Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said the Vols' struggles to run the football have been a combination of different things at different times.

Sometimes it has been opponents loading up to stop the run. Sometimes it has been the efficiency of UT's passing game. In Saturday's 28-24 loss to LSU, it was a lack of extended drives and running 31 fewer plays than the Tigers.

Heading into this Saturday game at No. 11 Arkansas (TV: ESPN2, 7 p.m.), depth might be the biggest hurdle for the 13th-ranked Vols.

Arian Foster, who has started five games at tailback this season, and two other Vols could be facing a possible suspension for their arrests early Sunday morning on alcohol-related charges.

Fulmer said Sunday that redshirt freshman backup tailback Montario Hardesty did not sustain a concussion against LSU, but was shaken up enough that he did return after the 10-minute mark of the second quarter.

Redshirt freshman LaMarcus Coker is expected to return to practice this week after missing the last two games because of a knee injury suffered against Alabama on Oct. 21.

"I'm hopeful that he'll play this week," Fulmer said of Coker. "I do expect him back for practice, and he's really about a week ahead of schedule from what they thought might be the earliest. We'll see as we go through the week."

All in all, it's not great news for a run game that ranks 93rd in the country and 10th in the SEC.

"Not a lot of people in this league right now running for a whole, whole lot of yards because of the style of defense everybody is playing," Fulmer said. "That's one (reason), but we haven't been nearly as efficient at times. Whether it be a lineman not getting it done, a tight end not getting it done or a fullback or a running back not getting it done at times. Everybody's responsible."

In five SEC games, the Vols have rushed for 288 yards, an average of just 57.6 yards a game. Only once (Georgia) have they rushed for more than 100 yards as a team.

All told, the Vols are averaging just 2.38 yards per carry in league play.

"We definitely need to make strides, and we definitely need to make progress," Fulmer said. "It's difficult when we didn't have the ball any more than we did and had so few plays in the ballgame. They weren't extended drives is what I'm saying. We are way too far back from where we would like to be at this point in the running game compared to the balance we envisioned at the beginning of the year."

Bold Man: UT sophomore defensive tackle DemontA(C) Bolden said he played more snaps against LSU than he ever has with the Vols. Bolden registered four tackles with one for a loss. He said he came into the game after just a handful of plays on the first drive.

"It's a tough game," Bolden said. "I came out beat up. It was a tough loss. We shouldn't have lost anyway."

Fulmer was pleased with Bolden's play against the Tigers.

"He is making progress," he said. "DemontA(C) is making strides that we would have hoped he would have made earlier, but finally is doing that. As many plays as they were running, we tried to get some fresh guys in and out of there."

Polling: UT fell five spots to No. 13 in the Associated Press poll, while the Vols dropped five spots in the BCS to No. 16. Tennessee is ranked 15th in both the Harris Interactive and coaches polls.

GameDay to Fayetteville: ESPN's College GameDay will broadcast from Arkansas, marking the second time this season ESPN's flagship college football show has originated from the site of a UT game.

The other appearance came Oct. 28 when Tennessee played at South Carolina.

Injury Update: Middle linebacker Marvin Mitchell (shoulder) will be limited this week in practice, but is expected to play Saturday, Fulmer said.

Quarterback Erik Ainge (ankle) is still questionable.