I didn't VOLUNTEER for this! (UT legacy)

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Tennessee vs LA TECH

Vols are 26 pt favorites

 

Just what the doctor ordered! Vols take care of business this time to win 44-6/ We outgain them 599 - 189. Little 21/28 for 341 yds and 3 TDs. Holmes came in for mop-up duty and notches his own TD pass. Barry adds 125 yds on the ground on 25 runs. Defensively, Woodall 9 tackles and a 73 yard INT return for a TD. Burke 3 sacks, Hamlin and Kemp add one apiece. Every team in the top 25 won - that's a rarity in itself

 

WE have 3 ranked games in a row coming up - #18 Ole Miss, at #19 Georgia, and #7 Florida before getting a "breather" at unranked Alabama

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#28 Tennessee Vols vs #18 Ole Miss Rebels

 

For once someone else was bit by the penalty bug and it sure helped keep the Vols alive in the game early as Ole Miss miscuses helped keep drives alive and opened the door for second chances. Ole Miss have bluechippers at QB (White) and RB (Johnson) behind a very strong line. The Vol defense swarmed to the ball all day and managed to keep the play in front of them.

 

Rebels have a nice drive going to start the game but Woodall tatoos the WR who puts the ball on the turf. We pick up some yards on the ground and are faced with a 4th and 2 inside Rebel territory. Coach Minors gambles early and it pays off as Semple catches a pass for 14 yards...he fumbles but Porter was right there to recover for the Vols. We go back to the ground, get 3rd and long - facemask penalty makes it manageable. Another run, another face mask and a first down! Sauter is showing the effects of the groin pull and Little injures his elbow early, so unheralded Walter Holmes enters the game. He promptly hits Semple on a crossing pattern for SIX!!! Vols take the early 7-0 lead. We are fed a steady diet of Johnson who makes several defenders look silly as he runs at will; however, a couple penalties stall the drive and Ole Miss punts. Vols stay on the ground to try and rest the already weary defense. Penalties keep the drive alive, but several missed blocks inside the Orange Zone force us to kick a FG for a 10-0 lead. Johnson again picks up yards in big chunks, but he is taking a pounding on this drive even fumbling at one point. Rebels then go to the air to rest their star, but Alexander steps in front of a bad pass and picks it off at the 7 yard line!! A good mix of runs and passes get the ball out to midfield where again the Vols are faced with 4th and short. Again, the coach rolls the dice and hands to the big lumbering fullback to just noses the ball past the first down marker!! The Vols are rotating 3 RB's and 2 FB's to wear down the Ole Miss defense and it seems to be working so far. With the ball on the 1 yard line, our offensive line crumbles under pressure and our backs are stuffed in the backfield. Johnson connects with a 22 yard FG and it is 13-0. With just under 3 minutes in the half, Ole Miss puts together a long steady drive, using their timeouts along the way - at the 2 yard line they attempt a FG but Terry Cunningham breaks thru and blocks the kick!!! Walk-on LB Alex Brunet recovers the football and we keep Ole Miss off the scoreboard!!!! What a swing in momentum!!! UT is content to run out the last 33 seconds and take their lead to the lockerroom.

 

Happy to report we do not come out flat after the break. Our defense pressures Ole Miss, but a punt buries us at the 5 yard line - 3 plays and punt ourselves. I rally the defense and tell them to make another stand - Burke hears me loud and clear....on the first play he plasters Johnson who coughs up the ball....Burke picks it up and runs 58 yards for the score!!! We attempt a 2-pt conversion, but it fails. 19-0. Rotate in some 2nd teamers on defense trying to rest the starters for what could be a fast finish. Couple go down with injuries, but we hold them to another punt. Ole Miss is starting to show defeat in their eyes as they cannot get untracked. Holmes continues to look sharp with his short to medium range passing attack. RB's pick up 8-9 yards on first down, the Fullback converts the first downs (often with 9 yard runs of their own!) Then maybe the most bizzare chain of events I've seen in a while. As we drive toward FG range, Porter is called for a false start. Johnson misses the 37 yard FG. After a punt, Johnson misses a 35 yard FG (from 17) White throws an INT to our SS Johnson (no relation), The Vols drive and Johnson misses a 52 yard FG (falls short) but wait...illegal substitution makes it 4th and 1. What do we do, FB up the middle for 3 yards and the first down. Few more runs puts ball on 27 yard line. Johnson trots out and shanks another wide left!!! Hold on!! The defense was offsides!!! Spot the ball on the 22, 4th and 6. Do you have confidence in your kicker or go for it again?? Today, Coach Minors showed all the confidence in the world for his talented kicker. He told to give us the 3 TD lead - and this time ladies and gentlemen Johnson kicks the ball true. Vols go up 22-0 with 8 minutes to go in the game (poor Johnson though - misses 4 FG attempts before finally connecting - though a couple of them will not show up in the record book. If he missed that one too, he might have never seen the playing field again). Defense was exhausted by the end but they held up their end of the bargain. Ole Miss made one last galliant effort with pass plays eating up 20 yards at a time. The "red carpet" defense was designed to keep all the plays in front and trade yards for time. Rebels used all their time outs and got inside the 10 yard line. Another pass play to the middle of the field - tackled and time just ran out!!! UT Vols pull off a huge upset 22-0 - most proud of the fact we shut out a top 10 ranked offense that was loaded with talent!!!

 

Stats: UT 27 first downs to 17. We were 6 of 16 on 3rd down and 3-3 on 4th down conversions. Ole Miss 6 of 14 and 1-3 on 4th down conversions. Total yards very even. 378 to 372. We outgain 211 to 96 on the ground which gave us a 35:22 to 24:46 edge in time of possession. Their all-star QB White was 24/39 for 276 yards, but 2 INT's/ Johnson carried 21 times for 97 yards. Walter Holmes came on to rally the Vols and lead our offense quite well, connecting on 15 of 16 passes, 144 yards, 1 TD and no turnovers (Satuer was 2 for 10 before being benched. Little completed the only pass he threw. Let's hope he's ok). Barry 20 carries for 64 yards. Miller added 52, Malinchak 42, FB George - 32, FB Scott - 21. Johnson and Woodall led the defense with 7 tackles each, both also causing a turnover. We didn't get a lot of pressure on the QB (1 hurry, 1 sack - both by Chris Rogers) but kept him contained and decent coverage downfield on his receivers. Ole Miss has one of the best OL's we'll see all year with all "green-rated". The post-game call-in show will have lots of good comments as the team played well on both sides of the ball and fans can each have their own heros of the game

 

In other games around the SEC: Bama beats Vandy 30-23 in DOUBLE OT!!! Bama tied the game 16-16 with a 40 yard FG with 3 seconds left in regulation! WOW. #7 Florida edges #8 LSU 31-30. Top 25: #25 Ga Tech beats #10 Clemson 33-31. #3 Va Tech knocks Miami out of top 25 with 28-17 win (and moves down in the ranking themselves as a result to #5, go figure). #5 FLorida State over #13 UNC 31-23. Missouri upsets #16 Nebraska 24-17. #24 Texas Tech wallops #6 Texas 44-22. #1Michigan rolled over Notre Dame in their annual rivalry game 31-14

