 | | Donte' Stallworth caught three passes for a season-high 83 yards in Saturday's 28-18 win at Notre Dame. | Memphis (4-4) at Tennessee (6-1)
2001 Homecoming This will be the 19th meeting between Tennessee and Memphis with the Volunteers holding a 17-1 lead in the series. Tennessee has won the last two meetings after the Tigers posted their only win in the series in 1996 at Memphis, 21-17. Until that loss, Tennessee had won 15 consecutive games over Memphis since the series began in 1968. The Vols are a perfect 9-0 in Knoxville versus the Tigers, while going 8-1 in Memphis. Head coach Phillip Fulmer is 3-1 against Memphis. It's been a closely contested series as of late with the last two games being decided by a total of three points, while four of the last five meetings being decided by five points or less. This will mark the seventh time Memphis has been Tennessee's Homecoming opponent (1977, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1991, 1999, 2001). The Vols are 6-0 when playing Memphis on Homecoming. UT has played a Conference USA opponents in four of its last five Homecomings. TENNESSEE AT A GLANCE
Tennessee posted its third straight win of the season with a 28-18 victory at Notre Dame last week. The Vols are 6-1 for the first time since 1999 and looking for their fifth 7-1 start in the last nine years. It's been an odd year type of thing for head coach Phillip Fulmer. In the years 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1999 each of his teams have started the season with 7-1 marks. The 1993, 1995 and 1997 squads finished the regular season with 10-1 records. The 1999 team was 9-2. The 2001 team needs a win over Memphis to keep the 7-1 streak alive. Of course, the 1998 posted an undefeated season at 13-0. The No. 6 national ranking attained by the Vols equals the highest ranking this season by the Associated Press. The last time Tennessee was ranked in the top five was the week of Nov. 8 1999. The Volunteers close out the regular season with three SEC games (at Kentucky, Vanderbilt, at Florida). The composite record of those opponents is 10-14. Tennessee holds an impressive 61-3 mark since 1985 in the month of November. The Vols have won seven consecutive games in the month. Fulmer is 30-2 in November. Quarterback Casey Clausen became the 12th quarterback in school history to throw for over 3000 yards in a career with his fifth consecutive 200-yard passing game against Notre Dame. He has completed over 60 percent of his passes in five of the last six games with seven touchdowns and five interceptions. Head coach Phillip Fulmer picked up his 58th Southeastern Conference regular season victory with a 17-10 triumph over South Carolina. 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. 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 62-3 in November games since 1985.
* Tennessee extending its non-conference regular season winning streak to 15 games.
* UT winning its 18th consecutive Homecoming contest.
* QB Casey Clausen moving into the top 10 of Tennessee's career passing list with 252 yards.
* TB Travis Stephens reaching the 1000-yard rushing mark for the season.
* KR Leonard Scott needs 45 kickoff return yards to become the 15th player in SEC history to reach 1500 career yards. HOMECOMING ON THE HILL
Homecoming on The Hill has been a tradition since 1916, and an annual event since 1925 with the exception of 1943 due to WWII. The Volunteers have won 17 consecutive Homecoming games dating back to a 13-10 loss to Mississippi in 1983. Tennessee holds a 59-15-3 record in Homecoming tilts. UT has played host to Memphis in seven previous Homecomings, including a game played on this date (Nov. 10) in 1984. The Vols are 7-0 against the Tigers in Homecoming games. VOLS IN NOVEMBER
Tennessee holds an impressive 61-3 (.953) mark in November games since 1985. The Vols are 36-1 at home and 25-2 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. The other two losses 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 45-8-1 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 14 straight regular season non-league games overall.  | | Travis Stephens | | 2001 NCAA RUSHING LEADERS | | 1. Green, BC - 145.5/game | | 2. Ned, SDSU- 140.1/game | | 3. Foster, UCLA - 138.6/game | | 4. Staleyr, BYU- 136.5/game | | 5. Kretchmer, UNLV - 136.1/game | | 6. Stephens, UT - 133.3/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
Travis Stephens, who has posted five 100-yard rushing games, has run for 933 yards through seven 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 133.3 yards per game that leads the SEC and ranks No. 6 in the NCAA. His 29.1 carries per game also leads the nation. He also ranks second in the SEC and No. 13 with 150.3 all-purpose yards per game. After tying the school record with 41 rushing attempts at Arkansas, Stephens has carried the ball 34, 30, 33, 28 and 24 times, respectively, in the last five games. He has 204 carries on the season, which is 68 shy of the school record held by Jay Graham in 1995. CHASING 2000 YARDS
