 | | Tennessee freshman wide receiver Kelley Washington ranks eighth in NCAA receiving yards per game with 109.2 this season. | Tennessee (5-1, 4-1 SEC) at Notre Dame (3-4) This will be the sixth meeting between Tennessee and Notre Dame with the Volunteers holding a 3-2 lead in the series. Tennessee joins Florida State, Georgia and Michigan as the only four "major" schools thay enjoy a lead in the series against the Irish (Notre Dame also trails the University of Chicago and Great Lakes College). Tennessee has won the last two meetings in the series (1991 and 1999). The two teams last met in 1999 in Knoxville with the Vols knocking off the Irish, 38-14. Tennessee never trailed in the game, marking the first time in the series that a team held the lead the entire game. In the five previous meetings, at least one of the teams has been ranked in the top 15. This will be the first time in the last four meetings that one team is not ranked in the top 25. The Vols are 1-1 at Notre Dame Stadium, having dropped a 31-14 decision in the first-ever meeting between the schools in 1978, before posting a come-from-behind, 35-34, thriller on Nov. 9, 1991. Tennessee trailed 31-7 in the second quarter, before outscoring Notre Dame 28-3. Jeremy Lincoln partially blocked an Irish field goal attempt on the game's final play to seal the victory. Head coach Phillip Fulmer is 1-0 against Notre Dame. TENNESSEE AT A GLANCE
*** Head coach Phillip Fulmer picked up his 58th Southeastern Conference regular season victory with a 17-10 triumph over South Carolina last week. His 58 league victories places him 10th all-time among conference coaches. Fulmer needs one more SEC win to tie Alabama's Frank Thomas for ninth. *** Tennessee steps out of conference action the next two weeks to face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Nov. 3, and the Memphis Tigers in a Homecoming contest on Nov. 10. The Volunteers close out the regular season with three SEC games (at Kentucky, Vanderbilt, at Florida). The composite record of the remaining opponents following the Notre Dame game is 13-16. *** Tennessee enters the month of November with an impressive 60-3 mark since 1985. The Vols have won six consecutive games in the month. One of the losses came to the top ranked Irish in 1990. Fulmer is 29-2 in November. *** Tailback Travis Stephens has rushed for over 100 yards in each of the last three games and gone over the century mark five times this season. He is averaging right at 30.0 carries per game which leads the nation. *** Quarterback Casey Clausen has completed over 60 percent of his passes the last five games with six touchdowns and four interceptions. He has thrown for over 200 yards in each of the last four games. *** 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. WHAT TO LOOK FOR . . .
*** Vols improving to 61-3 in November games since 1985.
*** Tennessee extending its non-conference regular season winning streak to 14 games.
*** Travis Stephens reaching the 1000-yard mark in rushing for the season. VOLS IN NOVEMBER
Tennessee holds an impressive 60-3 (.952) mark in November games since 1985. The Vols are 36-1 at home and 24-2 on the road during that span. They have faced nine ranked teams, going 8-1, with the lone defeat coming to No. 1 Notre Dame in 1990. UT has two November wins over Notre Dame in 1991 and 1999. The other two losses during the streak came at Memphis in 1996 and at Arkansas in 1999. NON-LEAGUE ACTION
Tennessee has enjoyed remarkable success against non-conference opponents. Since 1989, the Vols have amassed a 44-8-1 mark in games against foes from outside the SEC. The Vols have not dropped a non-conference home decision since a 34-29 loss to No. 1 ranked Notre Dame in 1990, a string of 24 consecutive games. They have won 13 straight regular season non-league games overall.  | | Travis Stephens | | 2001 NCAA RUSHING LEADERS | | 1. Ned, SDSU - 146.0/game | | 2. Green, BC - 145.5/game | | 3. STEPHENS, UT - 145.0/game | | 4. Foster, UCLA - 143.9/game | |
Travis Stephens
Career 100-Yard Games | | Arkansas/2001 - 206 | | Georgia/2001 - 176 | | Alabama/2001 - 162 | | S. Carolina/2001 - 120 | | Syracuse/2001 - 111 | | Georgia/1998 - 106 | | | STEPHENS NEARS 1000 YARDS, RANKS THIRD IN NCAA
Travis Stephens, who has posted five 100-yard rushing games, has run for 870 yards through six games and has a shot to become the 10th player in school history to rush for over 1000 yards in a season and the 11th time overall. Johnnie Jones is the only Vol to post two 1000-yard seasons. Stephens is averaging 145.0 yards per game to lead the SEC and ranks No. 3 in the NCAA. His 30.0 carries per game also leads the nation.He also leads the SEC and ranks No. 10 with 165.8 all-purpose yards per game.