 

In the new poll, Michigan retains their top spot in the media poll, but leap-frogged by Florida in the Coaches poll (jump from #7). So it's Michigan, Purdue, USC, Florida State, Va Tech Auburn, Florida, Boston College, Washington State, Texas (yes the team that got crushed this week) - Tennessee #25. Coaches have: Florida, Michigan, USC, Florida state, Va Tech, Purdue, Auburn, Texas, Ohio State, Clemson. Tennessee #21 (ahead of Ole Miss who falls to #22 here). Next week I look forward to Purdue vs Ohio State, Auburn vs Ole Miss, Va Tech vs Ga Tech, as well as Tennessee at #16 Georgia

 

Injury report has some critical issues as starting strong safety Bryon Thomas suffered severe spinal trauma late in the game against Ole Miss and will miss several months. DE Rogers had a root canal and should be ready to play. Sauter, Glossen, Rentzel and a couple other minor players are progressing well and are cleared to play. Little's wrist injury appears to be worse than first thought - he will not be at 100%, so we may be forced to play Holmes again. If he steps up like he did last week, that won't be a problem. But let's face it, there is quite a bit of talent drop-off from Little to Holmes. Watching film, a couple QB hurries were added to Machado and Hamlin. But both were credit with 4 missed tackles so that sort of offset the euphoria they might otherwise feel. We also are critical of 11 missed blocks by our OL. Some by guys forced into playing time due to injury and fatigue, but still that is a high number that needs to be addressed. We only had 4 good blocks and 2 pancakes - but only 1 sack and only 1 penalty, so overall it was a good clean effort.

 

Looking ahead, UGA is very balanced - #17 offense / #16 defense. UT is #31 offense / #13 defense. Our front 7 only allows 78 rushing yards a game (#14 in nation). Uga is ranked #1 by the computer polls

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#25 Tennessee vs #16 Georgia

 

Looking ahead, UGA is very balanced - #17 offense / #16 defense. UT is #31 offense / #13 defense. Our front 7 only allows 78 rushing yards a game (#14 in nation). Uga is ranked #1 by the computer polls

The Bulldogs are 5 pt favorites between the hedges

 

First quarter, the Vols held their own against the top ranked Computer team in the land. But after we take a 3-0 lead, the Bulldogs get untracked and roll for 2 big drives and take the lead 14-3. Tennessee defense struggled to keep up but then a couple turnovers kept the game from becoming a rout. True Freshman Compton playing in his first game at strong safety intercepted a pass. Then on the next drive a big hit and fumble gave us the ball inside the 20 with a minute to go. Vols take a couple shots at the end zone before settling for a FG. down 8, I felt ok. However, a 45 yard KR followed by 15 yard penalty for piling on allowed Georgia to erase that as the half expired. We go to the lockerroom trailing 17-6.

Compton got his second INT of the game giving us a shot at another FG, but UGA rolls for their own FG and a TD. as the 4th qtr starts, the Vols trail 9-27. Our Orange Zone struggles continue, but this late in the game we gamble and go for 6 instead of 3...however, we are stuffed. Woodall gets us the ball back and this time George, the big FB, barrels into the end zone to cut the lead. 16-27. GA recovers the onside kick and runs out the clock. We were pretty much man-handled but overall a gutsy performance

 

Our highly regarded run defense got chewed up big time allowing 234 rushing yards!!!! (more than the entire season combined!) Their RB Monk had 118 yards, and the QB Moore added 104 yards passing. Total yards, UGA had 343 to our 277. Starting QB Sauter once again struggled and put the game in the hands of Walter Holmes who went 10 of 19 for 118 yards. None of our RB's got untracked as they stuffed them in the backfield time and time again. Defensive "stars" include Kemp, Ford, and Woodall with 6 tackles each. Compton with 2 INT's and Hamlin picks up a sack.

 

In other games around the SEC: Vandy whips Arkansas 34-26! Kentucky over SC 20-13. Top 20 match up, Ole Miss beats Auburn 33-30. NC State upsets Clemson. GA TECH destroys #5 Va Tech 51-6. Wisconsin moves into the top 25 by knocking off #21 Penn State.

 

Tennessee drops to #27 in media poll, and couple slots to #24 in Coaches poll Georgia is replaced atop the computer poll by Florida who just happens to be our next opponent! Out of the frying pan and into the fire!

 

Next week: When's the last time you saw Kentucky favored over Alabama in something other than Basketball?? They are 3 pt favorites vs the Tide in their big home game. #13 Georgia vs #16 Ole Miss. Other big games include Michigan vs Michigan State, #22 Oklahoma vs #11 Texas, #4 Ohio State vs #25 Penn State

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#24 Tennessee vs #1 Florida

Gators have a high powered offense that averages over 500 yards a game and are 10 pt favorites in Knoxville

 

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It's a night game in Knoxville and Neyland Stadium is rocking as the fans are hyped up!

 

This looked like it could be a long game as on the first play, a short pass completion to Hunter is fumbled and Florida returns it to the 5 - and they score on their first play. On the 2nd series we go 3 and out, but this time the defense holds them as well. The Vol offense is sparked by the return of QB Rob Little and puts together a nice little 10 play drive capped off by a Little to Orduna 46 yard TD pass. Florida gets a nice KO return, then catches their WR on a crossing pattern, but a BIG HIT by Tinoisamoa puts the ball on the turf - who picks it up? WOODALL!! and Dave races 42 yards to give the Vols a 14-7 lead! Florida's offense continues to chew up big chunks of yardage and gets to first and goal from the 1. But the Vol Defense bucked up and stood tall, stuffing them twice. On 3rd and goal, the Gators scramble but stopped again at the one foot yard and they settle for a FG. Tennessee was fired up after the defensive stand and after a penalty respond with a 82 yard post from Little to Hunter for another TD!! 21-10. Florida goes 3 and out once again, and the Vols rack up a 14 play drive eating up about 5 minutes and cap it off with a George dive from the FB position. 28-10. A rare mistake - Int right before the half lets Florida kick an easy FG. Half time score 28-13

 

Second half, Florida continues the momentum they gained at the end - march downfield with ease to score. I had hoped that late FG might help keep our boys focused. Gators attempt a 2pt conversion, but the pass is wild so we keep 28-19 lead. At the end of the 3rd qtr, we extend our lead to 34-19 on a pair of FG's. Compton comes up with another INT, but the play is negated by a holding penalty - that took the wind our of our sails as Florida then scored on a quick strike (34-25 after another failed conversion). Vols look a little nervous as they come out - almost like they see everything crumbling - and sure enough put the ball on the ground putting the Gators in good position again. The defense bent and allowed them inside the ten but again made a goal line stand. FG makes it 34-28 with 6:40 to go. The coaching staff huddled up the offense and fired them up - "This is where you put your names in the history books. They are tiring, and you've proven all game that you can drive on them. O-line take over the trenches and open some holes. Receivers get open and let's put this thing away. It wasn't that easy - but a couple 3rd down conversions kept the chains moving for an 19 play drive - capped off by Miller bursting over the left guard for a score. 40-28 and only 15 seconds left. Burke sacks the Gator QB to end the game. What an exclamation point!!!

