University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee-Alabama Game Preview
October 21, 2002 | Football
Oct. 21, 2002
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| Alabama (5-2) at Tennessee (4-2)
RADIO RANKINGS THE COACHES: Alabama Crimson Tide
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THE SERIES The teams have met on a yearly basis since 1928 with the exception of the war year in 1943. The series is tight in Knoxville with Alabama holding a slim 19-18-1 edge. UT has won three straight in Knoxville, matching the longest winning streak at home in the series since 1956-60. The Vols' only four-game home winning streak in the series came from 1946-52. This is the 35th time in the last 36 years where at least one team has been ranked. The last time neither was ranked was in 2000. Head coach Phillip Fulmer is 8-1 against Alabama. UT and Alabama have played three common opponents this season, each going 2-1. They both defeated Middle Tennessee and Arkansas while losing to Georgia. TENNESSEE AT A GLANCE
The second half of the season's slate offers three home games (Alabama, Miami, Kentucky) and three road games (South Carolina, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt). The future opposition boasts a combined record of 25-17, while the first six opponents posted a 19-23 overall mark. The Vols are 69-34-9 (.656) all-time following an open date and 33-20-2 (.618) in Southeastern Conference action. UT fell to Florida following its first open date of the season in September. Tennessee is 5-5 all-time against Alabama following on open date. The Vols have faced Alabama following an open date each of the last four years and have won the last five meetings with Tide after an open date. Head coach Phillip Fulmer has guided his teams to a 17-5 mark following open dates, including a 16-5 records in league tilts. Over the last five years, Tennessee ranks as the fourth-winningest program in the nation and winningest program in the Southeastern Conference with a 56-13 mark. Since 1995, the Vols are third in total victories at 77. They trail only Nebraska's 83 and Florida State's 79.
FULMER ONE WIN SHY OF 100 CAREER VICTORIES Fulmer has a chance to become the fourth-fastest to reach 100 wins in terms of longevity. He could reach the mark in his 11th season and seventh game, trailing only Oklahoma's Barry Switzer and Bud Wilkinson, Chicago's Amos Alonzo Stagg and Nebraska's Tom Osborne. Fulmer is the only active coach with a minimum of 10 years as a head coach who ranks in top 10 all-time winning percentage list among Division I-A coaches. His .818 winning percentage is 10th. He is one of only 12 Division I-A coaches with an .800 winning percentage under that standard. Fulmer is currently tied with former Auburn head coach Pat Dye (1981-92) for 14th on the SEC all-time coaching victories list. With one more win, he will become the 14th coach in league history to reach 100 wins. IN THE POLLS UT has been ranked in the top 25 for 32 consecutive weeks. UT was ranked in the top 10 in 15 of 17 polls last season, reaching a high of No. 2 on Dec. 2. The Vols opened the 2002 season ranked No. 5 in the preseason polls and spent six of first eight weeks in the top 10. It marked the seventh time in the last eight years the Vols have been a preseason top 10 team. TROY FLEMING AND DERRICK TINSLEY SHOW VERSATILITY Tinsley averages 7.2 yards on every touch, Houston averages 7.1, Fleming is 6.2 and Davis is 5.0. Tinsley ranks second behind tight end Jason Witten in touchdown receptions with three and is the fourth leading receiver with 176 yards. Tinsley even threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Witten in the Georgia game. Fleming led the team with 42 yards rushing against Florida while hauling in a team-high and career-best eight passes for 33 yards. The 42 yards rushing matched his career-best set previously in the first game against LSU in 2001. His eight receptions more than doubled his previous high of three versus Georgia in 2001 and bettered the 27 yards he had against the Bulldogs in that same game. Fleming recorded his first career rushing touchdown on a 16-yard run against Rutgers while rushing for 39 yards, including a career-long 18-yard carry. Tinsley got off to a slow start running the ball, gaining just eight yards on his first six carries in the first three games. Since then, he has rushed for 52 yards on 12 carries, averaging 4.3 yards per attempt. A great outlet receiver, Tinsley has made at least two catches in five of the six games, while posting at least 28 yards in receiving five times. He and Witten are the only Vols to catch at least one pass in every game.
