University of Tennessee Athletics
Mississippi State Game Preview
November 10, 2003 | Football
| QUICK FACTS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mississippi State (2-7) at Tennessee (7-2)
RADIO RANKINGS THE COACHES: Mississippi State Bulldogs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FEATURES | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GAME NOTES | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TENNESSEE-MISSISSIPPI STATE The teams were regular combatants on the gridiron through the 1920s and again from 1948-1964. They have only met 11 times since 1971. Tennessee holds an 11-7 series lead in Knoxville with this being only Mississippi State?s fourth trip to Knoxville since 1963 and first since 1995. Tennessee defeated Mississippi State in the 1998 SEC Championship game en route to its 13th league title and sixth national championship. Head coach Phillip Fulmer is 3-1 against Mississippi State. This is the last meeting with the Bulldogs until 2007 as Tennessee picks up the Ole Miss Rebels from the Western Division for the 2004-05 seasons per the current conference rotation. NOVEMBERS TO REMEMBER The streak began on Nov. 2, 1985 against Rutgers and went 21 straight games before No. 1 Notre Dame knocked off the Vols at home in 1990, 34-29. The streak picked up again as UT won 20 consecutive November games until Memphis upset the Volunteers in 1996, 21-17. A 13-game November streak followed until 1999 when Arkansas edged Tennessee, 28-24. UT then reeled off 11 consecutive wins until No. 1 Miami downed the Vols 26-3 in 2002. The Vols have posted 12 shutouts in November since 1985.
UT SPORTS SEC'S BEST RECORD SINCE 1998 The Volunteers have also compiled a 35-10 record in conference games during that stretch, winning two Eastern Division titles and one overall league crown. Going back 10-plus years, the Vols are second in the league to Florida (109) with 105 wins. COMEBACK KIDS VOLS DEFENSE IS KEY IN WIN OVER MIAMI The second interception of the day, by Gibril Wilson, ended a potential Miami scoring drive inside the 10. The two picks matched a season high set at Florida earlier in the year. Tennessee has forced five turnovers without any on the offensive side the last two games. UT was a minus-seven in turnover margin in the first seven games. The Vols have given up just 12 points in the last two games. UT has allowed 10 or fewer points four times. TINSLEY SCORES TWICE IN LAST THREE GAMES He has rushed three times for 42 yards this season, recording UT?s long run twice (28 vs. Alabama, 12 vs. Miami). He has also caught four passes for 37 yards during that span. Last season, Tinsley had five touchdown catches on 20 receptions and rushed 45 times for 202 yards. The special teams player did not have any offensive stats in the first six games.
CLAUSEN TIES UT?S ROAD WINS MARK Clausen, who has won nine of his last 12 starts and compiled a 31-9 record as a starter (16-5 home, 13-1 road, 2-3 neutral), joins Peyton Manning as the only Vol quarterbacks to win at least 30 games. Manning compiled a 39-6 record from 1994-97. With four more wins, Clausen would move into a tie for fifth place on the NCAA all-time Division I-A quarterbacks wins list. He would join the likes of Nebraska?s Eric Crouch, Syracuse?s Donovan McNabb, Alabama?s Jay Barker and Toledo?s Chuck Ealey. CLAUSEN?S SEASON NOTES Clausen is fifth in the SEC at 207.8 yards passing per game, seventh in total offense at 202.2 yards per game and seventh in passing efficiency at 131.4. He threw at least one touchdown pass in the first eight games, marking his longest streak to start a season. He owns the third-longest streak in school history with 12. He has thrown at least two touchdown passes in five of the nine games. He was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week after accounting for five touchdowns (four passing, one rushing) in UT?s 51-43 five-overtime win over Alabama. He completed 23-of-43 passes for 283 yards and no interceptions. He completed 4-of-8 passes in the overtime for 65 yards, with three completions going for touchdowns. He connected with a season-high 10 different receivers and had five pass plays for more than 20 yards.He also earned the honor in for his efforts in the 2001 Alabama