Fighting: UT head coach Phillip Fulmer said after recent sports brawls, he addressed his team about respecting coaches, the university, and each other by avoiding the type of fights that took place in the NBA and Clemson-South Carolina game.



"It scares you to death," Fulmer said of watching the fights on television. "It’s a great chance for the presidents, commissioners, and the NBA head office to make a statement and make it significant.



"The SEC and NCAA need to get a hold of that because there’s a lot of jabbering out there that leads to fighting. Anything consequential will be supported by the coaches."



UT offensive lineman Richie Gandy, who is from Darlington S.C., said he wasn’t surprised when he first heard that a fight took place in the Clemson-South Carolina game. After seeing the highlights, he realized it was much more than a routine fight.



"I’ve never seen anything like that," Gandy said. "You have to control yourself somewhat. Those two teams hate each other anyway. It probably didn’t take much. If it was as ever going to be in any game, it would be that game. It still surprises you."

Watch Out: Junior defensive end Parys Haralson said don’t’ be deceived by Jesse Mahelona’s lack of defensive statistics against Vanderbilt, a first this season for Mahelona.



"He helped a lot of us because he was double and triple teamed," Haralson said. "He had an impact. If you were an offensive line, wouldn’t you focus on him."



Haralson knows something about rebounding from a sub-par performance. Three times this season he posted one tackle or less in a game. In the three following games, Haralson posted 20 tackles including nine for loss and four sacks.



"You just can’t wait to get out there and try to make some plays," he said.



So, should Kentucky look out for a more-motivated Mahelona this week?



"They better," Haralson said.



Injury Report: UT plans for freshman quarterback Brent Schaeffer to begin throwing this week. UT will reevaluate his broken collarbone Monday. Schaeffer suffered the injury against South Carolina on Oct. 30.



By throwing this week, Schaeffer can rest this weekend if soreness is an issue in his right non-throwing shoulder. UT is hopeful Schaeffer can practice next week.



Junior guard Cody Douglas did not practice and was wearing a boot to protect his sprained foot. Senior center Jason Respert returned to practice after being released from UT hospital with an infected hand.



Junior tailback Gerald Riggs said he feels good physically after his 149-yard performance on Saturday. Riggs said he was close to 100-percent against Vanderbilt.

Meaning: Don’t tell UT’s players that this week’s Kentucky game doesn’t mean anything with an SEC Championship bid sewn up.



"It means a lot to us," Haralson said. "I don’t know what it means to anybody else, but to us as a team it means a lot."



Said Riggs: " You don’t want to go down to Atlanta fighting to get you confidence back. You need every bit of confidence you can have going into the SEC championship game. It’s (Kentucky’s) a big game for our confidence and how we’re going to go play Auburn."



The One: Fulmer said he was still waiting on his football team to play a complete game.



"I don’t think we played with the emotion and the passion defensively that we had been playing with," Fulmer said of the Vanderbilt game. "Offensively, there were some really good things. We had a wake-up call without having to suffer a defeat."

Attendance: UT has the highest home attendance in the league averaging 107,342 in Neyland Stadium. UT (103.1) is one of four SEC programs at or above 100-percent of home stadium capacity for the season. Arkansas is averaging 100.7 in its home games. South Carolina (100.1) is third. Georgia (100.0) is fourth.

Dependable Fellow: Freshman Roshaun Fellows earned a good bit of respect when the injured cornerback took over for Jonathan Wade who was struggling against Vanderbilt.



"We know he’s a hard worker and tough guy," Haralson, a team captain, said of Fellows. "You can’t help but have respect for a guy like that. There’s a lot of respect for him. That’s one of the guys you can count on."

Goals: Haralson said his pre-season goal was 10 sacks. He has seven with three games remaining. That’s the most by one player in a season since 2000 when UT linebacker Anthony Session posted 9.5 and UT defensive tackle John Henderson had 12.