When the curtain opens in Memphis on Saturday, Demonte Bolden will take the stage. No longer the understudy, it's time for the defensive tackle to assume a more significant role.

The sophomore has been a bit player since enrolling at Tennessee in January 2005. Now, the No. 15 Vols (3-1) need a star when they take on the Tigers (1-2) at noon (TV: ESPN).

This will be the last chance for the former high school Parade All-American to show UT, in particular defensive tackles coach Dan Brooks, that he is ready for a seven-game streak of SEC games, four of which are on the road.

"It's the final audition," Bolden said. "I feel that if I can make more plays and get off the ball a lot faster, then he can depend on me."

Said Brooks, "It's big time. He's a guy that we feel like is coming. We want it to go faster than it can, I guess. We all want it to happen yesterday.

"He needs to take that step and I think he's working like he's ready to take that step."

The starring role came open when All-SEC tackle Justin Harrell underwent season-ending bicep surgery last week.

"I felt that it's my time to step up," Bolden said, "quit lagging around, put some urgency in my step."

Some would say it's about time given Bolden's high school credentials. He was widely considered the top prospect in Tennessee in 2004.

Only a semester-long stopover in prep school to polish up some academic shortcomings was expected to postpone the inevitable. Bolden was going to be UT's next great defensive tackle.

UT coach Phillip Fulmer even said that Bolden should be the next great defensive tackle shortly after spring practice this year.

"I didn't listen to it," Bolden said of the expectations. "I'm the type of person that if I hear too much, it will probably go to my head.

"When I was in high school, it went to my head. I'm not trying to get to that point. I don't ever want to be like that."

In high school, Bolden was often compared to the late Reggie White. The two were both star high school defensive tackles from Chattanooga.

Fulmer modernized the comparisons for motivational reasons. He compared Bolden's potential to former UT defensive tackle greats John Henderson, Albert Haynesworth and Jesse Mahelona.

It seemed like a wise ploy by Fulmer. Surely that would motivate any player.

Nope.

"I never wanted to be compared to John Henderson or Reggie White," Bolden said. "I wanted to be my own person."

Bolden is definitely that. Just slightly less striking than his 6-foot-6, 290-pound physique are the two oversized diamond earrings in his left ear. And boy, is there ever a strange story behind those.

Bolden got his ear pierced just before his junior season in high school. He was on plenty of recruiting watch lists. It was just a matter of time before he became one of the South's top prospects.

But first, he had to clear up a "little" infection that arose from his new bling.

"His ear swelled up at least three or four times the size of a normal ear," Tyner Academy coach Efrin Stewart said with chuckle. "He missed like two or three games. It looked like a small house on his ear."

The bizarre injury didn't hold back Bolden for long. His performance during that season helped him become the prospect that coaches knew he could be.

"He's got so much God given talent," Stewart said. "The thing that's putting the pressure on him is that he's not an attention seeking person. He's probably putting too much pressure on himself."

Stewart said a group of "supposed friends" from high school might still have some influence.

"Sometimes people at home don't understand what you go through," said Bolden, who has five tackles including one for a loss in four games as a backup this season. "They might say bad things like 'Ah, he's doing nothing. He's wasting his time up there.' They don't necessarily know what I'm doing."

"... If I play more and I improve more, I don't worry about the people back home. I'm just here to do my job, get my education and work hard on the football field."

Bolden is still learning how to be a defensive tackle in college. Sure, UT's linemen are often allowed to pursue with reckless abandon, but not nearly as much as Bolden was used to.

"In high school," Bolden said, "it was like, 'Demonte, just do anything you can to get to the quarterback.' "

Bolden admitted he grew frustrated when UT's coaches frowned upon his self-described "buck-wild" style.

That style is a bit odd compared to his teammates. Brooks admits that finding the right buttons to push has been a challenge.

"Every young guy is different," he said. "You try to find out what pushes that button. I truly believe that he wants to please and he wants to do good."

Good means playing low for Bolden, who has a natural tendency to play standing up given his stature and dominance in high school.

The Vols need that to be a problem of the past. They need someone to fill out a cast of characters that has its toughest days ahead.

"I want to contribute to a team," Bolden said. "I'm not the type who's a rowdy, rowdy talking person. I just want to keep it quiet and keep it moving.

"The only way I'm talking is when I'm punishing the man in front of me."

End scene.