Blake Garretson always dreamed of a chance to play football at Tennessee.

When the lineman from Morristown East High School received a scholarship offer from UT in November, he was excited and surprised.

"I didn't expect them to come right out and give it to me first," the 6-foot-4, 275-pound Garretson said. "Alabama and Kentucky were probably looking at me more than Tennessee and I expected them to give me an offer before Tennessee. But when Tennessee offered I jumped all over it because that's like a dream come true for me."

The UT commitment began drawing attention from UT after he ran a 4.7-second 40-yard dash in a UT camp last summer. Still, Garretson said those around him were skeptical of UT's level of interest.

"Everybody knew it was going to be a possibility because of me going to camp and they were starting to look at me," said Garretson, who made his official visit to UT over the weekend. "I told them they were looking at me and all this other stuff, but nobody took me seriously enough I don't think.

Maybe that doubt was the best thing for Garretson. He used it as motivation.

"I wanted to show everybody that I could do it and I wasn't going to just be another one of those people," he said. "We've had plenty of people with the ability to go to college around here and then they'd either go and quit or not keep their grades up and stuff like that. I just wanted to prove everybody wrong that I could do it."

Garretson said he sees the opportunity to play at UT as a chance to not only represent himself but Morristown, as well.

"It means a lot because very few people have done it," he said. "I want to be a standout to everybody. I want to be somebody that everybody looks up to."

Garretson said there is extra incentive in playing for the team he has grown up watching. He said it will mean more to him to play for the in-state Vols than it would an out-of-state team.

"I could have gone to Kentucky or Alabama and still played and done well," he said. "But it wouldn't have meant as much to me because that's not my home state. That's not where I'm from. I think it means more to play for your own area of the country."

Garretson said he expects to play defensive end or tackle at UT. He said his speed should allow him to be successful at either spot.

"I'm big enough to play defensive end or tackle," he said. "Then again I'm quick enough. Those big linemen, I'm not quite as big as them, but I'm faster so I can get around them. I think that's what is mainly going to help me."

Garretson said his first objective at UT will be to help turn things around after a disappointing 5-6 season in 2005. But for now, Garretson can look forward to a dream coming true.

"It makes you feel good inside knowing that you're going to Tennessee," he said, "and to have all these people come up to you and they're going to start looking up to you now. It's pretty exciting to me."