After tying the school record with 41 rushing attempts at Arkansas, Stephens has carried the ball 34, 30, 33 and 28 times, respectively, in the last four games.
He has 180 carries on the season that is 92 shy of the school record held by Jay Graham in 1995. CHASING 2000 YARDS
With a 120-yard effort versus South Carolina, Travis Stephens pushed his career rushing yardage total to 1742 yards which ranks 14th on Tennessee's career list. He needs 18 yards to pass Tony Thompson (1986-90) for 13th place and 58 yards to become the 13th back to rush for 1800 career yards. Stephens needs just 258 yards to become the 10th player in UT history to rush for over 2000 and must average 51.6 ypg over the next five to reach that feat. Stephens is also on pace to set the UT single-season rushing mark. At his current pace of 145.0 ypg, he would finish with 1595 yards. That would better the current standard of 1438 held by Jay Graham in 1995. Stephens has rushed for 870 yards in six games this season, which is more than Graham had after seven games in 1995. To put Stephens' total in perspective, only nine players in SEC history have rushed for over 1500 yards and only six for over 1600 yards. Georgia's Herschel Walker holds the all-time SEC mark of 1891 set in 1981. 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 5-1 when Stephens rushes for over 100 yards. | TRAVIS STEPHENS CAREER TOTALS | | Att. | Yds | Avg | TD | 100-YD GM | | 377 | 1742 | 4.6 | 18 | 6 | ALL-PURPOSE STEPHENS
Twice this season Travis Stephens has accounted for over 200 all-purpose yards (219 vs. Arkansas, 254 vs. Georgia). The 254 all-purpose yards versus Georgia ranked as the fifth-highest total in school history. He became the seventh Vols to amass at least 250 all-purpose yards and the first since Chuck Webb's 250 against Arkansas in the 1990 Cotton Bowl. The 219 all-purpose yards against Arkansas saw him post 18 runs of five yards or more with a long of 25. Versus Syracuse, he had 145 all-purpose yards with two long runs of 40 and 37 yards and a 34-yard reception. Stephens has 995 all-purpose yards this season and is on pace to eclipse the school record of 1721 yards held by Reggie Cobb in 1987. At that pace, Stephens would finish with 1824 yards. CONSISTENT CLAUSEN
Casey Clausen was the third Vol named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 22) after he completed 21-of-28 passes for 293 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions against Alabama. He also ran for another score. He joined Kelley Washington vs. LSU and Travis Stephens vs. Arkansas. Clausen, who is 11-2 as a starter and 9-1 in SEC play, continued his consistent play agianst South Carolina, completing 14-of-23 passes for 211 yards. He has completed over 60 percent of his passes in each of the last five games and has posted over 200 yards in the last four. Over the last five games he has a completion percentage of 66.2 (90-of-136) with six touchdowns, four interceptions and 1244 yards (248.8 ypg). In each game this season, he has connected on at least one long pass play of at least 30 yards. For the season, Clausen has 15 big pass plays of 25 yards or more. Last year, the Vols had only 18 the entire season.
