Gaither excited about more work

Sounds good to Gaither, except for one thing -- how it all happened.

Gaither, a 6-foot-2, 225-pound junior, finds himself in a more prominent role due to the season-ending knee injury sustained by starting middle linebacker Kevin Simon against Florida on Saturday.

"I'm definitely excited," Gaither said. "Anytime you get a chance to start, you want to go out and make a good impression. Like I said, it's not the way you want to do it, but I mean, I'm definitely excited about starting, if I get the opportunity to."

Gaither is listed with junior Jason Mitchell as the possible starter at strong side linebacker for Louisiana Tech. Mitchell, who started the first two games at the position, has 10 tackles this season, tied for fourth on the team.

Jon Poe entered in place of the injured Simon against Florida. He is the likely starter at middle linebacker Saturday, but Mitchell could also move over to the middle.

Poe, known as one of the hardest hitters on the team, had a career-high seven tackles against Florida.

"I think he did a great job in the middle," Gaither said. "You couldn't tell any difference if you ask me."

Gaither says Simon has gone from a top linebacker to advisor for the other linebackers.

"He's just telling us all the technique he uses as far as studying film and how to prepare and everything like that, because it's different when you're playing a lot more snaps," Gaither said.

Gaither has nine tackles this season. He had four against Florida.

Last season, Gaither played in all 12 games and led the Vols in special teams tackles with 10.

He saw limited action as a linebacker. His best game was against Auburn when he came off the bench and made five tackles.

Gaither says the defense has plenty of mistakes to correct from the first two games. One glaring weakness has been stopping the outside run.

"The toss, that really killed us," Gaither said. "UNLV did it, so Florida did it. So nine out of 10 times, Louisiana Tech is going to try to do it. We just have to prepare and work hard on the toss in practice."

Gaither is glad for the chance to raise his game and play a greater role, even though it resulted from an unfortunate injury.

"It just means more reps," he said. "The more reps you get, the more experienced you become, the better you play afterward.

"It's not the ideal situation for you. You don't want to get it like this, but you just have to play."