University of Tennessee Athletics
South Carolina Game Preview
September 22, 2003 | Football
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| South Carolina (3-1) at Tennessee (3-0)
RADIO RANKINGS THE COACHES: South Carolina Gamecocks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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TENNESSEE AT A GLANCE
TENNESSEE-SOUTH CAROLINA SERIES South Carolina's last victory versus Tennessee came in 1992 when the Gamecocks upset the No. 16 Vols, 24-23, in Columbia. South Carolina thwarted a two-point conversion attempt at the end of the game to preserve the win. The Gamecocks' only other win over the Vols came in the first-ever meeting in 1903. Fulmer earned his 100th career victory in last year's 18-10 win in Columbia. The last three meetings have been decided by a total of 18 points (6.0 ppg). Tennessee won the seven previous clashes by an average of 26.6 ppg. The Vols list four players on their roster from South Carolina in Richie Gandy, Terriea Smalls, Eric Young and Turk McDaniel from Columbia.
VOLS SPORT SEC'S BEST RECORD LAST FIVE-PLUS YEARS The Volunteers have also compiled a 32-9 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 (104) with 102 wins. The .788 winning percentage ranks sixth nationally among the winningest Division I programs during that span, while the 52 wins ties for fifth.
CLAUSEN IMPROVES TO 11-0 ON THE ROAD WITH WIN AT FLORIDA Clausen threw for 235 yards against the Gators, including connecting on his two 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. With 235 yards passing in each of the last two games, Clausen has 21 career 200-yard passing games and his first back-to-back 200-yard passing games since passing for 284 and 291 yards against Rutgers and Arkansas last year. His 235-yard, three touchdown effort against Marshall was Clausen's first regular season 200-yard passing game since throwing for 291 yards against Arkansas last season. It was also his first three-touchdown passing game since Rutgers last season and eighth of his career. He connected on three long passing plays covering 20 yards or more, including two for touchdowns versus the Herd. Last season the Vols never had more than one long touchdown pass in a game, while the last time they had at least two was against Kentucky in 2001 with four. Clausen, who has compiled a 27-7 record as a starter (14-4 home, 11-0 road, 2-3 neutral), is among the highest-rated passers in Southeastern Conference history, ranking fifth with a mark of 141.6. He ranks third in the SEC in career completion percentage (min. 300 completions) at 62.8, fifth in owest percentage of interceptions (min. 600 attempts) at 2.75, 12th in SEC in career total offense yards per game at 208.2, tied for 14th in the SEC in career touchdown passes with 54, 16th in career passing yards with 7368 and 15th in pass completions with 593. Clausen is one of 17 league quarterbacks with at least 50 scoring strikes, while 11 have at least 60. He has accounted for 58 total touchdowns in his career, which is tied for 18th in the SEC. Clausen ranks fifth behind former UT quarterback Peyton Manning, Georgia's David Greene and Eric Zeier and Mississippi's Eli Manning in lowest percentage of interceptions at 2.75. Greene has a 2.32 interception percentage, while Peyton Manning had a 2.39, Eli Manning has a 2.62 and Zeier had 2.64. CLAUSEN RANKS AS TENNESSEE'S NO. 2 CAREER PASSER CLAUSEN NOTES
JABARI DAVIS NAMED SEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK Davis has scored in all three games, marking the third time in his career he has scored in three consecutive games. He leads the Vols with 24 points, averaging 8.0 ppg which ranks 45th in the NCAA and 8th in the league. 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, who ranks fifth in the SEC in rushing (74.3 yds/game) got his first touchdown on a season-long 44-yard run in the second quarter of the Fresno State game. He added his second tally on a 2-yard plunge in the third quarter against Marshall. Davis scored 10 times last year, making five starts at tailback filling in for the injured Houston. He posted a career-high 135 yards and three scores in UT's six overtime win versus Arkansas. Twice he scored in three straight games. VOLS KEY ON STOPPING THE RUN; RANK 6TH IN NATION UT has not allowed a team to run for more than 100 yards in its last four regular season games and has not allowed an individual to gain more than 100 yards in the last seven games. The Vols have also stayed away from giving up long runs. Opponents have just two runs of more than 20 yards in 82 rushing attempts. UT gave up eight in 13 games last season. The Vols gave up 73 yards rushing to Florida, and 88 to Marshall after limiting Fresno State to minus-1 yard. In the Fresno State and Florida games, the Vols gave up just one run of more than 10 yards or more. DEFENSE QUICK NOTES Tennessee'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. Fresno's longest run from scrimmage was nine yards, while it was held to zero or minus yards on 14 runs from scrimmage, with just 10 positive yardage gains. The defense wasted little time in doing its job as the unit held Fresno to three-and-out on 10 of its 13 possessions while holding it to just 1-of-14 on third down. The Bulldogs gained 44 of the 117 total yards on their final possession when going against Vol reserves. Fresno did not record a first down until 11:36 in the second quarter and had just four in the game. SACK ATTACK IS BACK Sophomore linebacker Kevin Simon spearheads the attack with 3.5 total sacks in three games, including a career-high three against Marshall. He recorded 29 of the 72 minus yards (40 percent) Marshall suffered during the game. Defensive end Parys Haralson registered a career-high two sacks in the Florida game, the second and third of his career. UT's linebackers have combined for six of the 12 sacks, while the defensive line has five and the secondary one. REVAMPED RUSHING ATTACKS REAPS REWARDS UT is averaging 4.7 yards per carry and has 10 big runs of 20 yards or more. Last season the Vols had 14. Cedric Houston has five and Jabari Davis has three. Tennessee has run the ball at least 40 times per game, averaging 44.6 rushing attempts per contest. The Vols last recorded back-to-back 200-plus yard rushing games last season against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. They have had just five over the last two seasons. The last time UT had four or more 200-yard rushing games in a season was in 2000.