He has engineered three four-quarter comebacks this season (at Arkansas, at Alabama, South Carolina) and five in his career (2000: at South Carolina, at Memphis). He 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. WASHINGTON AIMS AT RECORD
Freshman wide receiver Kelley Washington, who was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week after setting a Tennessee single-game receiving yardage record with 256 yards on 11 receptions and one TD against LSU, is taking aim at the UT single-season receiving yardage mark of 1170 yards set by Marcus Nash in 1997 in 12 games. Nash and Joey Kent are the only Vols to ever post 1000 receiving yards in a season. Kent did it twice in 1995 (1055 yards) and 1996 (1080 yards).' Washington is averaging 109.2 receiving yards per game which is third in the SEC and ranks No. 8 in the NCAA. He is on a pace for 1200 yards this season. He is averaging 128.4 ypg game over the last five on 7.0 receptions per game. For the season, he has taken 28 of his 38 catches for first downs and has 28 receptions for at least 10 yards. Washington has two 100-yard receiving games this season and has posted at least 89 yards receiving in each of the last five games. NOTES ON WASHINGTON'S RECORD DAY:
*** Broke Johnny Mills' school receiving record of 225 set against Kentucky in 1966.
*** Total was the third highest total in SEC 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.
*** Became just the fifth Vol to amass over 200 yards receiving and the first since Carl Pickens has 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 with all 11 of Washington's receptions went for first downs. | WASHINGTON GAME-BY-GAME RECEIVING | | Opponent | No-Yds-TD | 1st Downs | 10+ yds | | Syracuse | 3-13-0 | 1 | 1 | | at Arkansas | 6-96-0 | 4 | 4 | | LSU | 11-256-2 | 11 | 11 | | Georgia | 9-108-1 | 6 | 6 | | at Alabama | 4-93-0 | 3 | 2 | | South Carolina | 5-89-0 | 3 | 4 | | Totals | 38-655-2 | 28 | 28 | TIGHT ENDS FIT IN
Tennessee's tight ends have not figured heavily in the offense over the last five years, but this season, the tandem of Jason Witten and John Finlayson have added another dimension.
Witten is the second-leading receiver on the team with 18 catches for 161 yards. Finlayson has two receptions for 20 yards in the last two games.
After making nine catches for 45 yards in the first four games, Witten has hauled in nine passes for 116 yards and one score in the last two games. He had the best game of his career against Alabama when he hauled in seven catches for 91 yards.
Witten had three catches for over 20 yards, including a 21-yard TD in the third to give UT a 21-17 lead. It was the first touchdown by a Vol tight end since Finlayson's 21-yards against Houston in 1998. Five of Witten seven catches went for at least 11 yards.
For the season, the tight ends have 20 receptions for 181 yards, which is is the most tight end catches since 1996. SCOTT BACK IN THE FOLD
Leonard Scott got back into his kickoff return form against Alabama by returning five kicks for 116 yards and a 23.2 average. His 116 yards more than doubled his return yardage (94) of the first six kickoffs he had fielded this season.
It was the fourth time in his career he had over 100 yards in kick returns and the first since the Kentucky game in 2000.
Over the last two games, Scott has returned seven kickoffs for 160 yards and a 22.9 average. STALLWORTH ADDS DEEP THREAT
Wide receiver Donte' Stallworth, who missed three games (Arkansas, LSU, Georgia) with a wrist injury, has made an impact since his return in the Alabama game. Against the Crimson Tide, he had five catches for 80 yards and one score. Over the last two games, Stallworth has seven receptions for 104 yards and is the third-leading receiver with 159 yards. Four of Stallworth's 10 catches this season have gone for at least 20 yards. DEFENSIVE NOTES
Tennessee ranks seventh in the NCAA in total defense (1st in the SEC), allowing 271.8 yards per game. The Vols are 10th in the NCAA (2nd in the SEC) in rushing defense, allowing 85.2 yards per game. Tennessee is 26th in the NCAA (2nd in the SEC) in passing defense, allowing 186.7 yards per game. The Vols are eighth nationally and third in the SEC in scoring defense, allowing 15.0 ppg.
RUSHING SCORES: The Vols have allowed just 18 rushing TDs in the last 40 regular season games and just one rushing TD (at Alabama) this season.
TOUGH PASSING: UT has held four of their six opponents to under 200 yards passing and under 50 percent completions for the year. OFFENSIVE NOTES
Tennessee ranks 48th in the NCAA in total offense (6th in the SEC), averaging 395.0 yards per game. The Vols are 47th in the NCAA (4th in the SEC) in rushing offense, averaging 165.0 yards per game. Tennessee is 49th (5th in the SEC) in passing offense, averaging 230.0 yards per game. The Vols are 66th nationally and eighth in the SEC in scoring offense, averaging 24.7 points per game.