WASHINGTON AVERAGES OVER 100 YARDS PER GAME Washington leads the Vols with 23 receptions for 443 yards and 19.3 yards per catch. He averages 110.8 yards per game and would rank 11th in the NCAA if he had enough games played to qualify. Against Florida, he finished with team-high 102 yards receiving on seven catches. Six of the seven receptions went for first downs. Versus Rutgers, he had the second-best receiving game of his career, hauling in seven passes for 197 yards and one score. He and Casey Clausen connected on the three longest passing plays of the season, covering 52, 48 and 58 yards in that game. He hauled in six passes for 112 yards against Arkansas. Washington has been on the receiving end of seven of UT's 21 long passes covering at least 20 yards. He has taken 15 of his 23 receptions for first downs this season and 60 of 87 in his career. He set UT freshman records for receptions and receiving yards with 64 for 1010. He needs 19 catches and 162 yards to enter the top 10 in the respective career categories. With 47 yards, he will become the 12th Vol to reach 1500 career receiving yards. Washington has six 100-yard games to his credit, including a school-record 256-yard performance in the first of two meetings against LSU in 2001.
CLAUSEN LEADS SEC IN FOUR PASSING CATEGORIES Clausen leads the SEC in completion percentage (67.9), completions per game (22.0), total offense (284.0 ypg) and passing efficiency (151.06) Nationally, he is second in completion percentage (Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech - 68.3), 10th in passing efficiency, 12th in total offense and tied for 11th in completions. He had a string of 112 passes without an interception snapped with a third quarter pick against Arkansas. He fell shy of the the school record of 132 set by Peyton Manning in 1995. With two scoring strikes against Arkansas, Clausen extended his string of consecutive games with a touchdown pass to 12, which ranks third in school history. Against Florida, he established career-bests for completions and attempts, going 30-of-44 for 285 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. His previous best for completions was 27 versus LSU in the 2001 SEC Championship game. In the first three games, he completed no fewer than 22 passes in each contest, while connecting with at least eight different receivers (Wyoming - 11, Middle Tennessee - 9, Florida - 8). Over his last two games he completed just 34 passes, but with the return of Kelley Washington, the Vols hit nine passing plays covering at least 20 yards during that span, including five plays of 40 yards or more, compared to just six in the first three games and one 40-yard pass play. Clausen is averaging 16.9 yards per completion over his last two games, compared to just 10.3 in the first three. His 82.8 completion percentage (24-of-29) versus Middle Tennessee was a career-best, bettering his 79.2 percent (19-of-24) game against Kentucky in 2000. Clausen has completed 50 percent or better of his passes in his last 17 games and 23 of 25 career starts. His string of nine consecutive games with a 60 percent completion rate or better was snapped against Rutgers when he completed 53.6 percent (15-of-28). Over the last 11 games, he has completed 242-of-358 for 67.6 percent. CLAUSEN MOVING UP TENNESSEE / SEC CHARTS In addition, Clausen is in 16th place on the SEC's career touchdown passes list with 45. He needs just five more TD passes to become one of 16 league quarterbacks with at least 50 scoring strikes, while nine have at least 60. Another impressive note is that he ranks second behind former UT quarterback Peyton Manning in lowest percentage of interceptions at 2.54 in a minimum 600 attempts. Manning had a 2.39 interception percentage. Clausen ranks No. 4 on UT's all-time passing list with 5803 yards and No. 4 on the total offense chart with 5784 yards. He needs 65 yards to move past current sideline reporter for the Vol Radio Network, Jeff Francis, for third place on the passing yardage chart. He also needs 19 completions to pass Francis for third on the completions list. JAMES BANKS EXCELS IN RELIEF ROLE He led Tennessee on nine of its 12 possessions, including driving the team 80 yards on each of its last two possessions for scores. He connected with Derrick Tinsley on a 33-yard scoring strike as a well as hitting Tony Brown on a 48-yard pass that set up that score. His 45-yard pass to Kelley Washington helped set up UT's second score. JABARI DAVIS SPEARHEADS RUSHING CORPS Davis made his second career start at tailback for the injured Cedric Houston against Arkansas. Davis had 112 yards in regulation on 20 carries and two scores. It marked the third time in his career that he has rushed for at least two touchdowns in a game (2001-Florida, 2002-Wyoming, Arkansas). He also had