UT notebook for December 30

• Tough Time: Tennessee offensive tackle Michael Munoz attended practice Thursday. Munoz is not available to play in Saturday's Cotton Bowl against Texas A&M after undergoing rotator cuff surgery on his shoulder on Dec. 3.

Munoz was also forced to play this season with a serious bruise on his surgically repaired knee. Munoz said, being a senior, he dealt with injuries differently as opposed to earlier in his career.

"With injuries, I could have put it in the back of my mind a little better," Munoz said. "You treat injuries a little different because you have to think about your long term and your health and how it's going to effect you.

"As a junior I probably could have played through that (shoulder injury) and had surgery after the end of the season. But if I would have torn it completely, it would have been a six-month rehab. I wanted to get that done for the long term."

• End Around: Defensive ends Karlton Neal and Jason Hall split snaps evenly over the last half of the season. With Neal out because of the flu and double-pneumonia, defensive ends coach Steve Caldwell said Hall will receive 75-percent of the snaps on Saturday.

Caldwell said Antonio Reynolds and Xavier Mitchell will split the remainder of the snaps depending on their play.

"He (Mitchell) has caught on to the scheme real well," Caldwell said. "He plays with great pad leverage. Besides that game (Notre Dame), he's played real well.

"Antonio is a lot greener because he never played the position. He's still in a learning process. I've seen him get better with his pass rush. That's something he's going to get special at. He's still got to get stronger."

• Long Way Back: Defensive coordinator John Chavis said sophomore cornerback Antwan Stewart will play Saturday. Stewart hasn't played all season since suffering an ACL tear in spring practice.

"He's earned that," Chavis said. "We're going to try to get him some snaps in the game."

• Farewell: Saturday's game will be the last college game for 15 seniors. The group did not win a championship but Fulmer said they have left a lasting impression.

"Most of all the leadership by example," coach Phillip Fulmer said when asked what he'll remember about the group. "It's easy to say the right things. This group has been exceptional examples for the younger groups that are following.

"They've had good success, not to the standards any of us would want. We'd like to be in the national championship every year. That's probably not going to happen."

• Fun Times: Several UT players attended an NBA game between the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics on Tuesday night. UT freshman quarterback Erik Ainge was sporting a throwback Danny Ainge jersey from his college days at Brigham Young. Danny, Erik's uncle, played for the Celtics and is Boston's executive director of basketball operations.

• Wild Woody: The Denver Post's Woody Paige, who graduated from UT, claimed Thursday morning on ESPN's Cold Pizza that Tennessee football players received free cars while he was a student. Paige offered his perspective during a conversation on Ohio State's issues with the NCAA.

• High In Cotton: Cotton Bowl officials announced that they expect $90 million to be generated in the Dallas economy by the $30 million spent by Cotton Bowl fans. Officials report that the economic impact in Dallas is second only to the 24day state fair.

• UT Notes: Freshman quarterback Brent Schaeffer was not available for interviews this week in Dallas. ... Fulmer said UT didn't get to "first base" when they tried to recruit Texas A&M quarterback Reggie McNeal. ... UT used the Aggies' fight song to simulate crowd noise as they practiced in Texas Stadium. ... Sophomore linebacker Daniel Brooks has been hampered by flu-like symptoms.