ALL-PURPOSE: Travis Stephens and Kelley Washington have combined for 275.0 all-purpose ypg.
FEW TURNOVERS: The Vols are tied for fourth in the NCAA with 8 total turnovers. Only Fresno State, Indiana and Iowa State have fewer with seven. VOLS CLICKING ON THIRD DOWN
After going 0-for-14 on third down conversions in the opener against Syracuse, the Vols have turned things around by converting 41 of their last 81 third downs for 50.6 percent. In the fourth quarter, the Vols are even better, converting on 66.7 percent (20-of-30). VOLS WORK THE CLOCK
Tennessee is tops in the SEC in time of possession at 35 minutes and 16 seconds. In the last five games, UT has held the ball for 179:47 of a possible 300 minutes for 59.9 percent of the time and an average of 35:57. They have held the time of possession advantage in all six contests. But in the fourth quarter, Tennessee has held the ball for at least 10 minutes in five of the six games and owns an overall 65:52 to 24:08 total time advantage. VOLS: SECOND HALF TEAM IN 2001
Tennessee has been a second-half team all season. After playing nearly even with its opponents on the scoreboard in the first half, outscoring them 56-44, UT adjusts at halftime and outscores its opponents 92-46 in the second half. In the fourth quarter, the Vols have outscored their opponents 62-29.
In fact, the Vols have outgained all six opponents in the second half 1215-705 (202.5-117.5 ypg). This is partially due to the fact that UT holds a 20:09 to 9:51 average time of possession in the second half.
An odd quirk to the yardage and time of possession stat is that the Vols have actually passed for more yards (674) than they have run for (250) in the second half over the last four games. In the first two games UT rushed for 197 yards and passed for 94. UT DEFENSE: TOUGH VS. RUSH
Tennessee's defense has been extremely tough as it ranks 10th in the NCAA in rushing defense at 85.2 yards per game. The Vols are tied with Bowling Green for the fewest rushing touchdowns allowed this season with one.
Here are a few notes about the Vol "D":
*** Held South Carolina to just 13 yards rushing and 77 total yards in the second half after giving up 144 on the ground and 188 total yards in the first half.
*** Held Alabama to minus 2 total yards offense as the Vols held the ball for 13:35 of the decisive final stanza in which they scored twice to put the game away.
*** Held first four opponents (Syracuse, Arkansas, LSU, Georgia) to under 75 yards rushing per game and no rushing touchdowns.
*** Held LSU and Georgia to no run longer than nine yards.
*** Held Georgia to just 26 yards rushing on 14 carries in the second half after giving up 42 yards on 14 rushes in the first half.
*** Held LSU to no run longer than nine yards and limited the Tigers to just 16 yards total offense in the third quarter as UT scored on all three third quarter possessions in taking a 19-7 lead.
*** Tennessee has held nine of its last 12 regular season opponents to under 100 yards rushing.
*** Vol defenders broke up 12 passes against LSU, the most since recording 11 in the 1991 Sugar Bowl against Virginia.
*** Held Arkansas without a first down in the second half and just five for the game
*** Held Arkansas to a minus 19 yards of total offense (minus 30 rushing, 11 passing) in the second half, finishing with 92 for the game. The last time Tennessee held a team under 100 yards of total offense was Kentucky in 1965 (93 yards).
*** Except for one 40-yard run by Cedric Cobbs, Arkansas was held to five yards or less on the 25 other rushing attempts
*** Against Syracuse, the Vol defense dominated in all but one play. If you negate Syracuse's 74-yard touchdown pass, the Orangemen would have been held to just 116 yards of total offense with just 41 coming via the air.