With a 63-yard effort versus Notre Dame, Travis Stephens pushed his career rushing yardage total to 1805 yards which ranks 13th on Tennessee's career list. He needs 84 yards to pass Beattie Feathers (1931-33) for 11th place and 95 yards to become the 11th back to rush for 1900 career yards. Stephens needs just 195 yards to become the 10th player in UT history to rush for over 2000 and must average 48.8 ypg over the next four to reach that feat. Stephens is also on pace to set the UT single-season rushing mark. At his current pace of 133.3 ypg, he would finished with 1466 yards. That would better the current standard of 1438 held by Jay Graham in 1995. Stephens has rushed for 933 yards in seven games this season, which is 87 more yards than Graham had after seven games in 1995. 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 has rushed for over 150 yards two other times this season (176 vs. Georgia, 162 vs. Alabama). Tennessee is 5-1 when he rushes for over 100 yards in a game. | TRAVIS STEPHENS CAREER TOTALS | | Att. | Yds | Avg | TD | 100-YD GM | | 401 | 1805 | 4.4 | 19 | 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 Vol 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. He has 1052 all-purpose yards this season and would finish with 1653 yards, just shy of the the school record of 1721 yards held by Reggie Cobb in 1987.  | | John Henderson has made at least one tackle for loss or a sack in 17 consecutive games. | NAGURSKI SEMIFINALIST
Nagurski semifinalist John Henderson, who has 19 career sacks which ties for seventh in UT history, has made at least one tackle for loss or sack in each of the last 17 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. CLAUSEN REACHES 3000 CAREER PASSING YARDS
Casey Clausen became the 12th quarterback in school history to pass for over 3000 yards in a career with a 228-yard effort against Notre Dame. With 3081 yards, Clausen needs 252 more yards to move into UT's top 10, passing Tony Robinson's (1982-85) total of 3332. Clausen has a shot at joining the 4000-yard club by the end of the season. Only five other Vol quarterbacks have reached that mark (Peyton Manning, Andy Kelly, Jeff Francis, Tee Martin, Heath Shuler). Manning is the only Vol to reach the milestone in his first two seasons. Clausen must average 229.8 yards per game over the next four to reach it. Over the last six games he has completed 64.8 percent of his passes (107-of-165) for 1472 yards (245.3 ypg). | CASEY CLAUSEN'S CAREER TOTALS | | Att. | Cmp. | Pct. | INT | TD | 300-YD GAME | | 366 | 242 | .627 | 12 | 23 | 2 | MORE CLAUSEN
Casey Clausen, who is 12-2 as a starter and 9-1 in SEC play, continued his consistent play against Notre Dame, completing 17-of-29 passes for 228 yards. He has completed over 60 percent of his passes in five of the last six games with over 200 yards in the last five. In fact, he has completed over 50 percent of his passes in 13 of his 14 career starts, including the last seven. He 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. In each game this season, he has connected on at least one long pass play of at least 30 yards. For the season, he has 17 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.  | | Tennessee freshman wide receiver Kelley Washington ranks eighth in NCAA receiving yards per game with 109.2 this season. | WASHINGTON AIMS AT RECORD
Freshman Kelley Washington is one of 11 semifinalists for this season's Biletnikoff Award given annually to the nation's best wide receiver. Washington, who is the leading freshmen receiver nationally, is averaging 102.0 receiving yards per game to rank third in the SEC and No. 10 in the NCAA. He is on a pace for over 1100 yards this season. He is averaging 116.8 ypg game over the last six on 6.7 receptions per game. For the season, he has taken 32 of his 43 catches for first downs and has 32 receptions for at least 10 yards. Washington has two 100-yard receiving games this season and has posted at least 89 yards receiving in five of the last six games.
He 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). NOTES ON WASHINGTON'S RECORD DAY VS LSU
* Broke Johnny Mills' school receiving record of 225 set against Kentucky in 1966.
* Total is the fourth highest total in SEC history, trailing LSU's Josh Reed's 293 in 2001, Kentucky's Craig Yeast's 269 yards in 1998 and Auburn's Alexander Wright's 263 yards 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 | | at Notre Dame | 5-59-0 | 4 | 4 | | Totals | 43-714-2 | 32 | 32 | WITTEN FINDS NICHE
Tennessee's tight ends, Jason Witten and John Finlayson, have added another dimension to the passing attack, combining for 22 receptions for 204 yards, which is the most tight end catches since 1996. Witten is second on the team with 20 catches for 184 yards. Finlayson has two receptions for 20 yards in the last three games. After making nine catches for 45 yards in the first four games, Witten has hauled in 11 passes for 139 yards and one score in the last three games. He had the best game of his career against Alabama when he had 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. PARKER RECORDS SEASON-HIGHS
Wide receiver Eric Parker, who had only one catch for zero yards in the season opener, got back in groove with four catches for 59 yards against Notre Dame. He had two key receptions on a 12-play, 80-yard drive in the third quarter as UT took the lead for good at 14-10. STALLWORTH BACK STRONG
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 three games, Stallworth has 10 receptions for 188 yards and is the second-leading receiver with 243 yards while leading the receivers with three touchdowns. Six of Stallworth's 13 catches this season have gone for at least 20 yards. SCOTT BACK IN THE GROOVE
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 three games, Scott has returned eight kickoffs for 185 yards and a 23.1 average. Scott returned a Memphis kickoff 44 yards to set up the Vols' winning field goal in last year's 19-17 win over the Tigers at the Liberty Bowl. VOL DEFENSIVE NOTES
Tennessee ranks seventh in the NCAA in total defense (1st in the SEC), allowing 271.3 yards per game. The Vols are 11th in the NCAA (2nd in the SEC) in rushing defense, allowing 90.4 yards per game. Tennessee is 19th in the NCAA (1st in the SEC) in passing defense, allowing 180.9 yards per game. The Vols are ninth nationally and third in the SEC in scoring defense, allowing 15.4 ppg.
