News

In a weekend filled with upset after upset, we struggled early defensively and saw a few offensive drives stall out before finally waking up and destroying an overmatched Ole Miss team. It was scary for a while but the end result was far better than the one that awaited half of the top 15. This week is a chance for revenge on a team that hung 50+ on us in Athens last year. This isn’t the same UT team we saw last season and they’re reeling a bit at .500, but Fulmer’s teams play us best when no one is giving them a shot, so this will be as scary as ever.

About the Ole Miss game

Where do you start to describe this game? The score was not at all indicative of the struggle we had on our hands. Ole Miss carried over all the momentum they established in the UF game and came out ready. They utilized that massive OL to open huge holes in our DL all day, which allowed their RBs to get yardage in chunks, which in turn opened up their passing game. Just a rough day defensively for us, but you have to give it to Ole Miss. They played extremely well offensively. Their QB was accurate and smart, rarely miscuing on attempts and constantly putting his guys in good position to make a play on the ball. His opening TD toss was thrown as perfectly as you’ll ever see one. Great coverage on that but you can’t defend the perfect pass. The defense rose up in the end though, and coupled with our explosive offense, we were able to turn a tight game into a rout.

Speaking of that offense, wow, I don’t know what to say. Yeah, we gave up two sacks (on the same series, although one was a scramble that almost got back to the line), but the OL once again played tremendously. Our RBs had some holes and when they didn’t, they seemed to make their own. When you average over 7 ypc as a team, something is obviously working. I don’t recall two RBs each being as effective as what we saw Saturday. Both were lethal. Brown seemed to feed off the energy of Knowshon and played like a guy having fun, trying to make folks miss as opposed to playing like the little back that always tries to prove he’s not little by running folks over. It was just an all around solid offensive performance against a defense that was overmatched. This was one of the rare games of the Richt era that you could make a strong case for the offense winning the game when the defense was scuffling. Yeah the defense only gave up 17 points, but once we got up multiple scores in the 2nd half, it took Ole Miss away from their ground game that had been working so well. Perhaps the most impressive thing all day was our drive in the 3rd quarter that saw us answer their TD that tied it at 17. We went 80 yards in 2:23 and only used 8 plays, picking up yardage in chunks (7 of the 8 plays were for 1st downs or TDs). Unreal. It was a solid win in a typical trap game…now on to Knoxville for a little payback (hopefully).

UT Offense

This UT offense is not a prototypical UT offense, especially ones under OC David Cutcliffe. They have a veteran, senior QB, a handful of RBs that are serviceable, an OL that has played pretty well, but they don’t have that deep threat at WR, a longtime strength of the UT offense. Traditionally with UT you could count on solid RBs, solid OL and a fleet of amazing WRs. Not so this year.

At QB, Eric Ainge is the senior starter that heads the UT attack. He led UT to wins over UGA in Athens in both 2004 and 2006. He’s a smart, accurate passer that occasionally gets rattled but for the most part plays with considerable poise. He’s not a threat to run, but if the play breaks down he’ll do a good job of going where they ain’t (so to speak). He’s really blossomed under Cutcliffe. He hasn’t been the reason behind UT’s offensive struggles this season. After struggling under Randy Sanders in ‘04 and being benched in ’05, Cutcliffe came in to work with the QBs again and Ainge responded with a 67% completion percentage last year. He’s over 66% this season, although his yards per attempt are down significantly (in large part due to his diminished WR corps. On the year he’s thrown 10 TDs to only 2 INTs. He loves throwing quick timing routes to his WRs on slants and outs, etc. Aside from the debacle that was his 2005 season, he’s had an outstanding career, due in no small part to his performances in Athens.

At RB, UT sports a bevy of capable backs, with Jr. Arian Foster leading the way. The big 6-1, 225 pounder is an experienced back that suffered through an injury-plagued 2006 (yet somehow managed 3 TDs against us last year), but has bounced back to average 5.0 ypc this season. He’s only topped the 100-yd mark once this season (against Southern Miss), but he’s a big-play threat every time he touches the ball. LaMarcus Coker (2nd in carries and yards), Lennon Creer and Montario Hardesty provide incredible depth and allow the offense to sustain a TB injury with ease. The top 3 backs all average right at 5.0 ypc or better. Their top 4 RBs average over 4 receptions per game combined, so look for their involvement in the passing game as well.

The UT receiver corps is a shadow of the units they’ve put out in the past. The loss of Meachem, Swain and Smith and their nearly 2,500 yards receiving has seen a dropoff in individual receiver production, but overall, they’ve actually been decent statistically. Each of their top 3 receivers has already topped his career numbers on this short season. WRs Lucas Taylor, Austin Rogers and Josh Briscoe each have over 20 receptions so far. Taylor leads the team in receptions and yards with 24 and 382 respectively. His 15.9 ypc are also the best on the team. He’s also gone over 100 yards receiving in every game except UF. TE Chris Brown has been a steady if unspectacular performer his whole career. He’s found the endzone this season, with 4 TDs, doubling his career total.

The UT OL is a nice mix of veterans and young guys. They have good size, averaging just over 300 pounds a man. They’ve only given up a couple of sacks this season, which has as much to do with their scheme as it does their talent. Short drops and quick passes don’t give the DL much time to get to the QB. Considering how much they’ve thrown the ball though, the fact they’ve only given up 2 sacks is impressive. This OL is prototypical in terms of size and given Fulmer’s past as an OL himself, he’s always seemed to have solid OLs. This one is no different.