Sib18
I bleed orange!
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[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Tennessee[/FONT]
• The Vols are lighting it up on offense this season and have scored 30 or more points in five of their six games. But they've had little success on offense against Alabama the last few years. They've gone six straight quarters without scoring a touchdown against the Crimson Tide. Told of that drought, Tennessee junior quarterback Erik Ainge said, "Well, we'll change that." This is obviously a confident Tennessee offense right now, and Ainge admits it wasn't that way a year ago when these two teams met. Alabama won 6-3. "There's a difference between knowing that, 'Yeah, you can win' and knowing that when Alabama comes in, that we're going to win the football game," Ainge said. "That's how we feel now. We are going to win the football game. That's the attitude we have, and we didn't have that attitude last year. We were kind of, 'Man, I hope we play good. I hope this. I hope that.' We hadn't earned the right to know that we were going to win."
• Tennessee's coaches and players shrugged off the BCS talk this week. The Vols were 11th in the first BCS Standings. "Obviously, we'd like to be higher than we are, but that's how it goes," Ainge said. "If we keep winning, then that will all take care of itself. We know that." Ainge admitted that seeing California one spot ahead of Tennessee was difficult to swallow given the Vols' 35-18 win over the Bears to open the season. "That's questionable," Ainge said. "But it's not my system."
• Senior receiver Jayson Swain expects to play Saturday after suffering a left ankle sprain two weeks ago against Georgia. Swain has been rehabbing the ankle this week and done very little on the practice field. He doubts that he will be 100 percent, but said, "I think I can make some plays to help this team win."
• The Vols have won nine of the last 11 games in the series. Fulmer, as a head coach, assistant coach and player, is 16-15 against the Crimson Tide.
• The Vols are lighting it up on offense this season and have scored 30 or more points in five of their six games. But they've had little success on offense against Alabama the last few years. They've gone six straight quarters without scoring a touchdown against the Crimson Tide. Told of that drought, Tennessee junior quarterback Erik Ainge said, "Well, we'll change that." This is obviously a confident Tennessee offense right now, and Ainge admits it wasn't that way a year ago when these two teams met. Alabama won 6-3. "There's a difference between knowing that, 'Yeah, you can win' and knowing that when Alabama comes in, that we're going to win the football game," Ainge said. "That's how we feel now. We are going to win the football game. That's the attitude we have, and we didn't have that attitude last year. We were kind of, 'Man, I hope we play good. I hope this. I hope that.' We hadn't earned the right to know that we were going to win."
• Tennessee's coaches and players shrugged off the BCS talk this week. The Vols were 11th in the first BCS Standings. "Obviously, we'd like to be higher than we are, but that's how it goes," Ainge said. "If we keep winning, then that will all take care of itself. We know that." Ainge admitted that seeing California one spot ahead of Tennessee was difficult to swallow given the Vols' 35-18 win over the Bears to open the season. "That's questionable," Ainge said. "But it's not my system."
• Senior receiver Jayson Swain expects to play Saturday after suffering a left ankle sprain two weeks ago against Georgia. Swain has been rehabbing the ankle this week and done very little on the practice field. He doubts that he will be 100 percent, but said, "I think I can make some plays to help this team win."
• The Vols have won nine of the last 11 games in the series. Fulmer, as a head coach, assistant coach and player, is 16-15 against the Crimson Tide.
