After watching Tennessee's youthful secondary struggle at times in the first four games, Tennessee senior Corey Larkins phoned defensive coordinator John Chavis on Sunday and volunteered to move from tailback to defensive back.

Chavis was receptive to the idea, and Larkins said Tuesday he hopes to get on the field Saturday at Georgia in UT's "Mustang" package, which features extra defensive backs in passing situations.

"If I can go in there and do it this week, I can do it against anybody,'' said Larkins, who broke up six passes when he played in the secondary in 2002. "I was recruited as a corner and played safety in high school. I feel like I have a defensive mentality.

"I really started thinking about (changing positions) after the Florida game. Me and Parys (Haralson) and Kevin Burnett talked about it after the game Saturday and they thought it would be nice move. ... If push comes to shove, I'm trying to start at safety. If I do good, maybe we can move Jason Allen back to corner and we would have a lock-down corner."

Larkins moved from tailback to the secondary midway through his freshman season in 2001 but switched back to running back before the 2003 season. He is still listed as the No. 3 tailback on the Vols' depth chart this week. Although he has 74 yards rushing on 16 carries, his carries have steadily decreased from nine in the opener against Nevada Las Vegas to none against Auburn.

Larkins said when teammates spotted him sitting on the defensive side of the meeting room on Monday, some of them thought he was kidding.

"I'm serious about it,'' he said.