PUNT RETURNS: After giving up 121 yards on seven punt returns in the first four games, the Vols have tightened, allowing just 10 yards on five returns in the last three games.
TOUGH PASSING: UT has held five of its seven opponents to under 200 yards passing and under 50 percent completions for the year.
RUSHING SCORES: The Vols have allowed just 19 rushing TDs in the last 41 regular season games. VOL OFFENSIVE NOTES
Tennessee ranks 56th in the NCAA in total offense (6th in the SEC), averaging 382.3 yards per game. The Vols are 56th in the NCAA (6th in the SEC) in rushing offense, averaging 152.6 yards per game. Tennessee is 50th (6th in the SEC) in passing offense, averaging 229.7 yards per game. The Vols are 64th nationally and eighth in the SEC in scoring offense, averaging 25.1 points per game.
FEW TURNOVERS: UT is tied with six other teams, including Memphis, for third in the NCAA with 10 total turnovers. Only Fresno State and Indiana have fewer with eight. 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 50 of their last 98 third downs for 51.0 percent.
In the fourth quarter, the Vols are even better, converting on 64.7 percent (22-of-34).On the defensive side, opponents have converted only 8-of-39 (20.5 percent) third downs in the second half. VOLS SAVE BEST FOR LAST
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 113-61 in the second half. In the fourth quarter, the Vols have outscored their opponents 69-37. In fact, the Vols have outgained all seven opponents in the second half 1444-912 (206.3-130.3 ypg). This is partially due to the fact that UT holds a 19:41 to 10:19 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 (850) than they have run for (303) in the second half over the last five games. In the first two games UT rushed for 197 yards and passed for 94. UT'S TOUGH RUN DEFENSE
Tennessee's defense has been extremely tough as it ranks 11th in the NCAA in rushing defense at 90.4 yards per game. The Vols are tied with Bowling Green for the fewest rushing touchdowns allowed this season with two.
* 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 & 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.
* 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. VOLS SECOND IN SACKS
Tennessee pushed its sack total, which ranks second in the SEC, to 20 for the year with four against Notre Dame. A total of 13 players have recorded at least a half sack this season. John Henderson tops the list with three, followed by Will Overstreet and Kevin Burnett with two each. | Best Records Since 1990 | | Florida State | 126-17-1 (.878) | | Nebraska | 128-18-1 (.874) | | Florida | 119-26-1 (.818) | | Marshall | 129-31-0 (.806) | | TENNESSEE | 113-27-2 (.802) | | Best Home Records Since 1990 | | Florida State | 65-2-1 (.963) | | Nebraska | 75-3-0 (.962) | | Florida | 67-4-0 (.944) | | Texas A&M | 65-5-1 ( .922) | | Kansas State | 65-8-1 (.885) | | TENNESSEE | 65-9-0 (.878) | UT 5TH WINNINGEST SINCE 1990
Tennessee ranks fifth in winning percentage since 1990. Since 1993, UT has averaged 10 wins per season. NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Tennessee has the sixth-winningest home record in college football since 1990 with a mark of 65-9 (.878). The Vols, who have won 40 of their last 43 home games, have also won 20 of their last 22 SEC home contests and 24 straight non-conference home games. Coach Phillip Fulmer has guided the Vols to a 51-5 record in home games. NEYLAND STADIUM DOMINANCE
* The Vols own an all-time record of 386-90-17 (.800) at Neyland Stadium. They have had 70 winning seasons in 79 years in the stadium, including 35 undefeated years at home, including the 1997, 1998 and 1999 seasons.
* Coach Phillip Fulmer has guided Tennessee to a 52-5 record in home games. In fact, Fulmer-coached Tennessee teams have outscored the opposition 2,062-778 at Neyland Stadium, an average score of 36.2-13.6. Tennessee has defeated 37 of 56 opponents by 17 points or more with Fulmer at the helm.
* Under Fulmer, the Vols have a 16-4 record at home against nationally ranked opponents. 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 90 of its last 109 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 ON THIS DATE
UT is 8-4 on games played on Nov. 10. It posted wins over Sewanee (1928), Mississippi State (1934), Mississippi (1945), Washington & Lee (1951), Georgia Tech (1956), Tulane (1962), Notre Dame (1979) and Memphis (1984). | 
