from volquest - IT'S FLORIDA WEEK

[radbag]

September 10, 2007

Rob Lewis
VolQuest.com Associate Editor


Tennessee picked up its first win of the season on Saturday night, and maybe celebrated on it for 15 minutes (if that) before the focus and the talk shifted to the annual showdown with Florida. The No. 22 ranked Vols head to Gainesville on Saturday to take on the No. 5 Gators in match-up that will go a long way in determining the outcome of the SEC East Division race.

For Tennessee, it will be the second high-profile match-up of the season against a top-10 opponent after opening at Cal. For Florida, it will be the first true test after a pair of tune-ups against Western Kentucky and Troy.

Phillip Fulmer has said consistently that he feels having a big road game under this team's belt will be a benefit next Saturday. But what had the head coach encouraged on Sunday night after watching tape of the Southern Miss win was the fashion in which his team closed out the game on both sides of the ball.

"I think we wore on Southern Miss a little bit last night as the game wore on and we're a little bit more like we want to be," Fulmer said. "Offensively Erik played well and we were probably more like ourselves in the second half, we ran the football and threw it both. The receivers and Arian Foster had an outstanding game."

That offensive balance?Tennessee rushed for 207 and passed for 276 in the game?seemed to please Fulmer more than anything else he saw on the field against the Golden Eagles, with the possible exception of a markedly improved pass-rush.

Tennessee sacked USM's Jeremy Young four times in the game and pressured him on numerous other occasions, forcing rushed throws.

The chief instigator of the pass rush, especially in the second half, was junior defensive end Robert Ayers, one of Fulmer's favorite targets in the past when listing those players on his roster who haven't quite put it all together.

The light looked like it might have started to come on for Ayers on Saturday. He totaled three sacks, two tackles for a loss a sack and was credited with two quarterback hurries. That kind of production had Fulmer almost a little giddy.

"Robert Ayers played his best game since he's been here, which was good to see," Fulmer said. "We moved him around some, moved him inside in the nickel and he gave us some pass rush. He played really well, hopefully he'll build on that and become the player that we've all been working toward."

The evolving pass rush will be under pressure to produce against Florida on Saturday. Gators' sophomore Tim Tebow is obviously talented, but this will be the biggest game of his young career as a starter. Making sure he doesn't have time to comfortable will be near the top of Tennessee's to-do list.

Tebow played sparingly against the Vols last season, but made a significant impact in the Gators' one-point win when he converted a fourth-and-one play on what would become one of his patented runs out of the shotgun formation.

He's gotten off to a hot start against the Gators two cupcakes, completing 31-of-42 passes for 536 yards and six touchdowns, while also rushing for 131 yards and three more touchdowns. Those numbers would be a lot more impressive if they came against quality competition, but completing 74 percent of your passes, as he's done, is no easy feat even in practice.

Fulmer espoused a healthy respect for Tebow's ability as a dual threat guy, going so far as to say he expected that ability to make the Gators' offense even better than the one that captured a national title last season.

"As good as they were last year, I'm sure that they're better this year on offense because of Tebow's ability to do both (run and pass)," Fulmer said.

"It makes it hard when a guy is that talented. If you rush the passer and force him to run, that can be a worse fate (than him throwing). But then you give him a chance to get out to those great receivers. It's just tough. They're a very good offensive football team."

Gaines Out, Secondary Shakes Up

The Vols 'new-look' secondary against Southern Miss underwent another change when Antonio Gaines was lost with a knee injury in the first half.

Fulmer cited privacy laws on Sunday when asked if he could get specific on Gaines' status, but the head coach said the senior had sustained 'a significant knee injury' and confirmed that he was definitely out for Florida.

That essentially means that Jarod Parish has been given a second chance to nail down the strong safety job and that Eric Berry is once again at cornerback.

Parish was one of the biggest culprits in the tackling fiasco at Cal, but Fulmer said he saw much steadier play from the senior when he got another shot on Saturday.

"In the first ball game Jarod looked tight and afraid to make a mistake almost, which causes you to make a mistake. He played much more fluid and much more athletic in this ball game than he did in the first one," Fulmer said of Parrish. "That's what he's got to continue to do. He's skilled enough to be an adequate safety."