 

Victory over the top ranked team in the nation - without a doubt, the BIGGEST win in our history! The spark was Little returning to the line-up against Doctor's orders. He went 15 of 18 for 223 yards and 2 TD's (we'll overlook the one int). Holmes helped out with 6 of 11 and 61 yards, but a costly INT> Hunter hauled in 6 catches for 119 yards (star of the game!). The speedster Semple was kept in check, only 4 catches for 21 yards. Proud of our offensive line with 3 pancakes, 2 KRB, and no sacks allowed! Woodall was a beast with 10 tackles, 2 stuffs on goal line plays, and the TD fumble recovery. Blair, Machado, and Burke had sacks, and they kept pressure on the QB most of the day. Exciting news for Vol fans - Courtney Johnson was 5 of 5 on FG's today!

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In other key games: Michigan lost to Michigan state 23-38. LSU whipped Vandy. Ole Miss lost to GA who jump to #4 in the polls. Texas edges Oklahoma 34-31.

 

Hold onto your hats…Kentucky 13…Alabama 12

 

Now, I'd expect to get some love in the polls, but we actually fall a few spots in the media poll (34 votes). However, the coaches move us up to #20. Southern Cal, Florida State, and Ohio State claim the top 3 spots in both polls. Florida plays Georgia next week. A Gator win could make a 4-way tie for first place in the SEC East. UGA win will have them in front with us chasing. (a look ahead, Lee Corso is calling this his upset special -- the undefeated Dogs are 2 pt UNDERDOGS at home against the Gators! That should fire them up!)

 

the next game for Tennessee -- Alabama!!

Vols are a slight 2 pt favorite in the game, with slight statisical edges in offense, defense, and special teams. But this IS the Crimson Tide, and this is the 3rd Saturday in October. Did Alabama look past Kentucky last week? I'm sure they will be more than fired up after that loss. We are coming off the highs of beating the #1 team in the nation and many wonder if the Vols can get psyched up for a second week in a row

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Tennessee vs Alabama

other games this week: #5 Georgia vs #11 Florida -- Floridawon 55-6. That gives us in 3 way tie with Gators and Dogs atop SEC East; #6 LSU vs #21 Ole Miss -- LSU won 30-10

 

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the proverbial 3rd Saturday in October - it's Old Testament hate between these two age old rivals. Looked like a defensive struggle in the opening series, but Alabama got untracked first with a couple long pass plays. Once they got inside the red zone, the Dave Woodall show stepped up and held them to a FG. On the ensuing kickoff, Dodril ran it down to the 21 yard line!! After a run play was stuffed in the backfield, Little set up a screen pass to our superstar TE, Keith Porter who picked his way thru the defense and dove into the endzone to put us ahead 7-3. At some point, QB Little is shaken up (no report of injury, he just no longer shows up in the depth chart!). Bama gets another FG and our offense sputters (much like the REAL orange when Bray was out). Bama drives against the defense but Alexander puts on a BIG HIT! DT Burke picks up the loose ball and the 300+ pounder rambles 75 yards for a TD (his second of the year)!! UT leads 14-6 with 9 minutes left in the first half. On their next play, The Tide attempts the same draw play, this time it's Willie Mays who puts the ball of the turf after a big hit from LB Kemp! CB Dodrill scoops it up for the Vols!! Sauter comes in at QB - he has plenty of time in the pocket and finds Orduna for a 22 yard pick-up down to the 5 yard line. But that's where we struggle - actually moving backward on 2 plays before settling for a FG. Alabama gets those 3 pts back as the clock expires. Half time score 17-9 in favor of the Vols.

 

In the 2nd half, our offense continues to struggle agains the Crimson Tide. Bama misses a pair of FG's - then both teams trade FG's. Our offensive struggles are legendary but this is crazy as Bama has a 2-1 TOP advantage. The tiring defense gets 2 more turnovers - a fumble to stop a scoring drive. Then FS Ford anticipates a screen pass, steps in front of the RB to intercept and race 32 yards for a TD! 27-12 for the Vols! And that is your final score

 

Just how ugly a game was it? The player of the game goes to the OFFENSIVE GUARD FOR ALABAMA (he had 4 key run blocks and 2 pancakes). Alabama led every key stat except turnovers, and that was the ballgame. They had 22 first downs to our 8! Outgained 404 to 190. outrushed 209-66, outpassed 195-124. Time of possession ended up 36 to 24 (as we were able to get a few runs at the end to run out the clock) The difference in the game is that we held them to FG's - and we recovered 3 fumbles (1 for a TD) and had 1 int (also for a TD). Take away those 14 defensive points and this is a whole different ballgame (and don't forget the long kick-off return that set up the first touchdown for the Vols). We are a totally different club without Little running the offense at QB. of course that doesn't excuse our defense allowing their RB (Mays) and QB to BOTH run for almost 100 yards against us. I kept rotating players in to stay as fresh as possible. Our leaders for the game? Holmes was 6 of 13 for 56 yards (Sauter 4 of 8 for 41). Glosson had 5 carries for 20 yards; Miller 10 for 18 yards.Woodall anchored the defense with 11 tackles, a sack, and 2 stuffs. Kemp 8 tackles and the big forced fumble.Hamlin had 2 sacks. After all is said and done, we did what enough to get the W. Our first win over Alabama so it's time to celebrate...smoke a few cigars....and sing a song about how much we love the state of Alabama....

 

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Tennessee (5-2) vs Arkansas (5-2)

Vols are 7 point favorites at home as our 9th ranked pass defense is expected to slow down the high powered Razorback passing attack

 

The Vols spot Arkansas a 10 pt lead thanks to the turnover bug early. But we regroup and are able to tie the game 10-10 at the half. We changed up our game plan and decided to run the ball right at their young D-line (instead of futile passing into their experienced D-backs). That strategy worked as Barry picked up 152 yards and Glossen added 93. The 2nd half was all Tennessee as we completely shut down the Razorback offense and controlled the clock with our ground game. Final score 24-10 in favor of the Vols.

 

Barry was star of the game with 152 rushing yards, 58 receiving yards (1 catch), and a TD. Charles Hunter becomes the all-time TN receiving leader with 4 catches, 40 yards, and a TD (passing Danny Sickles in all 3 catagories. Danny was 3rd team All-Sec from 2006-07). We outgained Arkie 477 to 231 in an almost reversal from the Bama game (we had 5 fumbles, losing 3 but that only served to keep the score closer than it should have been. Ford, Johnson, and Woodall each had 6 tackles. Woodall and Rogers had sacks. Dave Woodall seems to be a shoo-in to become the 4th man to be inducted into the Volunteer hall of fame (not sure how the selections are made though).

 

 

In other big news, Auburn knocks off Georgia 32-6, so now it's a tie between Florida and Tennessee which we should have the tie-breaker!

 

no love in the polls - the media actually took away votes and now have 2 teams we beat ahead of us (ole miss and arkansas) in the others receiving votes. Drop 1 spot in Coach's poll to #19. Air Force leapfrogged us after a stellar open date performance. (?) Hopefully this week, we will have Little at 100% and we can open up the offense against the Kentucky Wildcats. However, Kentucky is no pushover, 5-2 record and a victory over Alabama.

