University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Postgame Notes
September 03, 2000 | Football
TENNESSEE POSTGAME NOTES
Tennessee vs. Southern Mississippi - Sept. 2, 2000
Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tenn.
Vols Record 700th All-Time Victory
Tennessee became just the eighth Division I school to reach the 700-victory total tonight. The Vols now own a 700-289-53 (.697) all-time mark entering its 104th season of football. UT joins Michigan, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Texas, Alabama, Penn State and Ohio State as schools with 700 all-time victories. The Vols set a school record for attendance tonight with 108,064, bettering the previous mark of 107,653 in the 1998 Florida game.
Tennessee has won its last 23 games at Neyland Stadium, the third longest active streak in Division I. The Vols now have a 58-7 mark at home since 1990. UT has not lost a non-conference home game since a 34-29 loss to Notre Dame in 1990, a streak of 21 games.
Tonight's game was the only game that pitted two ranked teams in both major polls this weekend...Tennessee was ranked 12th by the coaches' poll and 13th by the AP. Southern Mississippi entered tonight's game ranked No. 22 (AP) and No. 25 (Coaches). The Vols have won 11 of their last 13 games against ranked opponents.
Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer is the nation's winningest active head coach. Following tonight's game, Fulmer has a 77-14 (.846) mark beginning his ninth season at his alma mater. He now has a 8-1 mark in season openers and has a 28-11 record against ranked teams during his tenure at UT.
Tennessee now owns a 77-22-6 (.757) all-time mark in season openers, including a 13-2-2 mark in the past 17 seasons. They have won six straight lidlifters. In home openers, the Vols are now 80-18-5 (.799), including a 14-2-1 mark the last 18 seasons. The Vols have won their last six home openers.
Tennessee leads the all-time series with Southern Mississippi 4-0, all played in Knoxville. All four games have been played in Knoxville...The Vols are 41-6-1 all-time against teams that comprise Conference USA...UT plays at C-USA member Memphis Nov. 4.
| 1950: UT 56-0 (Knoxville) | 1997: 44-20 (Knoxville) |
| 1995: UT 42-0 (Knoxville) | 2000: 19-16 (Knoxville) |
Tennessee had several true freshmen and newcomers see action tonight. True
frosh OT Michael Munoz started at right tackle, becoming the Vols' first
rookie to start an opener on the offensive line since Bill Mayo in 1981. Other
true freshmen to see action included Jason Whitten (DE), Jabari Greer (DB),
Rashad Baker (DB), Corey Larkins (DB), O.J. Owens (DB).Robert Peace (LB), Tony
Campbell (DB), Chavis Smith (DT).
Travis Henry's 135 yards tonight moved him into the Vols' all-time top 10 rushers. Henry now has 1899 career yardsHe passed Andy Kozar (1850) and Hall of Famer Beattie Feathers (1888) tonight. He needs just 1 yard to become the ninth Vol running back to reach the 2000-yard mark. He now has nine career 100-yard games and needs one more to tie Reggie Cobb and James Stewart for fourth on UT's career list. Henry has rushed for at least 100 yards in four of his last five regular season games dating back to last year.
Joey Mathews made his first start at quarterback tonight. He completed 9-of-15 passes for 50 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Mathews hooked up with Cedrick Wilson in the first quarter on a 5-yard TD pass to give the Vols a 7-3 advantage. A.J. Suggs, who redshirted last season, saw his first action at QB in the second quarter. Suggs' 51-yard TD pass to Donte Stallworth gave the Vols a 19-3 lead with 2:38 remaining in the third quarter. Suggs finished the night 4-of-9 for 75 yards and 1 TD. Since 1990, the Vols have recorded a 9-1-1 mark when starting a season with a new quarterback.
Cedrick Wilson became the 13th Vol receiver to record 100 career receptions tonight. Wilson caught 3 passes for 25 yards, including a 5-yard TD pass from Mathews in the first quarter. Donte' Stallworth led the Vols with 4 receptions for 62 yards and 1 TD (51). He also picked up 13 yards on the ground in one attempt.
Punter David Leaverton boomed a 58-yarder in the second quarter. He averaged 42.6 on 10 punts tonight. His 40-yarder in the third quarter pinned USM back to its own 5-yard line, setting up a safety seconds later when Will Overstreet sacked USM's Jeff Kelly in the Golden Eagle end zone. He backed the Golden Eagles up to their 4-yardline with a 38-yarder with 5:52 remaining. Leaverton had 6 of 10 punts downed inside the 20 tonight.
Will Overstreet's sack of USM's quarterback Jeff Kelly resulted in a safety to give the Vols a 12-3 advantage with 5:40 to go in the third quarter. The Vols recorded 9 sacks tonight. The Vols' single-game record is 13 vs. Wyoming last year's season opener.
TENNESSEE DEFENSIVE BIG PLAYS
Tackle for Loss: 1.5-Westmoreland (-4); 1-Sessions (-2);
0.5-Overstreet (-2)
Sacks: 2.5-Sessions (-18), 1-Stevenson (-10); 1-Kendrick
(-6); 1-Hand (-2); 2-Overstreet (-8/safety); 0.5-Moore (-5); 1-Moore
(-8)
Fumble Caused: 1-Kendrick; 1-Hand
Fumble Recovered: 1-Jackson; 1-Bartholomew
Passes Broken Up: 2-Miles; 1-Lloyd
