A poet, a jokester, a surprise recruit. Arian Foster is all that.

The redshirt freshman tailback will get his first start Saturday when Tennessee (3-3, 2-3 SEC) plays host to South Carolina (4-3, 2-3). Kickoff is 7:45 p.m. (TV: ESPN2).

Foster will start in place of senior Gerald Riggs, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury last week against Alabama. Foster ran for 53 yards on 14 carries against the Tide, both career highs.

He hopes it's just the beginning.

Who's that?

Randy Sanders couldn't believe what he saw.

Tennessee's offensive coordinator was in San Diego to recruit quarterback Richard Kovalcheck. The Vols were in desperate need for a quarterback in the 2003 class.

The field was loaded with talent. Kovalcheck's teammate was tailback Reggie Bush, who is a Heisman candidate this year with Southern Cal.

Sanders, however, couldn't take his eyes off the junior tailback on the opposing team from Mission Bay High School.

"I had no clue that there were any other prospects on the field," Sanders said. "The way Arian played and the way he ran that night, it was pretty obvious that he was a good football player."

Kovalcheck picked Arizona but Sanders caught his first glimpse of a future Vol.

Sanders said Foster was bigger, stronger and faster than most everyone on the field, but he some bad habits. Foster had a straight-up running style and was reckless with the football.

"He swung the ball everywhere," Sanders said. "It looked like he was going to take it behind his back to keep if from the defender."

Sanders immediately placed Foster on UT's 2004 recruiting board. With only one running back in the class, the slender 6-foot-1, 208-pound Foster became a priority even though it was 2,200 miles from Knoxville.

"Anytime you recruit somebody from that far away," Sanders said, "you either have a chance or you don't.

"When we first made contact, Arian responded very favorably. Distance didn't sound like it would be that big of an issue with him.

"Thankfully it wasn't."

Come East, young man

UT still had to convince Foster to come to Knoxville. Doing so meant beating out almost every Pac-10 school.

"Growing up, I moved around a lot," said Foster, who said he has lived in New Mexico, Florida and California. "Home is where I was. I never had a problem adjusting to my environment."

Running backs coach Trooper Taylor was one of the primary recruiters responsible for securing Foster's commitment.

Taylor made Foster's recruitment a family affair. That wasn't easy.

Foster and his dad lived in San Diego. His mother lived in New Mexico. NCAA rules mandated that a coach could only visit with a prospect and his family in one calendar day.

Taylor got inventive.

First, he flew to New Mexico and visited with Foster's mother just after midnight. Then, it was off to the airport to catch a morning flight and spend the day with Foster and his father.

"That," Taylor said, "was definitely a first."

Molding the potential

Getting Foster to sign with Tennessee was only half of the challenge. UT's coaches still had plenty of work in order to turn him into an SEC tailback.

Foster redshirted last season and NCAA Clearinghouse issues slowed his progress. Then, two 1,000-yard rushers (Riggs and former tailback Cedric Houston) limited his practice snaps.

Still, Foster improved. That started by getting low. UT coaches affectionately call a drill designed to lower pad leverage the "Foster Drill".

"He's getting better everyday," Taylor said, "but he's not where he needs to be."

It didn't take Foster long to learn the importance of keeping his pads low. A straight-up runner was a big target for UT's hard-hitting defense.

"Last year he ran sky high," UT linebacker Omar Gaither said. "We were telling him on defense that he was going to get killed like that.

"I think he learned his lesson a few times in spring."

Foster might have contributed even sooner this season if not for an ankle injury that sidelined him for the last two weeks of spring practice.

Foster is a little sensitive about his other criticism. Ball security has been a concern from the beginning.

Coaches have said Foster tends to carry the ball away from his body, increasing the chances he'll fumble. Taylor said he noticed the shortcoming while watching highlight tapes of Foster when he was 7-years old.

Foster said the media has exaggerated the problem.

"I don't think it's as big a problem," Foster said, "as some people portray it to be."

Foster said he frequently carries a football with him in everyday life to make the act more comfortable. He's been doing so since he was a kid.

The idea came from his father, who Foster said played wide receiver for New Mexico and the Denver Broncos.

UT's coaching staff said Foster has made great strides in ball security. It's worth noting, however, that Foster fumbled against Alabama, but was recovered by teammate Richie Gandy.

Smiles all around

Foster, for the most part, is a lighthearted jokester. He's been known to throw footballs at the back of teammates' legs and joke with reporters.

Somewhat shy, his one-liners are more common in one-on-one interview situations.

Foster was at his comedic best during the recruiting process. A typical phone interview went something like this.

"Hello," a person on the phone would answer.

"Is this Arian?" he was asked.

"Nah," would be the response.

"Can I speak to Arian?" he was asked.

"Who?!?" was the response.

"Arian Foster," he was told.

"Ah, this is him," Foster would say with a chuckle.

Foster laughs when reminded of the exchange.

"That's me," he said, " ... fun loving and carefree. When business calls, though, I handle my business."

Foster's mother, Bernadette, said her son seems to have found a good balance between having fun and working hard.

"I don't think Arian will ever lose the personality that he has and the sense of humor that he has," she said. "But I have seen him be much-more responsible and much-more studious in his approach to school and his approach to football.

"That, I'm very pleased with."

Foster has a serious, almost solemn, side. He gives no specifics when asked about the tattoo on his arm that reads, "Against All Odds."

Foster just says he didn't grow up in the best of circumstances.

"People aren't supposed to make it sometimes," he said. "I feel like I made it through to a place where I can do good for my family and my community where I grew up.

"Life threw me a lot of curve balls and I feel like I handled them well."

Life's most-recent curve ball left Foster flat. His grandfather recently passed away.

The soft-spoken Foster grew even quieter when asked about their relationship. He simply said the past year of struggles makes this week more special.

By many accounts, Foster's rapping is special, as is his use of words.

"I started rapping when I was little," Foster said. "It's more poetry than anything. I'd like to get published. I've had several English advisors say I can get published.

What do his teammates think of him being a poet?

"Half of them don't even know it," Foster said with a rhyme and a chuckle.

When Sanders sees Foster, run on the field Saturday as a starter for the first time, he might well remember the high school player he saw three years ago.

The prospect that he just couldn't take his eyes off of.

"I thought he was a very talented guy that was very, very raw," Sanders reminisced. "There's never been much question about his running skills."

Hopefully for the Vols, Foster's improvement will be as evident now as his talent was then.