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Tennessee (6-2) vs Kentucky (5-2)

The Crockett-Boone Bowl

 

59,307 come out in Lexington to watch in a light rain -- Wildcats take the opening kickoff and march the length of the field to score with ease! Vols mix it up to answer that score and looks like we could have a shoot-out. Teams alternate playing good defense with playing no defense. 14-14 with time running out in the half - UK drives and kicks a FG. UT runs a 1 minute drill but miss a 55 yard FG. Cats take a 14-17 lead into the lockerroom.

 

Tennesse comes out fired up in the 2nd and drive the ball down kentucky's throat - Glossen dives in for his 2nd TD of the game and the lead. The defense looks to be as fired up as well - Burke delivers his 2nd crushing sack of the game forcing a punt. 3rd and short, Vols usually go to the FB in this situation but mix it up and throws a 47 yard TD Bomb to Semple against their stacked line and all out blitz!! Kentucky goes to the air to play catch-up....their WR gets a step on our back up CB...but Hamlin bursts thru their line for his 2nd sack of the game forcing another punt!

 

Vols go into 4th QTR leading 28-17. Kentucky is not done yet, scoring quickly on couple big plays to open the last stanza. 2 pt conversion is no good....28-23. Vols go 3 and out, but manage to force the same from KY. Defenses bow up and it is nail biting down to the end. Vols fail to run out the clock, punt and watch a return to midfield. Vols fans everywhere worried that the longest winning streak in the nation against a single team may be in jeopardy - but UK's first pass hits SS Compton right in the chest!!! He gets his 3rd INT of the season and all but seals the deal. Vols run a couple plays while Cats use their time outs. First down - and Little takes a knee and Vols return home with another very hard fought victory over their Beer Barrel rivals. 28-23 final score

 

Game stats: First downs: 30-20. Total Yards 424 to 385. Vols outrush (139-102) and out pass (285-283), completing 10 more passes on the same number of attempts.

Rob Little 25 of 33 for 251 yards, 1 TD. Glosson 14 carries for 72 yards and 2 TD's. Our line blocked well - only 1 sack; 3 KRB and 6 pancakes. Defense had some stars today too - none bigger than Woodall who had 9 tackles, a stuff and a hurry. we had 6 sacks (Burke and Hamlin 2 each Kemp and Blair add 1 each). 2 Forced fumbles but we didn't recover either - however, Compton grabs the big INT to end the game.

 

In other games: #3 Florida whips Vandy. Georgia loses again (23-20 to SC). Big game of the week: #12 Cal beats #1 USC 47-27

All this activity moves the Vols to #26 in media poll (52 votes. Ole Miss has 80 and is ranked 25th - even though we have a better record and beat them!) In the coach's poll, we drop 3 spots to #22 - behind Georgia who just lost. I don't get the polls sometimes. Cal moves up to #4, one spot ahead of USC who they destroyed. The computers give the Vols a little more love, ranking us #11, and we are #5 RPI

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<p>this game against Kentucky was a much better one that what we witnessed on the field Saturday. ugh! those were two awful offenses on the field.</p><p>

The real streak ends, but mine continues. bow your heads for a moment of silence</p>

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Tennessee (7-2) vs South Carolina (3-4)

 

DE Chris Rodgers and CB Keith Dodril are saddled with injuries - they could play but doctors advise giving them more time to recover. Still no chance SS Thomas will return

Vols are 8 point favorites against a team coming off an emotional win over Georgia

 

53,232 come out to watch their home team get their butts handed to them!! SC QB missed his first 9 passes before settling down. By then it was 17-0 in favor of the Vols. 20-0 at halftime, and 33-0 before SC gets on the scoreboard. UT was clicking on all cylanders and got a chance to play some reserves in the 2nd half. Final Score 39-10 in favor of the good guys.

 

Rob Little (QB) was star of the game, hitting 25 of 34 for 306 yards and 2 TD's (Orduna and Hunter). Barry had 13 carries for 56 yards, 1 TD. Glossen 9 for 52 yards. Hunter was the favorite target, 8 catches for 101 yards. Porter also 8 catches for 51 yards. We held the SC star WR Chris Speedie to only 37 yards on 5 catches. Woodall led the D with 6 tackles, 2 stuffs. The other normal leaders were quiet, but Tank Eason came up big with 2 sacks. Carroll and Machado each had a sack as well.

 

We move up a spot in the media poll to #25 (right behind a 5-4 Minnesota), and shoot up to #18 in coach's poll. Next game, we will be 8 pt favorites against Vandy at home.

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Tennessee (8-2) vs Vanderbilt (4-5)

 

104,400 fill Neyland Stadium - as is often the case, the Commodores came to play as they step up their game against the cross-state rivals. The defenses seem to fold up on both sides as injuries took their toll. Final Score; Tennessee wins 46-44 as Johnson kicks the game winning FG with 22 seconds left!! Another nail-biter with Vandy.

 

We outgain them 525-463, out rush 188-29. But they found the holes in our 4th ranked pass defense 424-337. The QB injury bug struck again, as a result each QB managed to throw 1 TD pass (Little had 2). Glossen and Barry each picked up rushing TD's

 

We move up to 20/15 in the polls. Florida jumps into the #1 spot in the media poll - AHEAD OF undefeated Ohio State who drops to 6th after a lackluster game against Iowa (22-17). USC loses to Washington (27-37) and doesn't budge in the polls, remaining the #5 spot which has to anger Ohio State who fell below them!!

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Senior Day

#17 Tennessee (9-2) vs #9 Wisconsin (9-2)

 

Vols are 2 point underdogs against 3rd place team in the Big 10. The 3 top players from the Midwest want to come for a visit during the game. We've had decent success recruiting the midwest and a win over the Big 10 power could open even more doors.

 

Senior Day - and what a wide range of emotions as players come thru the T for the final time. WR's Orduna and Hunter, offensive linemen who have grown up before our eyes this year (Yates, Rutledge, Madise). The cheers became deafening when maybe the greatest Linebacker to wear Orange, Dave Woodall, raced out. And what about Rob Little - who can forget those last minute heroics that have graced his career - coming into several games despite injuries to lead us to a winning drive (against UK, Vandy, and others). Then the tears as the video screen lit up showing SS Bryon Thomas who is hospitalized with spinal trauma, maybe never to walk again. He closed it out by whispering with all his might "Go Big Orange!!" and the fans replied as Rocky Top Plays

 

And what a game 104,400 fans got to witness. Wisconsin revs up its high powered attack right off the bat, rolling down down only to settle for a fg. UT sputters, punts and another drive that is cut short by Carl Compton's INT. The Vols get a little drive going, gambles on 4th down at the 40 and fails. Badgers make them pay - drive, 4 yard TD pass and Vols trail 0-10 starting the 2nd qtr. It was time to pull out all stops and open up the offense or risk getting blown out. Some short passes and runs get us into FG range - Johnson connects from 55 yards! The defense forced a punt. Holmes replaced Little at QB to shake things up after TE Porter went down with an injury. He moved the Vols down the field with crisp passes. Malichak races 23 yards getting us into the Orange Zone, and from there Glossen dives in for a TD and the game is tied with 4 minutes left in the half. 3 and out, Vols get the ball back at midfield after a short punt! with 2 minutes to go, Wisconsin plays deep - and we had a plan - 2 good runs for 28 yards had them on their heels. Button hook for 14, then Little finds Glossen on a dump off and he scampers to the end zone!! 17-10. Only 48 seconds, but Badgers hit a 46 yard streak on 3rd and 3 to get into FG range. Half time score 17-13