game. The four TD passes were one shy of his personal best and school record-tying five done twice, and the most since throwing four at Kentucky in 2001. It was the fifth time in his career he had at least four TD passes in a game. His 1-yard scoring plunge and two-point conversion pass in the fifth overtime against the Tide put the Vols ahead for good. It was his first rushing tally since the South Carolina game last year and the fifth of his career. Against Auburn, when he passed for a season-high 355 yards, he connected on seven passes of at least 20 yards while tying his career-best of 30 completions on a career-high 47 attempts. The 355 yards was the third-best effort of his career and his fifth 300-yard passing game. It was his first 300-yard passing game since throwing for a career-high 393 yards against Michigan in 2002 Florida Citrus Bowl. Clausen threw for 235 yards against the Gators, including connecting on two of his longest pass plays of the season. He hit James Banks on a 48-yard touchdown on the last play of the first half and then hooked up with freshman Bret Smith for a 57-yard gain in the third quarter, setting up UT?s second touchdown. For the season, Clausen has hit on nine passing plays of at least 30 yards, including a school-record 90-yard touchdown against Georgia. CLAUSEN ENTERS SEC'S TOP 10 IN CAREER PASSING He ranks fourth in the SEC in career completion percentage (min. 300 completions) at 62.0, third in lowest percentage of interceptions (min. 600 attempts) at 2.58, ninth in SEC in career total offense yards at 8474, 10th in the SEC in career touchdown passes with 64, ninth in career passing yards with 8609 and ninth in pass completions with 697. He is among the highest-rated passers in SEC history, ranking fifth with a mark of 139.84. Clausen is one of 11 league quarterbacks with at least 60 scoring strikes, while six have at least 70. He is the second quarterback at UT to throw 60 scoring aerials in a career, joining Peyton Manning who had 89. Clausen has accounted for 69 total touchdowns in his career, which is 11th in the SEC. He needs two more to enter the top 10. CLAUSEN NOTES
COLQUITT: SEC?S LEADING PUNTER Thanks to Colquitt?s booming punts, along with excellent placement and a great punt coverage team, Tennessee leads the SEC and is fourth in the nation in net punting with a 42.4-yard average. The Vols have allowed 26 punt returns for 183 yards (7.0-yard average). Colquitt has twice been named the SEC?s Special Teams Player of the Week. His most recent honor came after the South Carolina game when he had a career-high five punts of 50 yards or more for a 51.7-yard average, including a 63-yarder. Even more impressive was the fact that he placed four of his seven boots inside the 20 with three settling inside the 5-yard line. He forced the Gamecocks to start consecutive drives on their 2 and 1-yard lines, respectively, in the third quarter. He first earned the honor following UT?s win over Marshall when he punted four times for a 50.8 average, with two punts of 50-plus yards, including a 63 yarder. He pinned Marshall deep twice, turning the field position battle in UT's favor. He placed two punts inside the 20, one at the Marshall four and three yard lines, respectively. His numbers over the last eight games are staggering. For instance: Against Florida he placed two punts inside the 10 and three of the six kicks inside the 20 with a season-long boot of 67 yards, one yard shy of his career high of 68 yards set versus Miami last year. Over the last two seasons, Colquitt has averaged 44.73 yards per punt. His career average of 43.16 ranks second all-time at UT, while he has pinned opponents deep by placing 51 of 166 punts (30.7 percent) inside the 20. He has 42 punts of 50 yards or more in his career. Four times in his career he has had three punts in a game over 50 yards (Memphis & Kentucky 2001, Miami 2002, South Carolina 2003). He has had at least one 50-yard punt in 17 of the last 19 games and eight straight. ORANGE ZONE SUCCESS Their touchdown success rate is 63.3 percent, up from last season?s 47.8 percent. UT has 19 touchdowns and six field goals. Last year the Vols scored at a 75 percent clip (36-of-48), putting up 23 touchdowns and 13 field goals.
