SEC Championship Game Preview

Tennessee-LSU Series History/Notes

Tennessee leads the all-time series with LSU 20-6-3, dating to 1925. The teams have met just twice at neutral sites, with Tennessee posting a 24-17 win in the 1972 Astro Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston, and LSU downing the Vols 30-21 in the 2001 SEC Championship Game.

Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer sports a 3-3 career record against the Tigers. In the first matchup between Fulmer and third-year LSU head coach Les Miles, the Vols rallied from a 21-0 third-quarter deficit to upset the fourth-ranked Tigers 30-27 in overtime in Baton Rouge in 2005. LSU held off a late Tennessee rally last season, downing UT 28-24 in Knoxville.

UT (1998) and LSU (2003) are two of the three SEC teams to have won a national championship during the BCS era.

Five players on Tennessee???s 2007 roster???Chris Brown (Destrehan), Ahmad Paige (Monroe), Jarrod Shaw (Lafayette), Lucas Taylor (Carencro) and Ja???Kouri Williams (Plaquemine)???hail from the state of Louisiana. Brown and Taylor both have started every game for UT this season, and both have also served as game captains.

Tennessee head strength and conditioning coach Johnny Long is a native of Baton Rouge, La.

Vols Lead FBS In Sacks Allowed

Tennessee???s offensive line has allowed just four sacks this season, and just three against starting quarterback Erik Ainge. Overall, the Vols have attempted 451 passes, meaning UT???s opponents are averaging one sack in every 112.8 attempts.

The Big Orange lead the nation (FBS) in sacks allowed, giving up a third of a sack per game (0.33).

Prior to a fourth-quarter sack by South Carolina against Ainge back on Oct. 27, the senior had attempted 290 straight passes without being sacked. His only other sacks this year came during the season-opener at Cal (in what would have been his third attempt of the game/season) and on an intentional grounding penalty at Kentucky last weekend.

LSU ranks tied for 26th nationally and second in the SEC with 2.67 sacks per game.

Numerous Records Set In Regular-Season Finale

In addition to running its overtime winning streak to six games, Tennessee also saw some records fall in its four overtime triumph at Kentucky last Saturday.

It was the longest game (in terms of elapsed time) in Tennessee football history at 4:43. The previous school-record was 4:09, set during UT???s six-overtime win against Arkansas on Oct. 5, 2002.
Erik Ainge???s seven touchdown passes tied the SEC single-game record held by Florida???s Terry Dean (1994) and Doug Johnson (1997) and Kentucky???s Tim Couch (1997 and 1998).
Kentucky ran an NCAA overtime-game record 110 plays. The previous overtime-game record was 103 plays, set by Kentucky in 2003 against Arkansas. The FBS record for plays in any game is 111. The Wildcats fell one shy of that mark.
Kentucky???s team totals for first downs (37) and completions (39) were single-game records for a Tennessee opponent, and UK quarterback Andre Woodson set UT opponent individual records for total offensive plays (72), pass attempts (62) and completions (39).
Tennessee???s 23 straight victories over Kentucky set a new SEC record for most consecutive wins by one league team over another. The old league record was Alabama???s 22 straight wins over Mississippi State from 1958-1979 and Tennessee???s 22 straight wins over Vanderbilt from 1983-2004.
And finally, although the NCAA records book does not include comprehensive overtime records, it is believed that the 40-yard touchdown pass from Erik Ainge to Quintin Hancock may be the longest pass play in NCAA overtime history.

Ainge Eight Completions Shy of UT Single-Season Record

Erik Ainge needs just eight more completions to break Peyton Manning???s single-season school record of 287 set in 1997. Ainge has 280 entering this week???s game.

Ainge???s 243 completions as a junior last year currently rank fifth in school history, and his 688 career completions rank third.

Ainge Coming off Career Game

Erik Ainge set new career-highs last weekend for passing yards (397) and passing touchdowns (7) during UT???s thrilling four-overtime triumph at Kentucky.

A national television audience saw the senior play the best half of his career (statistically speaking) when he totaled 271 yards and three touchdowns in the first half against the Wildcats.

Ainge???s five-best passing yardage games have all been Vol victories, and history bodes well for this Saturday???s game: UT is 3-1 in games following a 300-yard effort by Ainge.

2005 Wide Receivers Signees Coming of Age

Tennessee wideouts Josh Briscoe, Austin Rogers and Lucas Taylor were all members of UT???s 2005 signing class. Their collective impact on the Vols??? offense had been minimal prior to this season, but they have been clutch in 2007.

All three players have set new career-highs for catches, yards and touchdowns this year.
Taylor has 71 catches for 975 yards and five touchdowns this season. The Carencro, La., native currently leads the SEC with 81.2 receiving yards per game and is third in the SEC averaging 5.9 receptions per game.
Rogers has 51 catches for 567 yards and four touchdowns this season. The Nashville, Tenn., native averages 47.2 yards per game and averages 4.3 receptions per game.
Briscoe has 41 catches for 377 yards and four touchdowns this year. The Shelby, N.C., native averages 3.4 catches per game.

Tennessee Seeking Its 20th 10-Win Season

One more victory this season gives Tennessee its 20th all-time 10-win campaign, with the first one coming during UT???s perfect 11-0 year in 1938.

Under head coach Phillip Fulmer, the Vols have won at least 10 games eight times.

Fulmer???s eight 10-win seasons are the most by any head coach at the University of Tennessee. The legendary Gen. Robert R. Neyland is second with five 10-win campaigns.

Foster Joins Tennessee's 1,000-Yard Club

Junior Tailback Arian Foster???s 100-yard performance against Louisiana-Lafayette on Nov. 3 made him the 12th Vol ever to log 2,000 career rushing yards. Three weeks later, Foster???s 118-yard effort at Kentucky made him the 13th Vol ever to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. In 12 games this year, Foster has totaled 1,108 yards and scored 12 rushing touchdowns.

Foster currently ranks 10th in school history with 2,308 career rushing yards, and the addition of the SEC championship game to the Vols??? slate will give Foster a chance to eclipse the next three Vols on the rushing list and move into seventh place. He would need to rush for 57 yards vs. LSU in Atlanta to eclipse Curt Watson at 2,364 (1969-71).

Should his career average of 67.8 yards per game hold steady through his senior season, Foster could make a serious run at Travis Henry???s school record of 3,078 yards (1997-2000).

Taylor On Verge Of 1,000-Yard Season, Nears Receptions Mark

Junior wide receiver Lucas Taylor is sitting on 975 receiving yards this season with two games left to play. Barring injury, the Louisiana native should become just the fifth Vol ever to log at least 1,000 receiving yards in a single season.

If he does so, that would give Tennessee its third 1,000-yard receiver in seven years.

Taylor???s 71 receptions are currently tied for second on UT???s single-season chart (Robert Meachem finished with 71 catches last season). The school record is 76 catches, set by Marcus Nash in 1997.

Entering this season, Taylor had 14 career catches for 101 yards and no touchdowns. The term ???Breakout Year??? comes to mind.

What Can Brown Do For UT?

Senior Chris Brown needs just one reception to give him 39 for the year and tie the school record for catches by a tight end.

Current Dallas Cowboys All-Pro Jason Witten owns the UT record with 39 catches in 2002.

Brown is two touchdown catches shy of tying Austin Denney???s Tennessee single-season record of seven, set in 1966.

On the year, Brown has 38 receptions for 243 yards and five touchdowns. He averages 6.4 yards per catch.

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