| Tennessee and Arkansas look to get a leg up in the Southeastern Conference as they face each other in the league opener for both schools. The Razorbacks rallied in the final minute to post a 14-10 victory over the UNLV Rebels in their season opener in Little Rock, Ark. Tennessee rolled to a 33-9 win over Syracuse in its opener, behind Travis Stephens' 111 yards. Saturday's on-campus game in Fayetteville, Ark., will be the first in the newly renovated and expanded Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Despite Tennessee holding a commanding 10-2 lead in the series, the teams have split the two meetings in Fayetteville. Arkansas exacted revenge in 1999 as it pulled out a 28-24 triumph, the same score as the 1998 meeting in Knoxville where Tennessee escaped en route to a perfect 13-0 season. The Vols posted a 49-31 victory in 1995 as Joey Kent tied a school record with 13 receptions and Peyton Manning threw for 384 yards. TENNESSEE AT A GLANCE
Tennessee began its 105th season of collegiate football as it had in the previous six years, by posting its seventh consecutive season opening win. The Volunteers will be looking for their first 2-0 start since the 1998 national championship season. This is the first time since 1995 that Tennessee has opened with three consecutive games without the benefit of an open week after the first game. 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 Years bowl games. WHAT TO LOOK FOR . . .
* TB Travis Stephens reaching 1000 career rushing yards (needs 17)
* WR Donte' Stallworth reaching 1000 career receiving yards (needs 19)
* DT John Henderson recording a sack or tackle for loss in his 13th consecutive game
* PR Eric Parker moving up UT's all-time career punt return yardage list. His 916 yards ranks third, while Shawn Sumers is second with 942.
* QB Casey Clausen throwing a touchdown pass in his fifth straight game
* UT extending its streak to 85 games of scoring in double figures
* UT's first third down conversion after going 0-for-14 versus Syracuse
* DE Will Overstreet extending his streak of consecutive starts with 26
* DT John Henderson extending his streak of consecutive starts with 22 STEPHENS POSTS SECOND 100-YARD RUSHING GAME
Tailback Travis Stephens, who has five career starts, posted his second career 100-yard rushing game as he ran for a career-high 111 yards on 14 carries and one score against Syracuse in the opener. It bettered his previous best of 107 yards in his first career start at Georgia in 1998 of 107 yards.
Stephens accounted for three big plays as part of 145 all-purpose yards. He had two runs of 40 and 37 yards, while hauling in a 34-yard reception.
With 983 career rushing yards, he is just 17 yards shy of reaching the 1,000-yard rushing milestone. Henry last season with seven rushing touchdowns.
Stephens' 14 carries were the most since he carried 14 times against Vanderbilt in 1998. The most carries he had in a game last season came in the opener against Southern Miss when he had 12 carries for 13 yards.
As a backup tailback on the 1998 national championship team, Stephens ran for 477 yards on 107 carries with four scores. Following a redshirt season in 1999, he posted 359 yards on 81 attempts with seven TDs last year. VOLS SHOW BIG PLAY ABILITY
Tennessee showed some big play ability against Syracuse, by posting eight plays of 20 yards or more and scoring on two of those.
In fact, the Vols had three runs of at least 37 yards and three pass plays that went for 20 yards. They also had two kickoff returns go over 20 yards.
One of Corey Larkins' two touchdown runs came on a 38-yard scamper in the fourth quarter on his fourth career carry. Travis Stephens had two long runs of 37 and 40 yards. EIGHT VOL FIRST-TIME STARTERS
Eight Vols earned starts for the first time in their careers against Syracuse. First-time starters included: OFFENSE (1): RG Jason Respert. DEFENSE (6): DE Omari Hand, DT Rashad Moore, LB Eddie Moore, SS Julian Battle, LB Keyon Whiteside. KICKERS (1): P Dustin Colquitt. NEWCOMERS SEE ACTION
Four true freshmen saw action against Syracuse, including WR Kelley Washington (3 catches for 13 yards), RB Jabari Davis (2 rushes for 6 yards), RB Cedric Houston (7 rushes for 16 yards) and RB Derrick Tinsley (4 rushes for 23 yards). 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. SACK ATTACK IS BACK
Tennessee, which led the SEC with a school record 50 sacks in 2001, picked up where it left off by registering five sacks in the season opener.