 

In the 2nd half, Badgers sack Little forcing a punt; hit another 46 yard pass and then run the ball over us to take the lead. Vols respond by mixing it up, then Little heaves it deep to Ordona…51 yard TD strike, what a great pass!! First play from scrimmage after that - Ike Robertson runs 78 yards for the Badgers and they retake the lead. The defenses owned the rest of Q3 until Little finds Hunter on a 48 yard streak puts us on the 20. Miller is stuffed in backfield for 4 yard loss, but once again Hunter comes up big with a 19 yard reception putting the ball on the goaline as the quarter comes to an end. Malanchak starts the 4th by diving in for 6. The Vols depth is starting wear down the badgers. After a punt, Glossen races 80 yards to put the Vols up 38-27. Wisconsin misses 2 FG's and UT hits theirs. That's how the scoring ends. Final Score 41-27.

 

STATS: Wisconsin had 578 total yards: 26 of 48 passing for 414 yards; 28 rushes for 164 yards. UT had 519 total yards of offense. 17 of 24 passing for 274 yards; 46 rushes for 245 yards

Star of Game: Senior RB, Chad Glossen, 9 carries for 111 yards, 2 TD's. 1 recpt for 12 yards and 1 TD (3 total TD). We had 6 KRB and 3 pancakes on the line. Ross led all tacklers with 9. Woodall added 6. Sacks by Tank Eason, Rogers, and Blair. Compton picked up an INT, his 4th of the year. He dedicated it to Thomas, the injured SS he replaced midseason.

 

Vols jump up to #10 in the polls. Top 5 are Florida, Michigan State, Florida State, GA Tech, and Ohio State (all now with 1 loss, as Michigan knocked off the Buckeyes)

 

we'll look at the postseason awards before going to the SEC Championship game against Auburn

[olympia]

In rivalry week, #3 Florida State beats #1 Florida knocking the SEC out of the national title game once again. UGA beats GA TECH, S.Car beats Clemson, Auburn whips Bama (who ends season at 4-7) Vols move up to #7 in media poll and will play #19 Auburn in the SEC championship game (who got the tiebreaker over LSU who also finished 6-2)

 

Offensive POY goes to QB Greg May of Pitt. 3,760 yards, 32 TD and 5 int.

Defensive POY is Tom Rivera of Auburn, 89 tackles, 11 sacks

Coach of Year: Marty Miller of Michigan State 10-1

 

Vols getting postseason awards:

ALL SEC HONORS

M.George 1st team SEC FB (198 yards, 2TD). Mack Anderson 1st team SEC punter.

2nd Team: OG Madise.

3rd team: C.Johnson (K), Woodall (ILB), Burke (DT) and Johnson (SS)

[olympia]

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#7 Tennessee vs #19 Auburn

for the SEC championship. War Eagles are given the slight edge based on overall talent and stats

 

the last time we faced Auburn, we got shelacked. The last time (only) time we made the SEC title game we got destroyed by LSU. We are hoping for a better result this year

 

Vols keep it close. 13-13 half time. 16-16 to end 3rd qtr. Auburn gets a TD to open the 4th. UT responds with a pair of long FG's. After that, Auburn runs out the clock to win 23-22.

Little had 279 yards passing, a couple backs picked up 50 yards each. Madise got 3 pancakes. Woodall gets 10 tackles, and we had 4 sacks. Just not enough to get the win. Our punishment for losing the game is a rematch with Wisconsin in Orlando -- so much for trying to schedule big time teams in the regular season.

[olympia]

Tennessee vs Wisconsin - the rematch

in the bowl game, Vols jump out to an early lead and hold on. Little 260 yards passing, Barry 130 yards rushing. Woodall only 3 tacklies in his final game wearing orange.

Most important stat- Vols win 27-21. Close out the season 11-3 and ranked #10

 

Florida is your national champion, beating Michigan State 46-29. In a real shocker, Auburn beats #3 Ohio State who somehow moves UP to #2

The coaches are even bigger idiots, moving LSU up to #2 after they beat #12 Michigan (media has LSU still at #11). SEC will take the extra props though

some strange goings on in the Polls for sure. What a topsy turvy year

 

Post Season evaluation: We score A for Performance, Recruiting, Exceeding Expectations, Prestige, and overall. We score a B for Talent

 

Our Prestige improves to 80 (excellent -- seems like I started this diary around 65). The board now expects us to win the SEC and get a BCS bid. Nothing less than top 10 will be acceptable

As expected Woodall joins the Volunteer Hall of Fame: 356 tackles, 9 sacks, 54 stuffs, 4 int.

Good news is he is joined by Eric Madise! The OG had 43 run blocks and 37 pancakes, only allowed 12 sacks and called for holding 6 times -- Eric is ranked 5th all time in SEC for run blocks

5 hall of fame players total pales in comparison to other programs. Hopefully the next wave of recruits will add to this total

 

Semple passes Sickles for most receiving yards in a season (786 vs 777). His 58 catches this year was the most in a season by a Vol as well. Hunter moved into the #4 spot. Woodall ended up 2nd for tackles in season (105) behind Sandoval's 115 in 2006 (bad thing is Sandoval was the SS, so that meant the other team was getting lots of yards). Hamlin's 10 sacks ties him for 2nd (Coleman's 13 leads the way)

[olympia]

Graduating senior stars

Little ends up his career as the 2nd ranked QB with a 143 rating (Moran had 143.9). His career passing yards of 6996 is far and away the tops (as most only got a year to play). Little ranked 3rd all-time in SEC for passes, completions, and yards

 

Hunter and Ordona leave as 1 and 2 on the WR yardage list, but expect to be passed by Semple next year. Hunter has 2151 yards and 18 TD's. Semple 1607 (9 TD). Hunter is tied for 5th for rec TDs

 

Skip Blair leaves as the all-time sack leader with 22 (returning DT Hamlin has 15), Skip ends up ranked 4th in SEC for career sacks (Williams of GA had 28)

 

Dave Woodall leaves ranked #6 on the all-time NCAA tackle list with 356. (Rivers of Hawaii had 413 down to Walton of Penn State with 360 at #5) Dave is tied at #7 with 269 solo tackles

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Our offense ranked #31. 25 rushing, #41 passing, #9 points

Defense ranked #22. #39 against Rush #27 against pass, #66 points allowed. Kwame Koman has been here 3 years. Maybe his worst numbers overall yet (esp rush and points)

 

Budget is 2,515,000. plus we get $117,000 for weekly recruiting

lot of coaching changes and the offers we got were silly considering they were all from mid-level teams in low prestige conferences (Tulane, Florida INT, N.Ill, to name a few)

 

Special Teams coach Kevin Larson decided to opt out of his contract and see if he could get a bigger paycheck (2nd time he has left me for more money - wonder where he'll end up this year or if he'll get a raise)

We replace him with 46 year Scott Kaspar, a UNC grad with 13 years of experience. He is a great game planner and excellent motivator. Just so-so on scouting and development though.