Fulmer said that the corner spot, which Berry will now devote his time to, is actually less demanding mentally than playing safety. That should be a benefit this week when Berry and the rest of the secondary will have enough on their plate on the physical side, trying to match-up with the Gators speedy receivers.

Fulmer stopped well short of guaranteeing that Berry would have a good game in Gainesville, but the head coach definitely doesn't expect him to be rattled.

"Eric will match-up athletically with most anybody. There will still be an experience factor, but he's a tough-minded young man and he'll do ok."

One thing that injury to Gaines has done is to seriously weaken the Vols depth. Tennessee had hoped that area was addressed by signing a pair of junior-college transfers, Nevin McKenzie and Deangelo Willingham. So far it's been tough sledding for the duo, who have had a hard time climbing the depth chart after arriving on campus just prior to the start of fall camp.

Willingham saw significant action at cornerback in the second half on Saturday, but even with Parrish struggling against Cal and the shake-up caused by Gaines' injury, McKenzie doesn't appear to be making the push most thought he would for that strong safety spot.

"We didn't really play him any at safety. He was a nickel guy most of the time. He's got a ways to go to be ready at safety right now. He can play a role right now."

McKenzie forced the fumble on a sack that led to a fourth-quarter safety for the Vols against Southern Miss.

Receivers Turning Heads

One of the biggest stories in the first two games has been the play of the veterans at wide receivers. Against Southern Miss Austin Rogers and Lucas Taylor combined for 12 catches and 230 yards receiving.

Those numbers are certainly helped by the fact that Erik Ainge is playing at a high-level, but the truth of the matter is that those two have exceeded everyone's expectations. Fulmer said that the secret to their success is pretty simple.

"They've done real well at being consistent. If you're in the right place and you catch the football that's a good start. They're no slouches after the catch either. They're both tough guys and Lucas has made a couple of nice runs after he's caught the ball," Fulmer said.

"I said in the spring that I thought the receivers would be ok because of their attitude and their work ethic. My hope is that a couple of those other guys can continue to come on, and we can get a rotation going so that if we have an injury it won't bother us that much. We want to play more people but I'm really happy with where the receivers are right now."

Banged Up Gators

Florida hasn't been playing any of college football's heavyweights in the first two weeks of the season, but the Gators haven't exactly escaped uscathed from the those contests either.

In fact, Urban Meyers' squad could be minus a couple of key contributors this week depending on how fast some of his guys heal.

Wide receiver Andre Caldwell was set to have an MRI on Sunday for a strained MCL.

Speedy return specialist Brandon James left the game this weekend against Troy with a sprained left ankle.

[G8Rpmc]

All I can say is thank goodness we play them in the Swamp. I think the home field advantage will help....I hope!

[apexgator]

ditto pmc.

Though I expect that the defense will step it up a notch this week.

[urapnes]

the home field advantage will be double because tennessee will try and use the no-huddle. last week they had some trouble using it....at home!

[slideman67]

Glad to be at home too. We have been able to defend The Swamp so far, and I think we will continue that.

[efbart]

Glad to be at home too. We have been able to defend The Swamp so far, and I think we will continue that.

You Reckon?

HOW 'BOUT THEM GATORS?????!!!!!!!!!!!??????????

[a1bion]

HOW 'BOUT THEM GATORS?????!!!!!!!!!!!??????????

You got that goddamned right!

I had so much fun today--we took over the sports bar in the hotel and had the place chanting, "It's Great To Be a Florida Gator!" at the end of the game.

Checking through security at the airport, a couple of TSA guys started giving me shit about my Gators shirt. I asked them who they pulled for and when they said Miami, I just burst out laughing in their faces and wished them good luck against FIU.

And I gotta say, Alabama fans are still obnoxious. A couple of them were in the bar and they kept screaming about the "2 million dollar man." Tards.

[annarborgator]

i have only begun to enjoy our win in the last 2-3 hours. it didn't sink in during the game. i didn't realize that we were working their asses. it was absolutely amazing to watch us dominate UT.