OVERSTREET RETURNS
Defensive end Will Overstreet returned to action against South Carolina after missing the previous two games with a knee injury. Although not in the starting lineup, Overstreet made his only tackle count as he recorded a two-yard loss in the third quarter.
 | | Tennessee's John Henderson has 18 career sacks entering Saturday's game against Notre Dame. | HENDERSON LOOKING TO MOVE UP SACK CHART
Defensive tackle John Henderson has 18 career sacks to rank ninth in UT history and has made at least one tackle for loss or sack in each of the last 15 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. After sitting out the Arkansas game with a high ankle sprain, he returned to action against LSU, recording two tackles with a sack. He followed that performance with a season-high eight tackles and one sack day against Georgia 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. 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. VOLS THIRD IN SACKS
Tennessee pushed its sack total, which ranks third in the SEC, to 16 for the year with one against South Carolina. A total of 11 players have recorded at least a half sack this season. The defense recorded three sacks by Kevin Burnett, Andre Lott and Jabari Greer against Alabama, while both John Henderson and Keyon Whiteside registered their second sacks in as many games against Georgia. Against LSU, Henderson, Whiteside and Burnett each recorded sacks against the Tigers to help the Vol effort. It was the first sack for Henderson on the year and the first career sack for Whiteside. Will Overstreet and Burnett top the list with 2.5 apiece, followed by Henderson, Whiteside and Constantin Ritzmann with two each. The Vols set an SEC record last season with 50 quarterback sacks. WINNINGEST SEC COACHES
SEC REGULAR-SEASON GAMES ONLY | | 1. 159 Paul "Bear" Bryant (Kentucky/Alabama) | | 2. 106 John Vaught (Mississippi) | | 3. 105 Vince Dooley (Georgia) | | 4. 98 Ralph "Shug" Jordan (Auburn) | | 5. 76 Steve Spurrier (Florida) | | 6. 67 Wallace Butts (Georgia) | | 7. 62 Robert Neyland (Tennessee) | | 7. 62 Charlie McClendon (LSU) | | 9. 59 Frank Thomas (Alabama) | | 10. 58 Phillip Fulmer (Tennessee) | | 11. 57 Johnny Majors (Tennessee) | FULMER: 10TH ALL-TIME IN SEC VICTORIES
Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer entered the top 10 in SEC regular-season victories with a 35-24 win over Alabama on Oct. 20, 2001. He needs one win to tie Alabama's Frank Thomas for ninth.
Fulmer also ranks 16th all-time in conference history with his 89 career wins. Harry Mehre (Mississippi/ Georgia) is 15th with 98 victories.
Three Tennessee coaches are ranked in the league's top 11. Robert Neyland (62) stands seventh, Fulmer (58) is 10th and Johnny Majors (57) is 11th. | Best Records Since 1990 | | Florida State | 125-17-1 (.878) | | Nebraska | 127-18-1 (.873) | | Florida | 118-26-1 (.817) | | Marshall | 128-31-0 (.805) | | TENNESSEE | 112-27-2 (.801) | | Best Home Records Since 1990 | | Florida State | 65-2-1 (.963) | | Nebraska | 75-3-0 (.962) | | Florida | 66-4-0 (.943) | | Texas A&M | 65-5-1 ( .922) | | Kansas State | 66-8-1 (.887) | | TENNESSEE | 65-9-0 (.878) | DID YOU KNOW ??? - Tennessee is one of only four schools to appear in a bowl game each of the last 12 years, joining Florida State, Michigan and Nebraska.
- UT has won 89 of its last 108 games overall
- Tennessee has won 31 of the last 45 games against nationally ranked teams
- Tennessee has won 52 of the last 57 home games at Neyland Stadium
- Tennessee has posted a 61-13 record in its last 74 games against SEC opponents
SCORING STREAK
Tennessee has scored in 89 consecutive games. When the Vols hit the road their consecutive games scored steak becomes even more impressive. Tennessee has scored in 113 straight road games. UT's home scoring streak is currently 47 contests. The last time the Vols were shutout was a 31-0 blanking by Florida in Knoxville in 1994. The last road shutout was a 44-0 win by Georgia in 1981. ON THIS DATE
Tennessee is 7-5 on games played on Nov. 3. UT posted wins over Tulane (1923), Carson-Newman (1928), North Carolina (1945, 1951, 1956), Wake Forest (1962) and Temple (1990).
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