Tennessee-Syracuse Postgame Notes

Sept. 1, 2001

TENNESSEE POSTGAME NOTES
Tennessee vs. Syracuse - Sept. 1, 2001 - Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tenn.

Vols Win Season Opener 33-9

Following today's 33-9 win Tennessee leads the series against Syracuse 3-0 ... The Vols defeated the Orangemen 18-12 in the 1966 Gator Bowl and took a 34-33 win in the 1998 season opener at Syracuse ... Today's game is the first between the two schools in Knoxville ... The Vols are now 21-7 against current members of the Big East Conference ... Attendance: 107,725 --3rd largest all-time mark at Neyland Stadium.

Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer is the nation's winningest active head coach...Following today's game, Fulmer has a 85-18 (.825) mark now in his 10th season at his alma mater...Fulmer's overall record at Neyland Stadium is now 50-4.
Tennessee owns a 77-22-6 (.762) all-time mark in season openers, including a 14-2-2 mark in the past 18 seasons. The Vols have now won seven straight openers...In home openers the Vols are now 81-18-5 (.802) all-time in 104 home openers. Over the past 18 seasons, Tennessee has a 15-2-1 mark in home openers.
Tom Nuckles, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Sporting News made a presentation today proclaiming Neyland Stadium as the nation's No. 1 Collegiate Football Stadium.
Casey Clausen completed 14-of-27 for 136 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception...Clausen found 7 different receivers for his 14 completions today...Clausen found Donte' Stallworth on the Vols' first play from scrimmage for a 37-yard touchdown pass to give UT a quick 7-0 advantage...Clausen is now 7-1 as a starter at quarterback for the Vols.

Senior DT John Henderson had another productive day for the Vols, recording a fumble recovery at the Syracuse 5, setting up a Travis Stephens 4-yard TD run giving UT a 19-3 third quarter lead. He also registered a tackle for loss (-1).
Senior tailback Travis Stephens, making his first start since 1998, rushed for a career-high 111 yards on 14 carries today. Stephens previous career-best was a 107-yard effort in UT's 22-3 win at Georgia in 1998 (his first career start)...Stephens reeled off three plays of at least 30 yards in today's game (rush: 40, 37 and receiving: 34)
Freshman punter Dustin Colquitt made his UT debut in today's game ... He averaged 41.4 on 9 punts (50 long) and handled the kickoff duties... Colquitt is the son of former Vol punter Craig Colquitt (1975-77), who punted for the Pittsburgh Steelers (1978-84) following his UT career.

Redshirt freshman running back Corey Larkins rushed for 59 yards on 5 carries today in his first game for UT ...Larkins sealed the victory with two fourth quarter TD runs of 38 and 16 yards.

The Vol Defense recorded five sacks today for 47 yards in losses...DE Will Overstreet led the UT sack pack with two sacks for -24 yards ... DE Constantin Ritzmann's second quarter sack of SU quarterback Troy Nunes in the end zone for a safety gave the Vols a 9-0 lead...It was the Vols' first safety since last year's season opener when Overstreet tackled Southern Miss QB Jeff Kelly in the endzone...UT broke its own SEC record last season with 50 quarterback sacks.

Free safety Rashad Baker's leaping first quarter interception at the UT nine-yard ended a Syracuse scoring threat...The pick was Baker's second of his career after starting eight games at free safety last season as a true freshman.

Defensive end Dementrin Veal had an impressive UT debut, recording two tackles for loss (-9) and a quarterback sack (-7)...Veal is a junior college transfer from Cerritos (Calif.) College.
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Players making their first career start for Tennessee today were: OG Jason Respert (So.), DT Rashad Moore (Jr.), LB Eddie Moore (Jr.), LB Keyon Whiteside (Jr.), SS Julian Battle (Jr./Transfer) and P Dustin Colquitt (Fr./Redshirt)

Newcomers who played for Tennessee today were: WR Kelley Washington*, SS Julian Battle, Jabari Davis*, DE Dementrin Veal, RB Cedric Houston*, DT Aubrayo Franklin, RB Derrick Tinsley*. (*true freshman)

TENNESSEE DEFENSIVE BIG PLAYS
Tackle for Loss: 1-Henderson (-1), 2-Veal (-9), 1-Whiteside (-4)
Sacks: 2 Overstreet (-24), 1-Veal (-7), 0.5-Greer (-6), 0.5-Stevenson (-6), 1-Ritzmann (-4/safety),
Passes Broken Up: 1-Moore, 1-Lott, 1-Gaines, 1-Moore
Interceptions: 1-Baker (0 yards)
Fumble Caused:
Fumble Recovered: 1-Battle, 1-Henderson

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