Vols bruised up for the Irish

The last time UT played eight straight games without an open date, it dropped the eighth to LSU in the 2001 SEC Championship Game and lost out on a trip to the Rose Bowl.

"I'd rather have a week offwe've got to get some people healthy,'' UT coach Phillip Fulmer said. "The guys have got to push one more big time before we get a break. Our team has fought hard through the stretch to get to this point.''

Tennessee (7-1 overall, 5-1 SEC), needs to beat Vanderbilt and Kentucky to get a rematch with Auburn in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 4 in Atlanta. The Tigers have clinched the SEC West.

First things first, UT will try to enhance its national image with a win over Notre Dame (5-3) in a nationally televised game (3:30, WVLT) Saturday at Neyland Stadium.

"Before we have a chance to take a deep breath and have a little bit of down time before the open week,' Fulmer said. "I want them to collectively suck it up and do everything we can to get this win.''

The Vols moved to No. 9 in the Associated Press poll and No. 11 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll.

It was all UT could do to stay in the game with South Carolina before pulling away for the 43-29 win Saturday. The offense struggled until Brent Schaeffer entered the game and hit a pivotal 55-yard pass to C.J. Fayton to set up a touchdown that - with Schaeffer's 2-point conversion run - tied the game just before the half.

Much of the problem had to do with UT's inability to operate behind a makeshift offensive line. Fulmer said he hopes the line gets healthier this week, but it won't be 100 percent when the Irish visit.

Senior left tackle Michael Munoz, who didn't play against the Gamecocks because of a concussion suffered against Alabama, will continue to be evaluated. The same goes for senior center Jason Respert, who left Saturday's game with a sprained ankle. Tailback Gerald Riggs is another player the trainers will monitor after he was knocked out of the game with a hip pointer.

Junior guard Cody Douglas is expected to return to the starting lineup this week. Richie Gandy or Chuck Prugh will play center if Respert doesn't return. Sophomore Arron Sears has started at three different offensive line positions this season - both tackle spots and right guard -giving UT crucial flexibility.

The Vols aren't as fortunate at quarterback: Schaeffer will be out four to six weeks with a broken collarbone. Sean Schaeffer, Brent's father, said it was a clean break.

"His shoulder is sore, but he's in good spirits,'' Sean Schaeffer said Sunday night.

Fulmer said with Schaeffer out, Erik Ainge gets all the first team repetitions in practice. While the Vols lose the flexibility of using two quarterbacks, Fulmer said the extra work should help Ainge.

"It (two-QB system) was a pretty good thing,'' Fulmer said. "I guess you've got a give and a take there.''

When Riggs went down, senior Cedric Houston stepped up at tailback and rushed for a career-high 190 yards - the most against a South Carolina defense since Jamal Lewis went for 207 in 1997.

"Cedric is like a lot of backs; he'll run well the more he gets it,'' Fulmer said. "He made a couple of cuts and ran away from the defense.''

And UT ran away from the Gamecocks, even though South Carolina scored 21 points and totaled 293 total yards in the fourth quarter.

While the Vols' offense was getting beat up, UT's defense was getting worn down.

"I thought our kids played their tails off,'' said Vols' defensive coordinator John Chavis, who saw his defense on the field for nearly 21 of the game's first 30 minutes. "We had some kids we probably played too much, but we were fighting for our lives the entire first half.''

South Carolina's offense made three trips inside the UT 20, but only came away with six points in the first half.

Chavis said the Gamecocks' final scoring drive came against the second teamers.

"The experience our kids gained is better than sitting here saying we held them to such-and-such yards,'' Chavis said. "I don't like the way it ended, but we were up 21 points and won the game. That's the important thing.''

The Line: UT opened as a 7-point favorite over Notre Dame.

Bowl Glance: If the Vols play in the SEC Championship Game, a win will vault UT to its first BCS Bowl in five years, almost certainly, the Sugar Bowl. A loss in the SEC title game would result in a trip to Orlando's Citrus Bowl, Tampa's Outback Bowl or Dallas' Cotton Bowl. LSU and Georgia are other candidates for those bowls.

Leaders: Jason Allen leads the SEC with 83 tackles, Kevin Burnett is fourth with 74Jesse Mahelona leads the SEC with 11.5 tackles-for-loss, Parys Haralson is tied with Georgia's David Pollack for second with 11.