University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee-Georgia Renew Gridiron Rivalry Saturday
October 01, 2001 | Football
Oct. 1, 2001
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| Georgia (2-1) at Tennessee (3-0)
RADIO TV RANKINGS THE COACHES: Georgia Bulldogs
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Complete Release in PDF Format
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Georgia (2-1, 1-1 SEC) at Tennessee (3-0, 2-0 SEC) Tennessee has reached the midpoint of a five-game stretch against Southeastern Conference opponents when it takes on the Georgia Bulldogs in a battle of Eastern Division teams. The Volunteers bring a 2-0 league record into the game with wins over Arkansas and LSU, and finish up their five-game skein with a road tilt at Alabama (Oct. 20) before hosting South Carolina (Oct. 27). This will be Tennessee's first game against an Eastern Division opponent as the Sept. 15 contest at Florida was postponed and rescheduled for Dec. 1 due to the attack on America. Georgia suffered its first defeat of the season at the hands of South Carolina before rebounding to defeat Arkansas to improve to 1-1 in league action. This will be 31st meeting between Tennessee and Georgia with the Volunteers holding a 17-11-2 series lead. The Bulldogs 21-10 win in Athens last year snapped a nine-game winning streak by the Vols in the series. It was the longest streak in the series by either school. Head coach Phillip Fulmer is 8-1 against Georgia. Tennessee holds a 9-5-1 edge over Georgia in Knoxville and has been the victor in the last five games played in Neyland Stadium. The Bulldogs last win in Knoxville was a 16-15 comeback triumph in 1980. TENNESSEE AT A GLANCE The Volunteers found a big play receiver in freshman Kelley Washington who set a school record with 256 yards receiving against LSU, while also keeping their ground game in tact with a solid 95-yard performance by Travis Stephens. Tennessee will be going for its first 4-0 start since 1998 and the 23rd time in school history. Tennessee will have its second and final open date of the season following the Georgia game before closing out the season with seven consecutive games. It will be the first time since 1987 that UT has finished the regular season with seven straight contests. Phillip Fulmer, the winningest active college football coach, is in his 10th season at the helm of the Volunteer program. He guides a team that has posted at least eight wins in each of the last 12 years and played in 11 New Year's bowl games.
WASHINGTON SETS RECEIVING RECORD Washington's total was also the third-highest total in Southeastern Conference history, trailing Kentucky's Craig Yeast's 269 yards against Vanderbilt in 1998 and Auburn's Alexander Wright's 263 yards versus Pacific in 1989. Washington became just the fifth Vol to amass over 200 yards receiving and the first since Carl Pickens had 201 against Kentucky in 1990. The other two Vols to collect 200 yards receiving were Willie Gault against Vanderbilt in 1981 and Stanley Morgan versus Texas Christian in 1976. Washington hauled in 11 catches and had one touchdown that came on a career-best 70-yard reception from Casey Clausen. He also had three additional receiving plays covering at least 30 yards. The 11 catches were two shy of the school record. In fact, all 11 of Washington's receptions went for first downs. For the season, he has taken 16 of his 20 catches for first downs and has 16 receptions for at least 10 yards. Washington has been on the receiving end of 20 of the 45 passes thrown by Clausen this season and accounts for 62.8 percent of the total receiving yardage (365 of 581). He ranks sixth in the NCAA and second in the SEC at 121.7 receiving yards per game. WHAT TO LOOK FOR . . .
VOLS CLICKING ON THIRD DOWN They have been successful on eight of their last 10 conversion attempts and are 9-for-13 in third and short (3 yards or less) on the season. VOLS WORKING THE CLOCK In the second half of the last two games, the Vols have held the ball for 42:48 of a possible 60 minutes (71.3 percent). But in the fourth quarter, Tennessee has held the ball for at least 10 minutes in each of the three games and owns 32:07 to 12:53 total time advantage.
FLORIDA GAME MOVED TO DEC. 1, SEC TITLE GAME SET FOR DEC. 8 STEPHENS CARRIES THE LOAD After tying the school record with 41 rushing attempts at Arkansas, Stephens showed he was no worse for wear after a 21-day layoff as he posted another 34 carries for 95 yards versus LSU. He has posted at least one rushing TD in each game Stephens has rushed for 301 yards in the last two games and needs 305 yards to enter UT's top 20 career rushers. He ranks No. 6 in the NCAA in rushing yards per game at 137.3, which also leads the SEC. He is 16th in the NCAA (1st in SEC) in all-purpose yardage at 153.0 ypg. Stephens was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 10) after he surpassed the 1000-yard mark for rushing in his career with a career-best 206-yard effort against Arkansas. It marked the 16th time a UT player has rushed for 200 yards and he became the 10th different player to achieve the feat. It was the 13th-highest rushing total in school history. Stephens posted 111 yards against Syracuse in the season opener and had 107 versus Georgia in his first start in 1998. Tennessee is 3-0 when Stephens rushes for over 100 yards.