Defensive end Will Overstreet led the way with two sacks to push his career total to 16. Junior college transfer Demetrin Veal also recorded his first sack in his first game. Also, defensive end Constantin Ritzmann got the fourth sack of his career tackling SU's Troy Nunes in the endzone for a safety. It was UT's first safety since Overstreet's sack of USM's Jeff Kelly in last year's season opener. Dominique Stevenson and Jabari Greer also combined for a sack. DEEP BACKFIELD
In addition to leading returning rusher Travis Stephens, the Vols displayed their stable of running backs against Syracuse as three true freshmen and two redshirt freshman saw action. Highly touted backs Cedric Houston and Jabari Davis saw limited action as Houston gained 16 yards on seven carries, while Davis, who played fullback, rushed two times for six yards while also catching two passes.Derrick Tinsley had four carries for 23 yards, including a 12-yard run. Redshirt freshman Corey Larkins displayed his ability late the game as he scored twice while rushing for 59 yards on five carries, including a 38-yard touchdown run. Ed Harrison, a freshman walk-on, also played. WALLS CONTINUES STEADY STREAK
Preseason All-America placekicker Alex Walls picked up where he left off from last season, making his only field goal attempt of 24 yards against Syracuse. He has made 21 of his last 23 career placements. He is as the SEC's leading returning scorer after tallying 93 points in 2000. Walls 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. He is currently the second-most accurate field goal kicker in SEC history at 84.4 percent as he had made 27-of-32 career boots.
Walls is 21-of-24 (.875) inside 40 yards and 6-of-8 (.750) outside 40. THE DEFENSE
Tennessee saw five first time defensive starters against Syracuse (DE Omari Hand, DT Rashad Moore, LB Eddie Moore, SS Julian Battle, LB Keyon Whiteside). Defensive end Bernard Jackson will return to start at left end after serving a one game suspension due to a team rules violation. The Vol defense dominated last Saturday 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.
They were 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. The Vols forced three turnovers, including the second career interception by FS Rashad Baker. The defense played aggressively, recording five sacks, four tackles for loss, four PBUs, two fumble recoveries, one interception and a safety. STALLWORTH NEARS 1000
Wide receiver Donte' Stallworth needs 19 yards receiving to reach the 1000-yard mark for his career. Noted for his big play ability, Stallworth has recorded 10 catches in his career of at least 25 yards, including seven covering at least 40 yards.
Last season, he was on the receiving end of five of the six longest passing plays. He is already on the receiving end of the longest pass play of the 2001 season, a 37-yard touchdown catch on Tennessee's first play from scrimmage against Syracuse. AGAINST THE SEC
Tennessee is 59-15 in SEC games since divisional play began in 1992, including two wins in the SEC Championship game. Against the 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 Division teams, 10 of the last 11 at home and seven of their last nine road tilts. Against the Western Division, Tennessee is 23-6, going 11-3 at home, 9-3 on the road and 3-0 at neutral sites. They have won 18 of their last 20 against Western Division opponents. UT has won nine straight at home and six of their last eight road SEC games. OTHER SEC NOTES
This is the first time since 1995 that the Vols have not opened league play against Florida. UT is 8-4 in SEC openers since 1989, going 1-0 vs. Auburn, 2-0 vs. Mississippi State, 4-0 vs. Georgia and 1-4 vs. Florida.
Phillip Fulmer is 5-4 in SEC openers. CLAUSEN IMPROVES TO 7-1 AS STARTER
Sophomore quarterback Casey Clausen improved to 7-1 as a starter after leading the Vols to a 33-9 season opening victory over Syracuse. Clausen's only defeat came in the 2001 Cotton Bowl to Kansas State and he has yet to drop a regular season game. Against the Orangemen, he completed 14-of-27 for 136 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He began the 2001 season the same way he started his career last season against Louisiana-Monroe--by tossing a touchdown pass. OFFENSE STRIKES QUICKLY
Of Tennessee's five offensive scoring drives against Syracuse, three were two plays or less. In fact, all five scores came on drives that were less than two minutes and two seconds. Three were less than one minute.
The average scoring drive against Syracuse was 3.2 plays in one minute and three seconds.
PARKER TIES PUNT RETURN RECORD, JOINS 100-RETURN CLUB
Eric Parker tied his career high and the school record for punt returns in a game with seven against Syracuse. Parker also had seven returns versus Vanderbilt in 1999. He and Rashad Baker combined for nine punt returns which was one shy of the school record set against Tennessee Tech in 1947. With those seven returns, Parker pushed his career total to 101, joining Bobby Majors as the only Vols to return more than 100 punts. Parker needs 17 more returns to pass Majors for the top spot. In addition, Parker became the eighth player in SEC history to reach 100 punt returns. With five more returns, he will pass Auburn's Trey Gainous into seventh place. He needs 24 returns to tie the SEC record of 125 held jointly by Alabama's Greg Richardson and Auburn's Thomas Bailey.