BANKS: VOLS GO TO MAN Banks finished the Alabama game with a career-high 103 yards on a season-high tying seven catches with two touchdowns in overtime with a two-point conversion. His 20 points against Alabama are the most by a UT player since Jamal Lewis scored 24 against Kentucky in 1997. He scored his first touchdown of the game on his first play from the quarterback position this season as he sprinted up the middle for 25 yards to give Tennessee a 10-6 lead. He leads the club with eight catches of more than 20 yards. He has been on the receiving end of three of the six long touchdown pass plays and is the only Vol with more than two receptions over 30 yards. Banks is the only Vol to catch a pass in every game. Banks has four games of at least 70 yards receiving and ranks eighth in the SEC with 3.8 receptions per game and ninth at 52.9 yards per game. He scored a receiving touchdown in each of the first four games and was the first UT wide receiver to accomplish that feat since Donte? Stallworth in 2001. Banks fell two games shy of the record for consecutive games with a touchdown reception set by Joey Kent in 1995. He's had monumental catches all season: KEEPING UP WITH Mark Jones Jones is UT?s second-leading receiver in terms of yards (319), leading the club with a 15.9 yards per catch average. He is tied for third with 20 catches. He is also fifth on the team with 63 yards rushing and is second with 10 punt returns for a 10.6-yard average. Defensively, he has 11 tackles with one interception. Against Georgia, Jones mustered up enough strength to steal the ball away from a Bulldog defender and race 90 yards for a touchdown, setting a school record for the longest pass reception in school history. It bettered the 87-yard effort when Andy Kelly hooked up with Carl Pickens against Auburn (1991). It was the 14th pass play of at least 80 yards in school history and the first since Casey Clausen hit Donte? Stallworth for an 80-yard scoring strike versus Vanderbilt in 2001. Jones had 117 yards receiving on four catches against the Bulldogs, recording the first 100-yard receiving game of the season by a Vol and the first since Kelley Washington had 112 against Arkansas last season. The utility player came through in the clutch against Auburn, making a diving catch in the end zone for his first career touchdown catch while posting 56 yards receiving. Against Fresno State, he caught one pass for 12 yards while returning five punts for 56 yards. Jones made at least one big play in each quarter during that game. He made a touchdown-saving tackle on a punt return, took Fresno out of field goal range by forcing an intentional grounding on a blitz, made an open field tackle on third down and set up UT?s final points with a 29-yard punt return. His versatility really came through against Florida as he intercepted his third career pass at the UT 31, stopping a Gator drive. He also had the longest run of the day on a 24-yard reverse. VOLS SACK ATTACK UT recorded a season-high six versus Marshall. It was the most since recording nine against Southern Miss in 2000. UT has six sacks in the last five games. Sophomore linebacker Kevin Simon spearheads the attack with 3.5 total sacks. He posted a career-high three against Marshall, recording 29 of the 72 minus yards (40 percent) suffered during the game. Defensive linemen Mondre Dickerson, Constantin Ritzmann and Parys Haralson are tied for second with three sacks. Haralson registered a career-high two in the Florida game. UT?s defensive line has 11, the linebackers have seven, while the secondary has one sack. VOLS POUND THE ROCK UT is averaging 3.9 yards per carry and has scored a rushing touchdown in eight of the nine games. After running for 497 yards on 84 carries (5.9 yards per rush) and two scores in the first two contests, the Vols have eight rushing touchdowns over the last seven games while averaging 109.4 yards per game. The Vols have 14 runs of over 20 yards, which ties last season?s total, led by Cedric Houston?s five and Jabari Davis? four.
DAVIS SURPASSES 1000-YARD MARK FOR CAREER His first 100-yard effort came last year versus Arkansas under the same circumstances (subbing for an injured Houston). That night, he posted 135 yards on 25 carries and scored three touchdowns. Davis leads the team with five rushing scores, tying for eighth in the SEC. He has scored in four of the nine games and is third behind kicker James Wilhoit and James Banks with 30 points. He has five of the nine rushing scores for the Vols. He has 17 career touchdowns and is halfway to his career-high total of 10 touchdowns set last year. He tallied two touchdowns on a 1-yard dive and a 9-yard run against Florida. It marked the third game of his career in which he scored at least twice. Subbing for an injured Cedric Houston, Davis carried the ball a season-high 20 times for 78 yards with a long run of 20 yards versus the Gators. He earned SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his effort. Davis scored in the first three games, marking the third time in his career he has scored in three consecutive games.
