University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Expect Physical Play From Bulldogs
October 16, 2008 | Football
Oct. 16, 2008
Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer said Thursday he is counting on this week's rough and tough practice agenda translating well for when the Vols host Mississippi State this Saturday night at Neyland Stadium.
UT's coaching staff added a much more physical tone to the week in hopes of stopping the team's first-half slide to a 2-4 start, including 0-3 in the SEC.
"I think our team responded extremely well to what we asked them to do," Fulmer said. "We explained it to them on the front end that we're making too many mistakes in the game from the standpoint of things we could control. And the best thing for us to do was go play more full-speed in practice.
"I'm really happy with the way they responded and, hopefully, we'll take that from the physical practices and play physical in the game."
Fulmer recalled the Vols grinding out last year's 33-21 win at Starkville.
"We know Mississippi State is a very physical football team," he said. "Our last year's game, I watched that tape a couple of days ago and it was a very physical football game. We played extremely well, and we need to play extremely well in this one."
Kickoff for the pay-per-view telecast is set for 7 p.m. Eastern time.
UT-MISSISSIPPI STATE DISH NETWORK, DIRECTV CHANNEL NUMBERS ANNOUNCED
DISH Network and DirecTV have announced the state of Tennessee channels numbers for the UT-Mississippi State football game Saturday at Neyland Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Eastern time (6 p.m. Central).
Tennessee customers can order the pay-per-view game on DISH Network channel 458 or DirecTV channel 787. Home dish customers should order the broadcast by going to the designated channel and following the ordering instructions on their TV screen using their remote before kick-off on Saturday.
Cable systems across the state of Tennessee will also carry the telecast from the VideoSeat pay-per-view service. Fans may contact their local cable system to order the game and receive price information.
Fans in the state of Tennessee who do not have access to ordering the game via cable system or a home dish network may order and watch the game over the Internet as a pay-per-view event by going to UTsports.com.
ESPN GamePlan is offering the game to fans living outside the state of Tennessee via the ESPN GamePlan package. The game is being blacked out on ESPN GamePlan in the state of Tennessee and cannot be ordered as part of ESPN's package.
The announcing team for Saturday's telecast is Randy Smith (play-by-play) and Pat Ryan (color). Smith has been sports director for WRCB-TV in Chattanooga since 1995. A broadcast veteran, he has done play-by-play of more than 450 college football, basketball, baseball and softball games during his career. Smith also has worked for ESPN, ESPN2, FOX and CSS. Ryan played quarterback at Tennessee in 1977 and went on to a 13-year career in the NFL with the New York Jets and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Tennessee Athletes and Fans "CAN" Make a Difference
Tennessee Student-Athletes Drive Success in the Second Annual SEC Can Food Drive
The University of Tennessee Student-Athlete Advisory Committee collected 102,891 pounds of food for the Southeastern Conference's Together We "CAN" Food Drive that took place Sept. 18-28, 2008. The food collected benefits the Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee.
"The success of the food drive shows that together student-athletes, administration, coaches and fans can accomplish more," says Emily Morgan, community outreach coordinator at the Thornton Athletics Student Life Center. "We are so thankful for the people in the community who continue to show support and are always willing to give more. Vol fans truly are the best fans in the country."
Tennessee's food drive kicked-off Sept. 18 at the Big Orange Blast, UT's second annual fan appreciation event and pep rally. Drop-off locations were set-up throughout campus and donations were also collected during sporting events, including volleyball and soccer matches.
The SEC Together We "CAN" Food Drive was established in 2007 and is organized by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committees of the Southeastern Conference. Each SEC school participated in the drive with the donations from each school benefiting their local food banks. Last year, the SEC schools together raised just over 40,000 pounds. Tennessee student-athletes and fans exceeded expectations by more than doubling the total from last year.
The Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee helps to eliminate hunger in 18 counties throughout East Tennessee by working to educate people at-risk of hunger about nutrition. For more information visit http://www.secondharvestknox.org/.