 

OG Nate Moreau transfers to Utah - I consider myself lucky to only have lost one of the redshirt players from last year since so many acted unhappy - the downside is that only leaves us 2 guards on the roster!

I attempted to get Darren O'Donnel from Clemson, but he opted for Vandy instead (loser!) week 7, found out that OT Alex Spilis also left us for Duke. Another lineman gone!! Our offensive line is pretty much depleted after that with NO depth. The coach is looking thru some Juco Rosters for immediate help now.

[olympia]

Being National Signing Day in real life, it seems like a good time to release the results of our Recruiting

 

WE need to restock the Oline in a big way. Would like to sign another LB to help replace the Hall of Famer Woodall. Of course we want to add a good QB for depth, and also searching for playmakers at RB/WR. So how did we fare?

 

Week 9

5 star Fullback Brian Pagel, the Florida star ranked #55 in the nation overall will be the next in a line of bruisers at this position for us.

4 star OG - Matt Stinchcomb, #177 overall, and #14 OG. He will rate better than the guys who left us. May need time to develop, but a good start to the process!

 

Week 10

4 star OG - Rod Daniels! Juco from MS (71 rating). Just what the doctor ordered! He will no doubt start from day 1!

 

Week 11 - banner week!

5 star OLB Michael Johnson from Texas! -- a stud who will compete for playing time right away.

4 star OT - Jason Babers (FL), #130 overall, #13 OT.

4 star WR Jamie Atkinson (TN native is #88 rated WR) - good potential

4 star OG Kevin Griffin (FL) -- #259 overall, #20 ranked OG

 

Week 13 brought another bumper crop

4 star OLB Roderick Dayne (CT). #171 overall, #24 OLB. This will shore up a position that in the past was covered by back-up MLBs

4 star DT Samani Frazier (GA). #145 overall, #16 DT. Excited to get this guy. He will add some quality depth

4 star OLB Michale Urlacher (MS Juco from TN). could start day 1

4 star WR Ronald Young (AL) what a steal, 16th best WR. expects to make 2-deep behind senior speedster Semple, and RS Frosh Kline Reed.

4 star CB Michale Littleton (AR). #215 overall, #17 CB.

 

biggest loss of the week, 5 star QB Ivey to GA Tech

 

Week 14, we add another stud TE, 4 star Leonard Pickens from South Dakota

 

week 15 we round out the class

3 star scrambling athlete QB, Bill Springs from Cali (#331 overall, #20 QB)

3 star DT Corey Hoke (Nashville TN)

3 star OT Steve Hutchinson (MS)

3 star ILB Andy Jackson (GA) - how could not pursue a man named after Old Hickory?!

 

we ended up with several guys from outside the SE Region

more importantly, we end up with the #2 class behind Missouri (who signed 29 players....12 more than us). We filled a lot of holes with class, and signed some great talent who should be able to help right away. 10 of our 18 signees were ranked in the top 250.

[olympia]

With College football season fastly approaching, I got the urge to play a few games and continue this diary another year or so.

 

One things I was happy to see was that we had Volunteer players listed on the "players to watch" list for just about every position (no QB and no OL - two areas we are trying to rebuild this year after graduation).

 

We are ranked preseason at #25. We are hopeful to win the SEC East once again, and could have the horses to win the championship game this year. Stay tuned!

 

I'll post analysis of the roster by position

[kujjaquaq]

Good Luck

 

Glad to see your going to continue with it! Good Luck!

[olympia]

2012 roster analysis after spring training:

 

QB: Raymond Anderson has emerged as the clear leader over last year's back-up Walter Holmes. The Michigan Soph is 60/70 rated. He is 70 (PA) and 74 (PT) which is not too far behind where Little was last year. Holmes will be the back-up once again (57/68). The California scrambler Bill Springs adds a different dimension with his running ability. There are rumors he could be moved to RB at the end of the year, but afraid to only have 2 QB' s on roster with our history of injury at the position. Springs is 54/70 rated, passing is 56/40 but his running is 67.

 

RB: Last year the carries were divided among 4 greenbacks. This year we have 2, with a couple RS FR as back-ups. Max Malinchak leads the way (70/78 rating). His speed has declined from 81 to 77 with some added weight - that will hopefully help him break a few more tackles this year. Juqua Barry will push Max for playing time. (68/77), he can feel the hole and create some runs, but lacks the top end speed that Max has. Bennett and Thomason are 55/65 rated and will need to continue their development. Both are here to serve as role players, and we will need to recruit over them next year.

 

FB: Kind of a shocker here as true Freshman Brian Pagel has emerged as the starter! Overall, he jumped to 67 of 83 ahead of the All SEC senior M.George (63 of 73). Charles Scott, the Jr, is 69/75 and could keep George mostly on the bench(how does George go from first team all SEC to 3rd string!!?)). I have to feel pretty good about short yardage situations with this bruising trio though!

 

WR: In one spot, Hannibal Semple returns for his senior year. He maintained his speed in offseason (88) rated 70/72 overall, he would like to be the go-to guy and break some records this year. On the other side, redshirt freshman Kline Reed looks to turn some eyes. Overall 64/77; but with 74 hands he expects to catch most anything thrown his way, then 71 RR and 74 speed he expects to take several of those catches to the house. Butch Browning (61/70) is the main back-up. Time will tell how the new crop of receivers fit into the mix -- Young (#16 WR coming out of HS) is 55/71 and Atkinson is 55/74 was the #88 HS receiver last year -- both have good speed and hands.

 

TE: All-American prospect Keith Porter didn't improve much in the offseason (77 of 83) but will be a favorite target of Anderson I'm sure. Freddie Leo returns this year as his back-up (67/78) and we have incoming freshman Pickens (59/78) to look forward to down the road.

 

OT: We will be young on the line - Incoming true freshman Jason Babers wowed everyone in the spring - 58 of 85 rating, but has 67/70 blocking ability which is the best on the team. Soph Harrison (60/77) is expected to start at the other OT position. Sweeney and Woodson (60/70) will serve as back-ups and could take the starting position if the freshman falters.

OG: Juco Rod Daniels will be blowing defensive lineman off the LOS this year. 69/73 tops hall of famer Madise in overall skill. His 81 run blocking should pave some roads for our backs. The other guard is more a work in progress as Sr Chris Rentzel (59/68) and Jr Obami Hill (60/73) will compete for the starting spot, and a couple true freshmen rated 56/59 with 80 potential are waiting in the wings.

Center: Soph Max Young will take over fulltime snapping duties this year. 67 of 80 overall; 99 pass blocker, 71 run blocker.

 

DE: Chris Rogers (JR, 66/74) and Gary Machado (Sr, 60/70) will anchor the ends. RS Frosh Bobby Kramer will be the key sub (#20 DE out of HS; 57/71 rating). We also have some experience with Tank Eason and Larry Breaux who are mid-to-high 50's but never expected to develop past the low 60's.