HOUSTON EDGES CLOSER TO UT?S TOP 20 He is the fourth-leading rusher in the SEC, averaging 77.2 yards per game which ranks him 63rd nationally. He has rushed for over 80 yards four times with back-to-back 100-yard efforts to start the season. Houston posted a career-high 161 yards against Fresno State and then followed with 160 yards versus Marshall. Tennessee?s big play back has five runs of over 20 yards in seven games, equalling his total from last year. Houston scored his only touchdown on a 3-yard run to give the Vols a 14-7 lead over South Carolina. It was his first tally since the Vanderbilt game last season, a span of seven contests. Houston?s 321 yards in the first two games ranked second in UT history behind Johnnie Jones? 400-yard effort to start the 1984 season. Against Fresno State, he carried the ball 19 times without being tackled for a loss. He did most of his damage in the first quarter as he ran for 95 yards on 10 attempts, with long runs of 20 and 25 on UT?s second possession. Versus Marshall he had his breakout quarter in the third when he rushed for 102 yards on 10 carries with runs of 50 and 35 yards. He accounted for 74 in the Vols? 80-yard TD drive to open the second half. Houston posted five 100-yard rushing games in 2002, including reeling off four straight versus South Carolina, Miami, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. He has seven career 100-yard games with six coming in his last 14 games dating back to last season. With three more 100-yard rushing games, Houston can become one of the Vols with at least 10 career 100-yard games. Travis Henry tops the list with 15, Jay Graham had 14, while Jamal Lewis and Johnnie Jones had 13. Reggie Cobb and James Stewart are tied for fifth with 10. VOLS TACKLERS RACKING UP Through eight games eight Vols have recorded at least 10 tackles in a game. Simon leads the way with five 10-tackle efforts, while Peace and Gibril Wilson have four apiece, followed by Rashad Baker and Corey Campbell with two. Jason Allen, Kevin Burnett and Mondre Dickerson have one each. Simon recorded at least 10 tackles in the first three games and leads the Vols with 82 total hits (58 solo). Simon also leads the club in sacks with 3.5. He recorded a half sack in the opener and then broke out with a career-high three sacks versus Marshall, tying for second on UT?s single-game sack list. In just 12 career games, Simon has 111 tackles (9.3 tpg), including six 10-plus tackle games. He is fifth in the SEC at 10.25 tackles per game and is first in the league with 7.38 solo tackles per game, a stat that ranks him 24th nationally. Peace broke out with a career-high five tackles for loss, including a sack, against Alabama. He leads the team with 12.5 tackles for loss and is third SEC at 1.56 TFLs per game. He is third in the SEC at 6.87 solo tackles per game. DEFENSIVE QUICK NOTES Tennessee tied a school record with two blocked field goals against Alabama. Jason Allen blocked a 26-yard attempt in the second quarter, and Mondre Dickerson blocked a potential game-winning 45-yard attempt with four seconds remaining in the contest. The two blocked placements ties the record set against Notre Dame in 1991 as Floyd Miley and Jeremy Lincoln combined to snuff out the attempts. Marvin Mitchell?s first career blocked punt on South Carolina?s first possession set the Vols up at the Gamecock 10 for their first score of the game. He was the first Vol to block a punt since Jason Mitchell recorded the feat in last season?s Middle Tennessee game. UT?s defensive unit shined in the opener against Fresno State by limiting the Bulldogs to minus-1 yards rushing and just 117 yards in total offense. The six points scored by FSU came on an interception return for a touchdown. The last time the Vols held an opponent to minus net yards rushing was against Florida in 1998 when the Gators were limited to minus-13 yards. It was just the seventh time in school history an opponent was held to minus net yards rushing. 10-WIN SEASON IN SIGHT UP NEXT Tennessee and Vanderbilt will be meeting for the 97th time with the Volunteers holding a 65-26-5 series advantage, including a 33-9-1 mark at home. UT has won 20 straight over the Commodores dating back to 1983. It is the longest winning streak over any team by the Vols. It is the third-longest current streak over a major opponent in Division I-A. Only Notre Dame over Navy (40) and Nebraska over Kansas (34) have longer streaks. MEDICAL UPDATE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 
The Volunteers have won three straight games, including a win over No. 6 Miami last week. After going 4-2 in the first half, the Vols are 3-0 in the second half of the schedule. The win over the Hurricanes improved Tennessee to 2-1 against ranked opponents. Both wins came on the road (at Florida, at Miami).
