University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Completes Final Scrimmage Before Orange & White Game
April 13, 2001 | Men's Basketball
KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee went through its third scrimmage of the spring Friday morning at Neyland Stadium, with the 2 1/2 hour practice mixing game-like scrimmage conditions and scripted scrimmage work.
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| Tennessee's defense, led by Albert Haynesworth ((92), gang tackles a running back during today's scrimmage. |
Friday’s scrimmage marked the completion of the third week of spring practice for the Vols, who will cap the 2001 spring session with four practices next week. Spring practice will culminate next Saturday with the annual Orange and White game set to kick off at 4 p.m. at Neyland Stadium.
Coach Phillip Fulmer said Friday’s scrimmage should provide the UT coaching staff with a good film to study before the last week of spring. Offensively, running back Michael Brewster was the leader in the ground game, picking up 84 yards on 19 carries, including a touchdown run during goal-line work. Quarterback Kelley Washington added 56 yards on five carries and tailback Corey Larkins had 51 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 14 carries.
In the passing game, Casey Clausen connected on 14 of 27 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns, while Joey Mathews passed for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Donte’ Stallworth, out for much of the spring with a foot injury, led the receivers with four catches for 55 yards. Tight end Jason Witten continued his strong spring with three catches for 47 yards and two touchdowns.
On the defensive side, Tennessee continues to get strong play from safeties Steven Marsh and Mark Jones, who have earned praise from the coaching staff throughout spring ball. On Friday, Marsh had five tackles and a pass breakup, while Jones also had five stops and a pair of pass breakups.
Coach Fulmer’s Comments on Friday Scrimmage:
"I thought some of it was good and some of it was on the raggedy side. The offense came out, had a 10-play drive and executed very well. That was really encouraging. We had a number of different scripted things we wanted to get looked at and that's when the defense really did well. We put theoffense at a disadvantage quite a bit and several times put the defense at a disadvantage. It will be a great film study for us.
"Last year at this time, we couldn't even do those scripts because we were so far behind in the offensive line. I thought generally they did a good job. The front was obviously good with the pressure. During the scripted time, it might have looked like the offensive line, but it was a back or quarterback that didn't handle things very well. We'll see what the film shows.
"Both of the tight ends, Jason Witten and John Finlayson, whether on or off the line, have done a good job for us. It was good to see John come back and make some plays for us. Jason Witten has had a good spring for us. John is trying to get a second degree so he's missed quite a bit of practice time. It was good to see him making some plays for us. Witten continues to look like he's going to be a real asset for us.”
"I think we might be a little ahead of where I thought. I mentioned the offensive line. We have a chance if one of the backs, like Travis Stephens or even Michael Brewster, can come on and help us. If they do, we'll have a decent running team. I have some concern about the receiving corps, the inconsistency and lack of depth there. We didn't play great at quarterback today. We also had some protection problems. We'll focus on that this week and see if we can get that better. We can put a pretty physical group on the field running the football.
"Robert Peace is one of those guys who would be ahead of where he was this time last year. He's used the reps he's gotten with the others being out to show he can be an asset to this team as a linebacker and on special teams. I'm really encouraged about Robert's play.
"We put them in some real tough situations today. We'll evaluate those and we'll probably come back in some real similar situations this coming week. We got a two-minute drill in and last year we didn't attempt that.”