VOL DEFENSE LEADS SEC IN TOTAL DEFENSE, THIRD IN NCAA They are No. 3 nationally in total defense at 222.3 yards per game while ranking No. 7 in scoring defense at 10.0 ppg. UT is in the top five in the SEC in total, rushing, passing, pass efficiency and scoring defense. Here are a few notes about the Vol "D" through the first three games:
The UT defense was equally as tough on the ground, holding Syracuse to 75 yards while allowing just three runs over 10 yards and not giving up a rushing score. Tennessee saw five first-time defensive starters against Syracuse (DE Omari Hand, DT Rashad Moore, LB Eddie Moore, SS Julian Battle, LB Keyon Whiteside). VOL DEFENSIVE NOTES NO RUSHING SCORES VOLS OFFENSIVE NOTES ALL-PURPOSE VOLS HIT ON BIG PASS PLAYS In fact, UT has 10 passing plays of at least 20 yards. Kelley Washington has been on the receiving end of six pass plays covering at least 20 yards, while Travis Stephens, Donte' Stallworth, Bobby Graham and Leonard Scott have one long catch apiece. Tennessee has passed for 581 yards with 60 percent of those (349) coming on 10 big pass plays covering 34, 37, 20, 24, 30, 35, 36, 70, 33 and 30 yards. CLAUSEN THROWS FOR 309, IMPROVES TO 9-1, 7-0 VS. SEC Clausen recorded the second 300-yard passing day of his career with a 309-yard effort against LSU, completing 18-of-28 passes with one TD and two interceptions. His career-high of 362 yards came against Kentucky last year. Versus LSU, Clausen registered his first career-rushing touchdown with a 3-yard quarterback draw to give the Vols the lead for good at 12-7 in the third. FLEMING RETURNS BAKER ASSUMES PUNT RETURN DUTY He has improved on his average from last year when he held a 4.3 average on 13 returns. Baker holds a 9.5 average on 12 returns this season with a long of 18. HENDERSON BACK IN ACTION Henderson now has 17 career sacks and has made at least one tackle for loss or sack in each of the last 13 games he has played. In fact, he had made at least two stops behind the line 11 times in his career, including four multi-sack contests. The 2000 Outland Trophy, had a productive day against Syracuse by recovering a fumble that set up a Travis Stephens TD run. He also registered two tackles for loss among his three tackles in the game. Henderson, the second Outland Trophy winner in school history, was a first team All-America in 2000 after posting 71 tackles with 12 sacks, nine additional tackles for loss with four caused fumbles and three fumble recoveries. The 2001 preseason All-America looks to join Nebraska's Dave Rimington (1981-82) as the only two-time winner of the Outland Trophy. Henderson was only the sixth junior to ever win the award. UT OFFENSE CAN STRIKE FAST OR GRIND IT OUT Four of the five scoring drives against Tigers were at least eight plays with each drive covering at least 50 yards in an average of 3:47. Tennessee opened the second half with a 16-play 82 yard drive and scored on all three third quarter possessions. This comes in stark contrast to the first two games when the average scoring drive came in just over four plays and under two minutes. The Vols benefited from a short field against Arkansas as all three scoring drives were 35 yards or less. VOLS DRAW WELL IN TWO GAMES The LSU game saw the second-largest crowd of 108,472 and only the third of over 108,000, while Syracuse drew the fourth largest at 107,725. Tennessee has attracted over 107,000 fans in seven of the last eight home games. VOLS BAG THREE MORE SACKS It's been a banner year for the defense as nine players have recorded at least a half sack through three games. Defensive end Will Overstreet tops the list with 2.5, followed by Burnett at 1.5 and Constantin Ritzmann, Demetrian Veal and Bernard Jackson with one each. WALLS HITS 5 FIELD GOALS IN THREE GAMES The SEC's leading scorer in 2000 with 93 points was a Lou Groza Award finalist last season after connecting on 18-of-20 field goals and 39-of-39 extrapoints. He is a preseason candidate for the award this year. Walls is currently the fifth-most accurate field goal kicker in SEC history at 81.6 percent as he had made 31-of-38 career boots. He is 23-of-26 (.885) inside 40 yards and 8-of-12 (.667) outside 40.
AGAINST THE SEC Against the SEC Eastern Division, the Vols are 36-9, going 19-3 at home and 17-6 on the road. They have won 16 of their last 19 over Eastern teams, 10 of the last 11 at home and seven of their last nine road tilts. Against the SEC Western Division, Tennessee is 25-6, going 12-3 at home, 10-3 on the road and 3-0 at neutral sites. They have won 20 of their last 22 against Western opponents. They have won 10 straight at home and seven of their last nine road games.
VOLS ARE FOURTH WINNINGEST TEAM SINCE 1990 NO PLACE LIKE HOME
FULMER NEEDS ONE WIN FOR SEC TOP 10 Fulmer also ranks 16th all-time in conference history with his 87 career wins. Harry Mehre (Mississippi/ Georgia) is 15th with 98 victories. EIGHT VOL FIRST-TIME STARTERS NEWCOMERS SEE ACTION Junior college transfers seeing playing time were SS Julian Battle, DE Demetrin Veal, DT Aubrayo Franklin. Redshirt freshman getting their first playing time were TB Corey Larkins, WR Tony Brown, TE Courtney Rogers, DT Andre Taylor, FB Ed Harrison, LB Karlton Neal. SCORING STREAK DID YOU KNOW?
NEYLAND STADIUM DOMINANCE Coach Phillip Fulmer has guided Tennessee to a 51-4 record in home games. In fact, Fulmer-coached Tennessee teams have outscored the opposition 2,021-742 at Neyland Stadium, an average score of 36.7-13.5. Tennessee has defeated 37 of 55 opponents by 17 points or more with Fulmer at the helm. Under Fulmer, the Vols have a 15-4 record at home against nationally ranked opponents and no team ranked lower than sixth has defeated UT in Knoxville. ON THIS DATE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