DT: I feel good about the interior again this year. Sr Chris Hamlin had 10 sacks last year (64 of 74) and can expect to start again. Jr Robert Burke needs one more defensive TD to set the NCAA record (he is tied with many including Woodall with 2). I'd love to see him return another fumble all the way this year - fun to watch a 307 pounder rumbling down the field. He is 68/72 rated. We have a solid rotation this year and could be able to keep all the tackles fresher as the games and season wears on. Jack Abraham (64/70), Brad Carroll (61/77) plus incoming freshman Frazier (57/76). Larry Conwell 46 of 60 remains a warm body for emergency use and Corey Hoke 49/68 could afford a redshirt.

 

LB: We will miss Dave Woodall roaming the middle of the field. However, we think we may have a good replacement. RSF Will Gaffney (65 of 81). The other 2 guys who backed him and the OLB's up the last couple years are still in low 60's but will be able to teach Gaffney the ropes.

OLB: We replace Woodall's green presence in the middle by Don Urlacher's greeness on the wing. He is a Juco and expected to hit the ground running (68/73). With him and Gaffney, I like our LB corps. Kemp (64/75) and Ross (61/79) have played almost every game since they got here - both will be pushed hard this year. Michael Johnson was the #8 OLB in the nation last year - (62/84) and Rod Dayne (61 of 78) was also a top 20 prospect. These two guys will develop and be able to fill in after Urlacher leaves

 

CB: Couple upperclassmen with lots of experience lock down the corners. Dodril (69/78) and Alexander (70/82) have done well in the past. Pair of juniors back them up: Jennings (58/69) and Wright (61/73) and one will need to step up to replace Dodril next year. Or that man may be Michael Littleton (56 of 72). If Littleton lets me redshirt him, he develop and be a star for several years

 

Safety: Jr Free Safety Keith Ford returns - he has started all but 1 game since arriving on campus. 65 of 76, now is the time to harness those skills and get a return on my investment! Soph Buckman and RS freshmen Sudstill (60/76) will provide back-up and also vie to take over when Ford graduates.

Senior SS Chris Johnson (63 of 80) was forced into a starting role last year due to injury. He has 8 int's in his career, and the 78 tackles last year was just behind Woodall. Carl Compton will compete for playing time. He had to burn his redhshirt after the spinal injury ended the career of Bryon Thomas. His 4 int's were tops on the team and he'd like to get into the record book with an even better performance. (59 of 72, he will continue to learn the ropes)

 

Special Teams: Courtney Johnson (82 of 84) actually declined his skill. Leg strength of 99 gives plenty of distance; however his accuracy declined to 76 which gives cause to reflect and worry. He was 34 of 43 on FG's last year but only 38 of 40 on XP's. He was 7 of 8 from 40-50, and 3 of 7 beyond 50 (longest was 55). Hope we can give him more XP attempts this year and fewer "having to settle for 3" in the redzone.

 

Mack Anderson 69 of 74 will boom punts for us again for his senior season. He had fewer punts last year and lower average 41.8. he dropped 16 inside the 20 with only 3 TB;s. Every year he has a punt that approaches 60 yards (59 is his long; 58 last year).

 

So there are your 2012 Volunteers! Who will be the next break out star for the Vols? Who will lead the offense? Who will replace Woodall as the leader on defense? Which player are you most looking forward to seeing on the field this year? The answers to these questions and more will be found when the season kicks off

[olympia]

Our non-conference schedule this year features games against:

Indiana and BYU to open the season and then the big finale vs The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame!! Meanwhile, we have normal killer SEC schedule - Top 10 ranked teams like Auburn and LSU back to back on the road. Then traditional rivals Kentucky and Vanderbilt followed by South Carolina, Arkansas, Florida and Georgia. And don't forget that season finale with the Irish!

 

Rather than wait, let's go to the first game

 

Tennessee vs Indiania

Slightly overcast, but the Vol fans turned out enmasse (104,000). The Hoosiers drew first blood on an 18 yard TD strike from Worthen to Taylor. The Vols respond with a nice long drive capped off by a 1 yard plunge by FB Charles Scott. UT adds a pair of 2nd Qtr FG's to take a 13-7 halftime lead. Ind starts 2nd half with a long FG - Jaqua Barry takes matters into his own hands with a pair of TD runs (17 and 3). 27-10 at end of 3rd. In years past, the Vols usually owned the 2nd half and looked much the same today as Porter catches a 4 yard TD pass from Raymond Anderson. But then things got dicey as Indiana hit a 75 yard TD pass, held UT to 3 and out and drove again - only to settle for a FG. Hoosiers get one more FG to end the scoring. UT wins 34-22

 

Stats: Vols outgain 520 to 334. Anderson was 27/36 for 348 passing yards. 1 TD, 1 INT. Barry and Malichak had 16 carries each, for 86 and 68 yards respectively. Barry had the 2 TD's. Defensively, Urlacher takes over where Woodall left off - 7 tackles to lead the team (our new MLB Gaffney only had 1 tackle). 4 players had a sack, and Compton picks up where he left off last year nabbing an INT

 

Couple Top 25 teams survive scares, but #1 So Cal falls to Notre Dame 31-10. What a way to start the season! We may find that the Trojans were way over-rated to be picked as the preseason #1.

With 89 votes, The Vols hold onto the #25 spot in the polls

 

next is BYU - we will be 2 TD favorites, but I really expect a closer game than that as we iron out the kinks with the new defense (missing Woodall is bigger than I could have imagined)

[olympia]

Tennessee vs BYU

Vols are 14 point favorites

 

BYU only needs 4 plays to hang 7 on the Vols, our defense needs to stop giving up those big plays!! Vols drive down the field but an apparent tying TD Pass is wiped off due to offensive pass interference, so we settle for a FG. Defense makes up for it with an int and 3 forced fumbles - Anderson struggles with passing and we rely on ground game to take a 20-7 halftime lead. BYU gets benefit of couple more big plays and cut into the lead - 20-14. Vols miss 2 FG's (one from 5 yard line) which is cutting into morale big time!! A 51 yard punt pins BYU at the 5 yard line; however, we give up the biggest play of them all - a 95 yard bomb as someone blew an assignment. Now we trail with only 2 minutes to go in the game. it takes 2 4th down conversions to get the ball to the 20 yard line with 9 seconds to go (the AI actually suggested punting when it was 4th an 11 on the 40 yard line with 30 seconds left - lucky I was there to override the OC and our pass play set us up for a game winning FG attempt. Was amazed the OC actually wanted to pass with 9 ticks left on the clock but again I overrode him and sent in the kicker). Johnson made up for his earlier misses and nailed this one perfectly. A comeback 23-21 hard fought victory.

 

We had 467 yards to their 392. Anderson had a dismal 23 of 42 passing day for 202 yards and a costly INT. Lucky for us our RB's ran well behind a dominant O-Line. Barry had 119 yards on 20 carries (1 TD), Malinchak added 85 yards on 15 carries. Fullback Scott added 48 yards, Pagel 6 yards and a TD. Reed 6 catches for 81 yards, Semple 4 catches 44 yards, Porter 7 catches 39 yards. Our line provided 7 Key run blocks (3 by Daniels) and 6 pancakes (2 by TE Porter). Burke recovered another fumble, but was not able to rumble for a TD as he did twice last year. In all we took away 4 fumbles and 2 Int's - if not for the turnovers this would have been a different ball game. leading tackler was Tommy Kemp with 9, the other OLB Urlacher has 6, we sacked their QB 4 times, but gave up 3 ourselves.

