Replacing Coker

"It’s not as bad as we were concerned that it might have been after the ballgame," Fulmer said.

Coker was taken for an MRI on his left knee Saturday night.

The redshirt freshman was injured on a kickoff return in the final minute of the third quarter in the No. 8 Vols’ 16-13 victory over Alabama on Saturday.

A six-week injury would put Coker out for the remainder of UT’s regular season.

If he missed three weeks, he would miss Tennessee’s three toughest remaining games: at South Carolina this weekend, at home against LSU on Nov. 4 and at SEC West leader Arkansas on Nov. 11.

The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Coker has started the last three games at tailback.

He took over the starting role from Montario Hardesty after the Marshall game. Hardesty earned his first start against Florida after Arian Foster was injured against Air Force.

Foster, who is listed at No. 2 on the depth chart at tailback, likely will get the start this week against South Carolina.

Fulmer said he wasn’t sure yet who would replace Coker as a kick returner.

Carolina Game On ESPN: Tennessee’s 7:45 p.m. kickoff at South Carolina will be shown on ESPN.

Vols Stay Put In BCS: Tennessee held on to the No. 11 spot in the latest BCS rankings.

The Vols remain one spot below California, which it defeated 35-18 on Sept. 2.

The Vols dropped one spot in the Associated Press poll to No. 8, but remained No. 9 in the coaches poll.

Tennessee is the third-ranked one-loss team behind Texas (7-1) and Auburn (7-1) in the AP poll.

The Vols are behind three other one-loss teams in the coaches poll: Texas, Auburn and Florida (6-1).

In the BCS, Tennessee also is ranked behind Notre Dame and California, each of which has one loss.

Hefney Impresses: Junior Jonathan Hefney gave Tennessee’s punt return game a boost Saturday.

UT’s starting free safety returned six punts for 106 yards in place of injured punt returner Austin Rogers (mononucleosis).

His 40-yard return in the third quarter led to a field goal that tied the game 6-6.

Hefney has 125 yards on nine returns, good enough to rank him 12th in the country and third in the SEC.

"He’s got great feet, good vision, but he’s got fantastic feet," Fulmer said. "He can accelerate from start to full speed just about as quickly as anybody on our team. He uses good judgment about handling the ball, whether it be to fair catch it or try to return it."

Fulmer said he was hesitant to use Hefney as a kick returner, given the Vols’ lack of depth in the secondary.

Scouting Report: Fulmer said he hasn’t spent much time watching South Carolina, but was impressed with the Gamecocks’ near-upset of Auburn.

"They were very impressive," Fulmer said. "(Coach) Steve (Spurrier) is like any of us. He’s going to use the talents to the fullest that he has. Certainly he’s done a good job of that."

When asked if it was worse given the Gamecocks are coached by Spurrier, Fulmer replied, "He’s not going to play any."

No Payback: South Carolina’s 16-15 come-from-behind victory last year in Neyland Stadium stung the Vols.

But it doesn’t have Fulmer thinking payback.

"I don’t know about payback games or anything," he said. "I don’t pay much attention to that.

"We honestly just try to look at each one of them individually."

Rank(ings) and File: Erik Ainge’s three interceptions against the Crimson Tide dropped him from first in passing efficiency in the SEC to fourth, behind LSU’s JaMarcus Russell, South Carolina’s Syvelle Newton and Florida’s Chris Leak.

Ainge still leads the league in passing yards per game and total offense.

Punter Britton Colquitt’s 47.2 yards per punt average would rank him first nationally, but his 19 punt this season don’t meet the NCAA’s requirement for ranking.

His average is nearly six yards per punt better than SEC leader Gordon Ely-Kelson of Georgia.

Tennessee leads the SEC in passing offense (293 yards per game), tackles for loss (7.43 per game) and sacks allowed (0.71 per game).

Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.