University of Tennessee Athletics
Rivalry Games Make Fulmer's Job Fun
September 12, 2007 | Football
Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer relishes the ebbs and flows of a football game. Especially during ???Showdown Saturdays??? like the upcoming duel with defending national champion Florida.
???It???s one of the game maxims that if things don???t go your way, put on more steam,?????? Fulmer said after the Vols practiced for nearly two hours Wednesday at Haslam Field. ???You expect noise; you expect the hostility -- that???s part of the fun of being there.
???That???s why you come to Tennessee or go to Florida, go or Georgia or LSU; to play in these kinds of games. It shouldn???t be intimidating; it should be fun to be a part of it. That???s the approach we???ve always taken.???
Although the Vols fell short two weeks ago at California, Tennessee???s away record under Fulmer is unmatched in the Southeastern Conference. UT sports a 46-14 (.767) league road mark since divisional play began and enters Saturday???s clash at Florida having won twice in the last three matchups at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
???It???s about as high as you can get when things are going great, when you get a big win,??? Fulmer said, ???and about as low as it can be if you don???t win until you get back out on the practice field and start to work again.
???During the course of a ballgame, you kind of have to stay smooth and calm and know there is going to be another upside.???
Tennessee???s recent margins with the Gators -- a 3-3 split over the last six in which UT has won by 2, lost by 17, won by 14, won by 2, lost by 9 and lost last season by 1 -- foreshadow another tightrope finish Saturday.
???These have been such close games and both sides have had swings. That???s where the veterans on your team help you a lot and we expect that to happen again.???
Junior defensive end Robert Ayers has been selected this week???s CAREacter Star Athlete of the Week. The Clio, S.C., native is off to a sizzling start, having set career tackle-for-loss highs in both games thus far. He led the Vols with 11/2 TFLs at California and then added two tackles behind the line of scrimmage, including a sack, against Southern Mississippi.
TAILGATING ALCOHOL ENFORCEMENT IN GAINESVILLE
The University of Florida Police Department would like to remind Gator fans and visitors that emphasis will continue to focus on alcohol enforcement efforts during tailgating events for the upcoming Florida-Tennessee football game.
The police department has specially assigned officers for this detail with emphasis on curbing large quantities of alcohol consumption and DUI enforcement.?? The police department will continue its strict zero tolerance enforcement of underage alcohol possession, or consumption.
The City of Gainesville also has an open container ordinance.?? Anyone caught in possession of an open container of alcohol may receive a citation.?? While this ordinance is not a primary focus of the UFPD???s tailgating enforcement, fans and visitors are reminded they may be cited for violation of the ordinance.
A separate city ordinance prohibits alcohol possession within Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.?? Anyone caught with alcohol inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium will be cited, ejected and may lose privileges to attend future athletic events.
For questions regarding information contained in this release, please contact Captain Jeff Holcomb at 352-392-1409, or after hours at 352-392-1111 (#8373).?? Capt. Holcomb also can be reached via e-mail at jholcomb@ufl.edu, or through the UFPD Web page at http://www.police.ufl.edu/
