UT to have new look for kickoff returns

Sophomore Ja'Kouri Williams and redshirt freshman Marsalous Johnson, two guys who have never returned a kick in college football, will be deep for the Vols.

"They've done a good job of catching the ball and working," UT coach Phillip Fulmer said Thursday. "We can always go with some of the old heads if they want to, but those guys will do fine."

Fulmer didn't appear nervous at the prospect of having the inexperienced duo

"I'm not really," he said. "They've played a lot of football before and they're anxious and excited about the start."

Williams played in seven games last year, primarily making tackles on special teams. Johnson was a track star in high school at Smyrna, running the 100 meters in 10.4 seconds.

During kick-return work at practice, it was Williams and Lucas Taylor deep with the first team.

Johnson, Montario Hardesty and Quintin Hancock also got some looks.

Last week against Alabama, starting tailback LaMarcus Coker was injured on a kickoff return and could be out for the rest of the regular season.

Swain Big Question Mark: Fulmer didn't sound very confident that Jayson Swain would be able to see much work at receiver.

The senior continues to battle a nagging ankle injury.

"I'm not sure what Jayson Swain is going to be able to do at all," Fulmer said. "He jogged on the side over there. I don't know if that's exactly playing football.

"We're going to take him with us. He's a help to the younger receivers and in the hotel and those kinds of things because he's older and experienced. Maybe he'll be better (Saturday), but we'll see."

With Swain doubtful and Austin Rogers already out with mononucleosis, more pressure is being put on Bret Smith and Josh Briscoe to come on strong along with Robert Meachem.

"I'm really happy with Briscoe and Bret Smith has done really fine," Fulmer said. "Briscoe has really come on like he needed to."

Turk The Iron Man: Fulmer expects the defensive tackle rotation to remain basically the same as it was against Alabama.

Turk McBride will play as much as he possibly can while Matt McGlothlin and J.T. Mapu split most of the time at the other tackle spot.

"Turk played about 47 snaps in the last ball game, and that's a lot of snaps," Fulmer said. "He likes to stay in the game and we like him to stay in the game. I wish we had a better rotation, but we don't.

"We'll play a lot of mustang and three-down stuff."

Fulmer also said Walter Fisher and Dan Williams are still in the defensive tackle mix.

"But none of them are Justin Harrell right now, except Turk is doing really well," he said.

Gamey 'Cocks 'D': South Carolina's defense continued to get rave reviews from Fulmer.

"They're only giving up 14 points a game," he said. "That's pretty stout. I think they've probably got the best middle linebacker (Jasper Brinkley) in the league.

"They look pretty good to me."

Fulmer and offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe go into every week not knowing what to expect from opposing defenses.

"When we've been at our best, we've hardly ever gone into a Saturday and got what we thought," he said. "It's always something else.

"But it's the same for South Carolina, or Georgia, or whoever when they're at their best. You don't just go in there and line up like wooden Indians."

Awards: Quarterback Erik Ainge has been named a semifinalist for the Maxwell award, which is presented to the collegiate player of the year. The winner will be announced Dec. 7. The other 15 semifinalists include Florida QB Chris Leak, Cal RB Marshawn Lynch and Ohio State QB Troy Smith.

Fulmer is up for the George Munger award for the coach of the year. The winner will be announced in December. The other 14 candidates include Florida's Urban Meyer, California's Jeff Tedford, Auburn's Tommy Tuberville and Notre Dame's Charlie Weis.