 

Texas took the top spot in the polls long enough to lose to Colorado State! Now Michigan is ranked #1. Vols slip a spot in both polls (26 in media and 21 in coaches). Maybe we took the Cougars for granted looking ahead to the top 5 SEC foes coming up. I'd much rather we just take care of business and blow them out next time --

We take an open date to heal up and get ready for a brutal stretch. #5 Auburn and then #2 LSU

[olympia]

Tennessee at Auburn -- we are 8 point underdogs

 

 

we should be more, we have never played well against the War Eagles but the boys are determined to fix that this year. Didn't start out well as Auburn kicks 3 FG's and a TD to take a 16-0 lead (could be worse, those could have been 4 TD's). The offense was visibly frustrated and just threw up a prayer from the 10 - Ronald Young ran under it and kept on running. 16-7. The 3rd qtr only saw us kick a FG to make it a one score game. with 8:43 left in the game, Anderson hit Leo for a 33 yard TD strike - the Xp gave us our first lead of the game. Our defense had played lights out holding Auburn the 2nd half, but were visibily tired. Auburned mounted a 6 minute drive to retake the lead. With hope running out, Anderson rallied the troops one last time He marched the team down the field and found Juqua Barry in the endzone with 26 ticks on the clock (13 yard td). We are going to overtime!! No fairy dust left - Anderson was sacked and Johnson sent the kick wide right. Didn't matter as Auburn rolled to the end zone and the victory, 5 yard TD pass gives Auburn the 30-24 overtime win. tough road loss.

 

We outgained them 426-410. Anderson ripped their #1 ranked pass defense for 399 yards, 3 TD's but 2 costly interceptions. He was also sacked twice. We tried to establish a ground game, but Auburn stacked the box and dared us to pass. Barry led us with 28 yards on 10 carries. (26 rushes, 1 total net yard!). Young had 94 receiving yards, Leo - 77, Semple -71, Porter -66, Reed -65

Ford led the defense with 8 tackles, Eason had our only sack. We just couldn't force a turnover or get a key stop when we needed it on that last drive.

 

we go to baton Rouge to face the #1 LSU Bengal Tigers. Bad news is we have 4 offensive linemen on the DL. Can't bode well for our poor QB and running game

[olympia]

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRqFwztrO9aVw4BpnKMpQnbDW_UL8N5nrrMTmC890msMNLm4b4G:www.onlinetickets.com/images/events/lp_lsu.jpg #1 LSU vs #22 Tennessee http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQhlwwQG_Zu2sPpVz46_x2anz7tRAB_Qx1y3BkJJ_mOc2lehVDmvA:2.bp.blogspot.com/-HkjAIV00X-c/Tml70H6KqvI/AAAAAAAAAVU/twlQXgEiTdo/s1600/8757597760_tennessee-vols.gif

We are 5 pt underdogs

 

UT goes 3 and out, LSU marches inside the 10 where they stall and settle for a FG attempt - BLOCKED!! Back-up TE Leonard Pickens makes the big play! Vols march down the field and settle for a FG then the wheels fall off. 82 yard run, then Ford fumbles the kick off allowing another score. Vols do not go quietly- with 14:07 to go in the game, Johnson's FG give us the lead 16-13. However, LSU rattles off a couple big plays and win going away 30-16. Our defense gave up 284 rushing yards and that pretty much says it all. Anderson struggled again 14 of 38 for 213 yards and INT> Barry picked up 66 yards and a TD. But all in all, the offense sputtered. Frosh WR Kline Reed shows what the fuss is about, gaining 99 yards (his performance may prevent Semple from setting some Vol career reception records this year). Abraham had a couple sacks - our sack leader Hamlin has been very quiet this year.

 

 

we do show some good improvement though in development. Kemp gives us 3 green LB's, Hamlin goes green. Sweeney on the OL joins Daniels and Young

 

2 major rivalry games are up next - Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Long time followers have seen some great classics in these games. Hopefully we can put these two tough losses against ranked teams behind us and bounce back against our historic rivals. BTW, Kentucky is undefeated and #1 in the SEC east. This is not your normal Wildcat team

[olympia]

Tennessee vs Kentucky

 

UT is 0-2 in SEC while UK is 2-0 and first place of SEC East -- what a different world we live in

 

just what the doctor ordered - in years past we have struggled with our rival, this year the team came home hungry and angry. They jumped on the cats early and often. It was 17-0 before UK completed their first pass - too bad it was a 93 TD pass, daggone those big plays. Vols bounce back with a 43 yard bomb to TE Porter to close out the first half 24-7. We know the Cats will not just lay down and quit and we trade FG's in the 3rd qtr. Vols get to play some younger players in the 4th qtr which allows UK to nail a 68 yard TD pass. Max, Pagel, and Barry add TD's for the Vols then the scrubs allow UK to tack on a meaningless drive late. Final Score 48-25, go big orange!

 

STATS: 557 yards to 338 (most of those in the 4th qtr). Anderson 18 of 29 for 293 yards and 2 TD's. Barry 29 carries for 129 yards, 2 TD's. Porter had the game of his life (playing with an injury) catching 6 for 131 yards and a TD/ Browning added a TD catch on 63 yards. Reed and Semple had quiet sub 50 yard days. The Oline was dominant, Daniels with 4 KRB's and 3 pancakes (before an injury), Urlacher had 6 tackles to lead the defense, Hamlin got his first sack of the year while Abraham picked up his 5th (Hamlin has been drawing some doubleteams which freed up big Jack). Several guys got playing time but nothing to show for it on the stat sheet.

 

in other games, #1 LSU outlasts 4-2 Alabama 21-20. Ole Miss upsets Florida. UT gets no media votes and drops to #26 in coaches poll (93 votes)

 

Injury report:

C Max Young is recovering from an injury to his Wrist (Abrasion). He seems to be progressing well and we recommend playing him this week.

OT Curtis Harrison is trying to play through an injury to his Spleen (Internal Injury). He seems willing to give it a go, but we would recommend giving him another week to recover.

OT Jerald Sweeney is currently battling an injury to his Patella (Cracked). He is getting better and able to play, but you might want to sit him out one more week.

OG Chris Rentzel is trying to play through an injury to his Elbow (Stress Fracture). He seems willing to give it a go, but we would recommend giving him another week to recover.

DE Tank Eason is currently battling an injury to his Foot (Torn Cartilage). He is getting better and able to play, but you might want to sit him out one more week.

DE Chris Rodgers is recovering from an injury to his Head (Skull Fracture). He seems to be progressing well and we recommend playing him this week.

DT Robert Burke is recovering from an injury to his Head (Mild Concussion). He seems to be progressing well and we recommend playing him this week.

 

(4 offensive linemen and 3 on the D-line. tough to win the trench wars with the walking wounded)