University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Conclude Pre-Holiday Bowl Preparations
December 20, 2003 | Football
Dec. 20, 2003
Tennessee wrapped up the on-campus portion of its Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl preparations Saturday with a 70-minute workout inside the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center. The No. 6 Vols now begin a six-day break before returning to the practice field Dec. 27 in the Atlanta area.
"I feel OK about our workouts; the fact is, I think they have been relatively good," head coach Phillip Fulmer said. "The one day (Thursday) we didn't have as good of a workout as we would have liked offensively right after our 40-play scrimmage, but that probably had something to do with it."
Fulmer and the UT coaching staff varied their bowl practice routine slightly this year to eliminate two-a-days and concentrate more on preparation. Asked whether the change was for the better, Fulmer said to wait and see.
"I'll tell you when we get the results of the game. There are a lot of ways to skin a cat.
"We won a lot of ballgames the other way, but I think this has been a really good thing for the staff as far as preparation time. It's been a good thing for the players because they didn't have to practice twice a day. We'll see how it works out."
Tennessee reports to Atlanta's JW Marriott the night of Dec. 26, with practice resuming Dec. 27 in a 2:45 p.m. workout at Brookwood High School in Snellville, Ga.
On the injury front, Turk McBride underwent left thumb surgery Saturday morning at UT Medical Center to repair a torn ligament. He will be in a cast and his status for the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl is questionable, according to head athletic trainer Keith Clements.
A true freshman from Camden, N.J., McBride saw action in eight games in a special teams role and as a backup defensive end.
