Articles:VolNotes Wednesday

[orange+white=heaven]

A bit of reading material...

tfpOnline:Vols Ready To Listen More

Phillip Fulmer has diagnosed what’s ailing the Volunteers’ offense, and he feels certain the cure was already delivered by Alabama.

"I think they’re going to listen right now," Fulmer said.

It’s called "the big head," and Fulmer thinks Tennessee’s offense got it. Reaching 51 points at Georgia, along with the cover of Sports Illustrated, may have had the Vols a tad overconfident before scoring only 16 points against the Crimson Tide.

"You’re dealing with young people, and sometimes you get a bit full of yourself and start thinking you’re better than you are," Fulmer said. "And maybe you are pretty good, but if you don’t keep your focus and keep your intensity about improving and getting better, any of us are going to have difficulty.

"We went through a whole year of that last year."

Fulmer pinned Ainge’s slow start on a breakdown in throwing mechanics.

Offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe noticed such glitches during practice last week.

"Your feet are balanced and you’re aligned and you’re doing those things, and then sometimes you can get out of kilter," Cutcliffe said. "I felt like we had gotten a little bit out of kilter last week. We got some issues during practice, and it showed up in the ballgame."

Ainge was more mental in his assessment, saying he sorted things out by the end of the game.

"It was a little what Alabama was doing and a little bit of me not responding as well as I could have early," he said. "When you know what you’re going to do with the football, then your mechanics are going to be fine."

tfpOnline:Bits and Pieces

M.Johnson Hearing Postponed...This morning’s scheduled court hearing for Tennessee football player Marsalous Johnson in Putnam County has been pushed back, according to Johnson’s attorney, Jack Bellar.

The district attorney’s office requested the move, Bellar said, and the reset date will be determined today.

"I’m hoping for next week," Bellar said.

Johnson, who made $10,000 bond the following morning, has yet to have a preliminary hearing to determine whether the case is bound for trial. This was the second rollback of Johnson’s scheduled court appearance in Cookeville.

"For whatever reason, we’ve not been able to have one," Bellar said. "I think a hearing will be able to clear a lot of this up."

Bellar declined to discuss specifics of Johnson’s case, other than to say "I feel comfortable," and that no plea agreement has been reached.

"Nothing has been done," Bellar said. "Whatever’s there is still there."

SEC scheduling
Fulmer has approached the Southeastern Conference with complaints about UT’s 2006 schedule — specifically about the Vols’ finishing run of six league games in consecutive weeks.

"I suggested that they look at that," Fulmer said.

Like many Division I-A coaches, he isn’t a fan of the move to a 12-game schedule but conceded, "I think that’s here to stay."

"My suggestion from the very beginning was to go ahead and start the season a little earlier and leave everybody with two open dates," Fulmer said. "It’s really hard to play 12 games with only one open date."

Wa it i n g on Ha n co c k
There’s a reason behind freshman receiver Quintin Hancock’s absence from Tennessee’s past two games. He was hurt.

"Quintin has had some physical problems," said UT offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe, who didn’t elaborate. "He still needs some confidence in what to do in some of the tough coverages and tough situations.

"He’s working hard, and he’s back a little healthier right now."

Secondary shuffle
UT defensive backs coach Larry Slade shed light Tuesday on the circumstances of Antwan Stewart’s move to cornerback to replace junior Inquoris Johnson, who suffered a season-ending injury against Air Force.

The following week, Vols coaches initially said Jonathan Hefney would play cornerback, only to leave him at safety against Florida. Tennessee’s defensive alignment has remained the same since.

"Antwan was a lot more comfortable playing corner," Slade said. "He started games at corner early in his career and did well. It was a little bit more because we tried Jonathan out there, and Jonathan was OK, but Antwan took to it like a fish in water. It was no big deal."

Tennessean: various notes

South Carolina's Steve Spurrier did his best to take the high road Tuesday when asked about his success against Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer.
But even with that, he managed to get in a back-handed jab at the Vols.
"There never was a lot of back and forth," Spurrier said. "There really wasn't. We did all those Gator Clubs, and they wanted to hear something funny in the summertime. And if (UT) told jokes about us, it didn't bother me. I can assure you. So, I'm sure maybe at the Big Orange Caravan …
"Of course, the winners are the only ones who can tell the jokes, so maybe they weren't telling too many up there."
Fulmer said there's no hiding a lack of success vs. Spurrier.
"He's a great football coach, and he's had some great football players," Fulmer said. "It's not any big secret. He's kicked a whole bunch of butt around this conference, not just ours."

Vols land Florida prospect: Defensive end Rufus Williams, rated among the Top 50 players in the state of Florida by Rivals.com, committed Tuesday night to Tennessee.

The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Williams plays outside linebacker at Astronaut High in Titusville, Fla., but projects as a defensive end in college.

Old friends: South Carolina quarterback Syvelle Newton and Tennessee defensive end Robert Ayers were teammates at Marlboro County High in South Carolina.
"I've been waiting for this, because I've only had one chance to ever touch him since I've known him, and I got yelled at pretty bad about that," joked Ayers, who was chided by his coach for blasting Newton during a high school practice.
"I got him one time. I'm a lot bigger, stronger and faster now, and so is he. I know it's not going to be as easy, because he didn't expect it when I got him then. He's going to be expecting it now.

Taking blame: Cutcliffe pointed the finger at himself for the Vols' offensive struggles last Saturday against Alabama.
"I didn't call a great game," Cutcliffe said. "I'd like to have some calls back. But the worst thing I did is I didn't have our team executing and prepared, and that's my responsibility."

Stopped sneak: Center Josh McNeil didn't blame himself for the Vols being stopped Saturday by the Alabama defense on a fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak.
"Honestly, I didn't have much of a prayer," McNeil said. "They had two defensive tackles lined up straight and blitzed the (middle linebacker). You could have had a 400-pound sumo wrestler in there, and he wouldn't have gotten the job done."

Tennessean: Eddie George On Voting Woodson for Heisman

"I believe to this day that Charles Woodson was the best player in the country that year. No question," said George, standing only a few yards away from a wax statue of Manning in the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center. "When you look at it, Peyton had the statistics and had the career, but it was about the best player that year. Woodson played offense and defense, put up the numbers and made big plays."
George said Manning's undoing in the Heisman Trophy balloting was his inability to beat Florida.
"The only thing that stopped Peyton was that he couldn't win the big one," George said. "He couldn't beat Florida. If he had done that and continued to have a great season, there's no question he would have won the Heisman."

 

[vader]

As always, thanks for the great read. :hi:

 

[tidwell]

I'll have to find out when Marsalous' hearing is so I can wander down to Cookeville and play Rocky Top when he's let free. :rock2:

 

[Arclight]

Not to argue with CPF but I think the week off prior to Bama made the VOLS look sluggish. I know we needed to mend injuries.

All the hype we beat Bama is fine but our O went missing until late.

 

[orange+white=heaven]

Not to argue with CPF but I think the week off prior to Bama made the VOLS look sluggish. I know we needed to mend injuries.

All the hype we beat Bama is fine but our O went missing until late.

I tend to agree Arcy.... but I think the focus has been recaptured. This is a unique bunch of guys this year....