a career-long 58-yard scoring run to give UT a 17-3 lead in the fourth quarter versus the Razorbacks, while adding one in overtime. Davis made the most of his playing time against Wyoming, rushing for two scores on Tennessee's first two possessions of the second half, finishing with 29 yards on 10 carries. He added 39 yards on seven rushes against Middle Tennessee and posted his third rushing tally of the season against Florida on a 1-yard run in the third quarter as he rushed for 32 yards on eight carries. He then posted his fourth rushing score versus Rutgers while running eight times for 40 yards. Against Georgia, he had 65 yards on 14 attempts. SPECIAL TEAMS SHINE Larkins assumed both kickoff and punt return duties in the Georgia game making five returns for 123 yards (4-82 KR, 1-41 PR). He has returned 13 kickoffs for 356 yards, with nine having been for at least 20 yards, including four for over 30 yards. Larkins posted a 70-yard return in the opener and followed with two more returns for 63 yards against Middle Tennessee. Over the last four games he is averaging 22.3 ypr (10-for-223). For his career, he is averaging 24.9 yards per return (17-for-424). The Vols also rank sixth in the NCAA and second in the SEC in net punting at 39.0 yards. UT also ranks fourth in the league in punt returns at 12.8 ypr. Dustin Colquitt, who is one of seven punters in the SEC averaging better than 43.0 yards per kick, is fifth in the league and 10th nationally with a 43.4 average on 25 punts with 10 being downed inside the 20. Rashad Baker and Mark Jones have split a majority of the punt return duties and have combined to average 11.6 yards per return. Jones is fifth with his 12.7 ypr average and Baker is seventh with his 10.8 average. AGAINST THE SEC Against the Eastern Division, the Vols are 40-12, going 21-5 at home and 19-7 on the road. They have won 20 of their last 26 over Eastern teams, 12 of the last 15 at home and nine of their last 12 road tilts. Versus the Western Division, Tennessee is 27-7, going 13-3 at home, 11-3 on the road and 3-1 at neutral sites. They have won 22 of their last 25 against Western opponents, including 11 straight at home and eight of the last 10 road games. HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE Over the last five seasons, Coach Fulmer's teams are 32-3 at home. Georgia's 26-24 win in 2001 and Florida's 27-23 win in 2000 and 30-13 win in 2002 are the only blemishes on the home record since 1997. ORANGE ZONE EFFICIENCY Of the 21 offensive touchdowns Tennessee has scored, 14 have come from inside the orange zone. UT is second in the SEC orange zone defense, allowing 10 scores in 17 attempts (7 TD, 3 FGs) (58.8%). NATIONAL SACK LEADERS The Vols are led by Demetrin Veal's three, while Eddie Moore, Rashad Moore and Gibril Wilson have two apiece. Eight others have been credited with at least a half sack. The team has recorded 12 sacks over the last four games. Veal is the active sack leader with seven, while Eddie Moore is second with five. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES * Led by Rashad Baker three picks and Keyon Whiteside's two, the Vols are tied for sixth in the SEC with seven interceptions. The defense has also broken up 34 passes. * UT has been efficient with the passing game, having thrown only three interceptions which ties for fifth in the NCAA and is second in the SEC behind LSU. They have thrown only one interception in the last 143 attempts. * The Vols recked havoc against Middle Tennessee by recording a safety on a blocked punt, the first since 2000 against Louisiana-Monroe, and scoring a touchdown following a sack by Jabari Greer who forced a fumble that Kevin Simon recovered in the end zone. * The Vols have allowed just three runs over 20 yards. * Tennessee has blocked a field goal and a punt this year (Middle Tennessee & Rutgers) VERSUS RANKED TEAMS SCORING STREAK FIRST TIME ACTION * There are also 22 players who played in their first game. They included: DB Gibril Wilson, WR Jomo Fagan, LB Kevin Simon, LB Jason Mitchell, DB Chris Heath, DE Ovince Saint Preux, DB Robert Boulware, RB Keldrick Williams, WR C.J. Fayton, C Scott Newsome, LB Mondre Dickerson; PK Phillip Newman, RB William Revill, QB C.J. Leak, OT Richie Gandy, DB Shannon Benton, DE Wesley Holmes, OG Guillaume Dumont, WR Justin Reed, TE Jake Finlayson, WR Jonathan Wade, QB James Banks. * Thirteen true freshmen have seen action this season. They are DB Jason Allen, QB James Banks, DE J.T. Mapu, LB Parys Haralson, TE Aaron Kirkland, LB Omar Gaither, RB Gerald Riggs, OG Rob Smith, OT Cody Douglas, DT Greg Jones, WR Chris Hannon, DE Jason Hall, WR Jonathan Wade. VOLS PLAY TOUGH VERSUS RUN REGGIE WHITE TO COLLEGE HALL OF FAME PRESEASON AWARD LISTS UP NEXT MEDICAL UPDATE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