HOUSTON RANKS SECOND IN SEC IN RUSHING He rushed for 321 yards in the first two games with a career-high 161-yard effort against Fresno State followed by a 160-yard outing versus Marshall. He was limited by injury to just 25 yards on 12 carries against Florida. Houston's rushing yardage total of 321 yards through the first two games ranked second in UT history behind Johnnie Jones' 400-yard effort to start the 1984 season. Jones carried for 203 yards against Washington State and 197 against Utah in the first two games of that year. Tennessee's big play back has five runs of over 20 yards in three games, equalling his total from ast year. Against Fresno State, he carried the ball 19 times without being tackled for a loss. Houston 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. With his 160 yards against Marshall, Houston topped the 1000-yard mark for his career. He now stands at 1231 yards while averaging 5.4 yards per carry. He needs 392 yards to enter UT's top 20, passing Johnny Majors' career total of 1622.Houston posted five 100-yard rushing games in 2002, including reeling off four straight versus South Carolina, Miami, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. With three more 100-yard rushing games, Houston can join an elite group of Vols with at least 10 career 100-yard games. Only six Vols have posted at least 10 career 100-yard rushing games. Travis Henry tops the list with 15, while Reggie Cobb and James Stewart are tied for fifth with 10. Jay Graham had 14, while Jamal Lewis and Johnnie Jones had 13. GUS MANNING TO BE HONORED FOR STREAK Beginning with the season opener in 1951, when Tennessee took on Mississippi State, this colorful and versatile athletics department staffer has attended every Vols game, home and away. For more than five decades, Manning has seen it all, the good outweighing the bad by a substantial margin. Just turned 80, the last time Gus was absent from a Tennessee game, he missed a doozy, the 20-14 Cotton Bowl upset of Texas that set the table for the 1951 national championship run. He had a good excuse for being elsewhere that day. He was in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., visiting a prim and pretty school teacher, UT graduate Margaret Bussell, who a short time later became Mrs. Gus Manning. "As long as my health holds up and UT takes me on the trips, I'll keep on going," Manning said. BURNETT NAMED TO AFCA GOOD WORKS TEAM Burnett has volunteered more than 150 hours of community service to groups in East Tennessee. He has worked with the East Tennessee Boys and Girls Club, East Tennessee Children's Hospital and Vine and Austin East Middle School. He is active in the Vols in Schools Program and Habitat for Humanity while being involved in voter registration drive and serving as a mentor for numerous little league teams.
COLQUITT FLIPS THE FIELD; RANKS 2ND IN CAREER AVERAGE After a very respectable 43.5-yard average on four kicks in the opener, Colquitt has exploded for a 49.7-yard average on 10 punts over the last two games. He has placed five of the last 10 punts inside the 20 with four 50-yard plus kicks, including two 60-plus yard boots. He was named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week 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, pinning 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. 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, he has averaged 44.6 yards per punt. Colquitt's career average of 42.5 ranks second all-time at UT, while he has pinned opponents deep by placing over 30 percent of punts inside the 20. He more than doubled his 50-yard punts from his freshman to sophomore season, jumping from eight to 17. He now has 29 punts of 50 yards or more in his career. Three times in his career he has had three punts in a game over 50 yards (Memphis & Kentucky 2001, Miami 2002). Colquitt has had at least one 50-yard punt in 12 of the last 14 games. CASHING IN ON BANKS Banks swung the momentum in the Florida game by grabbing a "Hail Mary" pass from Casey Clausen on the final play of the first half, giving Tennessee a 7-3 lead at the half. The 48-yard reception was a season-long. Banks has four catches of more than 20 yards, which is half of the eight caught by the receiving corps this season. Versus Marshall, Banks' first catch of the game was a 24-yard scoring strike in the second quarter to tie the game 7-7. FULMER RANKS 13TH ON SEC VICTORIES LIST Entering this season, Fulmer's 103 total victories after 11 seasons as a head coach tied him for fifth all-time with ex-Florida coach Steve Spurrier for the most wins. Fulmer's 100th career victory came in the Vols' 18-10 triumph at South Carolina in 2002. The UT coach tied former Texas A&M mentor R.C. Slocum as the fifth-fastest to reach 100 wins, doing so in his 11th season and eighth game. KEEPING UP WITH JONES Against Fresno State, the senior utility player saw action at wide receiver where he caught one pass for 12 yards, played a little in the secondary and special teams while also returning five punts for 56 yards. He had 31 offensive snaps, 15 on defense and 11 on special teams (punt return and coverage). Not only that, but he made at least one big play in each quarter. 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. Versus Marshall, he made a season-high four catches for 35 yards, including a long of 17. He was also in on one tackle. 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. He has played 95 of 222 offensive plays (43 percent) and 69 of 184 defensive snaps(38 percent). LARKINS MOVING UP ON KICKOFF RETURNS SIMON MAKES BIG HITS 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 seven career games, Simon has 65 tackles (9.3 tpg), including four 10-plus tackle games. UP NEXT Tennessee and Auburn will be meeting for the 47th time, with the Tigers holding a slim 22-21-3 series advantage. The Vols, who have won four straight games in the series, are undefeated in the last six meetings, going 5-0-1 since 1989. MEDICAL UPDATE
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The Tennessee Volunteers are 3-0 for the fourth time in 12 seasons under head coach Phillip Fulmer, joining the 1992, 1998 and 2001 squads. UT last started 4-0 in 1998, when it went a perfect 13-0.
