UT Notebook: September 19

The Vols hit the practice field Monday coming off an emotional low after losing to Florida 16-7 Saturday night. The evening, however, wasn’t a total loss. UT’s defense turned in a masterful performance.

The offense, on the other hand, has plenty of work to do after only gaining 213 yards against the Gators.

For the Vols to contend for a championship, the disparity in play can’t lead to a division among the team.

"At times when we’re not playing well, they carry us sometimes," senior linebacker Omar Gaither said. "When they’re not playing well, we have to carry them.

"It’s just a total team effort. They had a rough outing but it’s not going to last long."

Senior wide receiver Jayson Swain seemed as frustrated as any that the Vols only found the end zone once.

"We just didn’t communicate well and we didn’t make the plays," Swain said. "We all need to be in rhythm, get back our swagger, and just calm down and have fun and make the plays that we know we can make."

The key to UT’s offensive improvement may lie behind center. UT’s quarterbacks were a combined 16-for-35 for 147 yards against the Gators.

Erik Ainge, who was named the starter on Monday, played the entire second half and most of the game after senior Rick Clausen started the contest.

"The only thing that was wrong with Erik in the game, he probably was overexcited," sophomore wide receiver Robert Meachem said. "Once he calms down and plays like the Erik we’re used to seeing play, we’ll be all right."

Ainge looked rattled at times in Saturday’s game as Florida discovered ways to pressure the sophomore in the second half. Meachem said pressure wasn’t the problem.

"I don’t think the pressure rattled him at all," he said. "It’s all in him. He’s got to get the confidence back in him."

Meachem said he started to see Ainge’s confidence begin to slide during preseason practice as he and Clausen were engaged in a battle for the starting position.

"He had one bad practice and that kind of messed him up a little bit," Meachem said. "He may have been listening to people say Rick should be the starter. I don’t know."

Saturday, Ainge and UT’s wide receivers never could connect on any deep passes to force Florida out of their typical man press coverage.

"It’s really disrespectful for someone to press you because they have no respect for you," Meachem said. "We didn’t have a great day and they had a great day.

"I don’t think we were all on the same page. If we were all on the same page, a lot of those balls would have been completed."

Meachem said the blame is shared equally between the receivers missing audible calls and the quarterbacks missing opportunities to complete passes downfield.

Meachem said pre-season predictions might have made UT’s offense tight in their first big ball game of the season.

"A lot of people, I don’t think their head was in the game a lot of the time," he said. "Everybody looked like they were ready to play.

"You could see it in their eyes that they were anxious. A lot of people were saying ‘this might be the biggest game of your life.’ Once the game got started, some people might have thought they could turn it off and on."

Meachem said he expects opposing defenses to continue to stack the line and defend the run until UT’s offense can beat them deep.

"Once we make a lot of people pay and take advantage of opportunities, we’ll be fine," he said.

Said Swain, "It’s a real simple thing that everybody is blowing out of proportion. It’s just miscommunication and not making plays. You don’t need an equation for that one."

Senior defensive end Jason Hall said he already has seen signs that UT’s offense is destined to improve.

"They’re disappointed and they’re angry at themselves," he said. "They want to take it to the practice field this week and get better because they know that they didn’t hold up their end of the bargain."

Hall said he is as surprised as any that UT’s offense has struggled after a successful preseason camp.

"Definitely, I have been," he said. "They have an extreme amount of talent on their side of the football for our team. For whatever reason, they just haven’t put it together completely yet. Hopefully, they can work out the kinks this weekend."

As for Meachem, he said it’s all on him and his offensive teammates.

"Coach will probably give a big, long speech," he said. "But a long speech won’t do nothing if we don’t go out there and practice hard."

Game Day Travel: Most of UT’s players said they weren’t concerned about traveling to Baton Rouge on Saturday, instead of Friday, to play LSU, except for Swain, who was caught unaware.

"We’re going down on game day?" he said. "Oh, got to play. We can’t lose another game. Whether we’re going down the minute of the game or two weeks before, we’ve got to do down and play."

UT’s football team will be forced to travel Saturday instead of Friday because Louisiana evacuees and rescue workers have taken most of the lodging in the small college town. Meachem said it could be an issue for some.

"It’s going to be a tough adjustment because we’re used to going down the night before," Meachem said. "Going down on game day, a lot of people might be sluggish at first."

No Moping: Mitchell said this week’s opponent should get the Vols attention off of the Florida loss quickly.

"You know that you can’t dwell on the past too much," he said. "Instead of being 1-1, we could be 1-2. We don’t want to be 1-2 headed into the rest of the season."

Injury Report: Senior guard Cody Douglas was walking with crutches and had a protective boot on his right ankle. Douglas also has a sore knee from Saturday’s game.

The injury is not related to the foot sprain that slowed Douglas for much of last season. He is listed as doubtful for the LSU game.

Senior center Richie Gandy did not practice Monday. His return to the playing field Saturday from a knee injury resulted in soreness this week. He is listed as questionable.

Junior center David Ligon is listed as probable and returned to practice Monday. He suffered a high ankle sprain during preseason practice.

Sophomore cornerback Jonathan Hefney and junior linebacker Marvin Mitchell both practiced on Monday with shoulder injuries and are considered probable.

Meachem (ankle) and Mitchell said they expect to be fully recovered in time for the LSU game. Both were limited in the Florida game.

Mitchell said he played about 20 snaps.

"It held up pretty well," he said of the sore left knee.