Wisconsin Stats
Tennessee Stat Book
After two days of bowl practice, Tennessee's football team will move its attention to the classroom.
The Vols practiced indoors in shorts and shoulder pads on Sunday, continuing work on Wisconsin for the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla. on Jan. 1 (TV: ESPN, 11 a.m.).
The Vols will take a break from the practice field until Friday as they spend the week focusing on final exams. Thursday will be the final day of testing at UT.
UT coach Phillip Fulmer said he reminded his players of their first priority as student-athletes.
"They have to make sure they're taking care of their academics, first and foremost," he said. "Otherwise they don't go to the bowl and they're not eligible to come back. It's serious business about their school."
Football players must complete six hours in the fall semester to compete in the bowl game, as per NCAA rules.
Fulmer praised his players' recent performance in the classroom, saying they often don't get due credit for their academic accomplishments.
"We had six guys that played as graduate students this year," he said. "We have 13 more that are graduating next Saturday and then we have three more that are graduating in the spring. We're really excited about what we're doing here academically as well as athletically."
Bowl Prep: Fulmer said the coaching staff hasn't seen much film of Wisconsin yet. He said the staff used much of its time last week focusing on recruiting and playing host to the six prospects who were on campus this weekend for an official visit.
Fulmer said the first two days of bowl practice gave young players, mostly on the scout team, an opportunity to receive repetitions they normally didn't see during the regular season.
"They've been kind of scout teaming it and putting on the opponent's teams for us," Fulmer said. "Now it's their turn."
Heisman Watch? Following practice, Fulmer was asked about his memories on the 10-year anniversary of former Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson beating out former UT quarterback Peyton Manning for the Heisman Trophy.
Fulmer said the snub of Manning in 1997 was a "travesty," which he said caused him to question the credibility of the voting.
"There's a southern (anti-) bias," Fulmer said. "There's no question about it. You've got the real eastern bloc up in that part of the country that are going to believe in the Notre Dames and Michigans and Ohio States. They've had a lot of great players, no question about that."
It was clear Fulmer had lost his interest in the buzz of the Heisman. He said he hoped an SEC player would win the award this season, at which point he was informed that Florida quarterback Tim Tebow had won on Saturday.
"Oh, did he?" Fulmer responded. "I didn't even know."
Hill Doubtful: Wisconsin coach Brett Bielema told the Wisconsin State Journal that tailback P.J. Hill, who missed most of the last three games with a leg bruise, may not be ready to play the Vols.
"I don't know how definite that is," Bielema said. "I just know he hasn't practiced since maybe three games left in the season and from what I've seen he isn't going to be able to carry forward any time (soon) right now."
Memorable moments in Pat Summitt's…
Tennessee's signing class for 2012
Phillip Fulmer through the years
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 45
james#216392 writes:
Tebow won't be able to win the Heisman next year because the Northern voters won't vote for a SEC palyer two years in a roll. Manning showed that. Go get'em in the bowl game.
Kwitcherbellyachin writes:
Two years in a roll?
gohawks1 writes:
Man, that quote by Fulmer may be my favorite one this year. "Oh, did he?" