's a good time to see an experienced fifth year senior return to the field.
Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer said Vol fans should look for tight end Brad Cottam to hit the playing field Saturday. The Germantown, Tennessee senior injured his wrist in a preseason scrimmage. Cottamwas expected to team with fellow senior Chris Brown as anchors for the Tennessee passing game, which was dealing with the loss of all three starting wide receivers from 2006..
“We’re playing for a championship here over the next several weeks. Brad was ready and we were ready and he’s had his wrist re-evaluated. We’re glad to have him back. He wants to play now,” Fulmer said after Wednesday’s workout at Haslam Field. "We’re trying to get ready to play a really fine Arkansas team.”
Having Cottam back just might be the extra weapon Eric Ainge needs to keep the Razorbacks on their heels.
The Tennessee Volunteers control their own destiny in the SEC East with a large hill to climb this weekend against Heisman Trophy candidate Darren McFadden and his Arkansas Razorbacks. Last year Arkansas defeated the Vols 31-14 in Fayetteville, with the highly touted McFadden rushing for 181 yards and a pair of touchdowns thus proving his meddle. Jonathan Crompton played the entire game at quarterback for UT, as Erik Ainge sat out the contest with an ankle injury suffered two weeks before at South Carolina.
You can't convince me that Tennessee has fixed their problem and will be able to stop McFadden or the Hawgs passing game. I just don't feel it in my heart. So can Arkansas stop Tennessee? That will be the question that decides the game.
Arian Foster
“Getting back into the conference is a big deal,” Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer said. “We prepared well last week, worked a lot on fundamentals, and it showed. Hopefully, it will carry over into this football game with Arkansas.” “Our team knows that every week is a challenge. We’re certainly capable of meeting the challenge, but we’ve got to have ourselves centered. We’ve done a good job of that the last couple of weeks.
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.
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 72,516 fans at Memorial Stadium did their best to provide a homefield advantage resembling Neyland Stadium's edge, packing Strawberry Canyon well before kickoff and out-shouting the 10,000 Volunteer fans packed into the south endzone. Bears fans shouted at the top of their lungs when DeSean Jackson scampered 77 yards for his sixth career punt return for a touchdown. Jackson led the 12th-ranked Golden Bears as they avenged last season's humiliating loss to the No. 15 Volunteers with a 45-31 victory Saturday night.
Justin Forsett rushed for 156 yards and a score, and Nate Longshore passed for 241 yards and two TDs as the Bears (1-0) racked up the most points scored against the Volunteers in 12 years to win the opening weekend's only matchup between ranked schools. Tennessee's first trip to the West Coast since 1997 was hardly encouraging for coach Phillip Fulmer's defense, which hadn't given up this many points since a 62-37 loss to Florida in 1995.
Cal led 38-21 early in the third quarter. But the Volunteers pulled within seven points on Daniel Lincoln's field goal in the opening minute of the fourth at 38-31. Then Forsett's TD run with 9:10 to play pushed Cal back to a comfortable lead. Tennessee's no-huddle offense finally bogged down in the fourth quarter and the Cal defense finished off the Bears' eighth straight home victory since 2005.
Erik Ainge had 271 yards passing and three TD throws despite an injured finger. Ainge wore a white wrap on two fingers of his throwing hand after injuring his pinkie during practice this week. The senior was exceptionally sharp while completing 14 of his first 15 throws. Arian Foster rushed for 89 yards and Chris Brown caught two TD passes from Ainge.
The Volunteers also had a scare with 4:10 to play when starting defensive end Xavier Mitchell left the field on a stretcher with his neck immobilized after a hard tackle. Tennessee had no immediate word on the nature of the senior's injury.
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Arian Foster