Parker is also 27 yards away from passing Shawn Summers for second place on UT's career punt return yardage chart. HENDERSON HAS PRODUCTIVE DAY VS SYRACUSE
Defensive tackle John Henderson, winner of the 2000 Outland Trophy, had another productive day against Syracuse by recovering a fumble that set up a Travis Stephens TD run. He also registered a tackle for loss among his 3 tackles in the game. Henderson, who has only one career 10-tackle game, has been a force in the opponent's backfield his career, making at least one tackle for loss or sack in each of the last 12 games. In fact, he had made at least two stops behind the line 10 times in his career, including four multi-sack contests. 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. AWARD WATCH LISTS
Jim Thorpe Award -- Andre Lott
Lou Groza Award -- Alex Walls
Lombardi Award -- John Henderson
Bronko Nagurski Award -- John Henderson
Doak Walker Award -- Travis Stephens | Best Records Since 1990 | | Florida State | 121-15-1 (.887) | | Nebraska | 120-18-1 (.867) | | Florida | 113-25-1 (.817) | | TENNESSEE | 108-26-2 (.801) | | Marshall | 122-31 (.797) | | Best Home Records Since 1990 | | Florida State | 62-1-1 (.977) | | Nebraska | 70-3-0 (.959) | | Florida | 64-4-0 (.941) | | Texas A&M | 61-5-1 ( .917) | | Kansas State | 63-6-1 (.907) | | TENNESSEE | 63-8-0 (.887) | VOLS ARE FOURTH WINNINGEST TEAM SINCE 1990
Tennessee ranks fourth in winning percentage since 1990. In fact, since 1993, the Vols have 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 63-8 (.887). The Vols, who have won 38 of their last 40 home games, have also won 18 of their last 19 SEC home contests and 24 straight non-conference home games. Coach Phillip Fulmer has guided the Vols to a 50-4 record in home games.
FULMER NEARS SEC'S ALL-TIME TOP 10
Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer needs just three Southeastern Conference victories to enter the top 10 among league coaches in SEC regular-season victories. Fulmer also ranks 16th all-time in conference history with his 84 career wins. Harry Mehre (Mississippi/ Georgia) is 15th with 98 victories. 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. 57 Johnny Majors (Tennessee) | | 11. 54 Phillip Fulmer (Tennessee) | 2001 CAPTAINS NAMED
Captains for the 2001 season are five seniors who have seen the Vols post a 31-7 mark during their careers. They are: FB Will Bartholomew, DT John Henderson, DB Andre Lott, DE Will Overstreet, OG Fred Weary. 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. A LOOK AT THE 2001 SCHEDULE
* Head coach Phillip Fulmer owns a 54-12 mark against this year's 11 opponents
* The Vols will face five teams that were ranked in the preseason top 25 of the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls.
* This is the first time since 1995 that the Vols play Florida without a prior open date
* Six teams on the slate participated in bowl games last year (Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, LSU, Notre Dame, South Carolina)
* Five opponents won at least eight games in 2000
* Tennessee will face five of the nation's top 14 programs in terms of all-time victories SEVEN VOLS ON 1990s ALL-DECADE TEAM
Seven Volunteers were named to the Southeastern Conference's 1990s All-Decade Football Team. Tennessee had the most players honored on the first team.
Those honored included quarterback Peyton Manning (1994-97), wide receiver Carl Pickens (1989-91), offensive lineman Cosey Coleman (1997-99), defensive lineman Leonard Little (1995-97), linebacker Al Wilson (1995-98), defensive back Dale Carter (1990-91) and kicker Jeff Hall (1995-98). VOLS ON TELEVISION
Five of Tennessee's games were set for television in the preseason. The Vols will appear on ESPN2 in the first two weeks versus Syracuse and Arkansas, before making the first of two CBS appearances at Florida. The Notre Dame game will be televised by NBC, marking the first appearance on the network since the 1992 Fiesta Bowl. SCORING STREAK
Tennessee has scored in 84 consecutive games. When the Vols hit the road, their consecutive games scored steak becomes even more impressive. Tennessee has scored in 111 straight road games. UT's home scoring streak is currently 44 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 has played only once on Sept. 8 coming in 1990 when the Vols defeated Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss., 40-7. 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. * Tennessee has won 85 of its last 103 games overall * Tennessee has won 29 of the last 43 games against nationally ranked teams * Tennessee has won 50 of the last 54 home games at Neyland Stadium * Tennessee has posted a 57-12 record in its last 69 games against SEC opponents NEYLAND STADIUM DOMINANCE
* The Vols own an all-time record of 384-89-17 (.801) 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 50-4 record in home games. In fact, Fulmer-coached Tennessee teams have outscored the opposition 1,995-724 at Neyland Stadium, an average score of 36.9-13.4. Tennessee has defeated 37 of 54 opponents by 17 points or more with Fulmer at the helm. * Under Fulmer, the Vols have a 14-4 record at home against nationally ranked opponents and no team ranked lower than sixth has defeated UT in Knoxville. MEDICAL UPDATE
Probable: FB Will Bartholomew (ankle), DT John Henderson (ankle), DT Albert Haynesworth (virus), DB Andre Lott (shin bruise)
Questionable: WR Donte' Stallworth (wrist)
Out: FB Troy Fleming (ankle), DT Edward Kendrick (shoulder), OT Reggie Ridley (knee) | 
