Mike's matchups: Tennessee vs. Texas A&M

Tennessee is healthier than its been in some time, the Cotton Bowl weather is comfortable, and the players seem genuinely excited about their opponent, Texas A&M.

"I can hear the buzz around the team, about how important it is that we go out in the right fashion,'' said Fulmer, who's 6-6 in bowl games. "The truth is we haven't played well in the last two bowl games.

"More than anything else, it was because the people were playing against were more excited about playing us than we were about playing them.''

The Peach Bowls of the past two years were no doubt the pits for Tennessee, which has lost four of its last five bowl games.

UT junior tailback Gerald Riggs said the team took the wrong mindset to the Atlanta bowl games.

"We took the approach that maybe we deserved to be somewhere else,'' Riggs said. "This year we've taken the attitude that wherever we get a chance earn our respect, we will. It doesn't matter if we're playing in the toilet bowl, we're going to play hard. It's night-and-day as far as our focus.

"This is going to determine how we go into next season. Are we going to go in on a high note ... or are we going to go in like the last couple of years, trying to figure out ourselves again and trying to rebound from a loss?''

Vols On Offense: UT offensive coordinator Randy Sanders said poise, power and performance will be the keys against the Aggies.

"They jump around and yell while your quarterback is making his calls at the line, so you have to be careful of procedure penalties,'' Sanders said. "They'll move around and change alignments; they try to make it helter-skelter.''

Sanders said he expects Texas A&M to jam the box with defenders and challenge Rick Clausen to beat them with the deep pass.

The Aggies' front four is solid, though not dominant. The secondary is steady and on par with an average SEC team. Linebacker is the most-suspect area, so the Vols will look to isolate fullbacks, tight ends and running backs against them in pass patterns.

Fulmer said ball control and field position are priorities.

"I don't know if we can win a shooting match with them,'' he said. "We've got to be able to run the ball.''

Projected Stats: Cedric Houston/Riggs combo: 40 carries, 270 yards, one TD; Clausen 12-of-22, 168 yards, two TD, one interception; Robert Meachem five catches, 99 yards.

Vols On Defense: Texas A&M has a distinct advantage in that its defense is very similar to UT's, so they have an idea what plays will work against certain schemes.

At least, that's what Aggies' quarterback Reggie McNeal believes.

"Coach has us plays to call at the line when we see certain things from them,'' McNeal said. "They (A&M coaches) have planned it up pretty well for us. It's not real hard.''

Vols' defensive coordinator John Chavis said it's up to his young defense (only four starters have more than one year of starting experience) to make it hard on the Aggies.

"We're going to have to disguise some things and mix it up on them,'' Chavis said. "There's been absolutely no one that's shaken (McNeal) up this year, but we'll try from time to time.''

The Vols saw Texas beat the Aggies with strong line play and good zone pass coverage, and it's a good bet they'll try to do the same. The return of Antwan Stewart in the secondary could prove pivotal, as UT will be forced to use it's six-defensive-back package against A&M's spread attack.

When the Vols pressure, it will likely come out of a zone blitz, as they can't afford to risk allowing McNeal to get free running the ball. UT's outside linebackers, Kevin Burnett and Omar Gaither, will be very active.

Projected Stats: McNeal 315 total yards of offense, one interception, two TD passes, one TD run; three sacks.

Players To Watch: McNeal is somewhere between the college versions of Michael Vick and Donovan McNabb -- yes, that good. The Vols look to put the ball in Robert Meachem's hands deep.

On The Spot: Rick Clausen. It's now or never for the junior quarterback.

Prediction: Tennessee 31, Texas A&M 27.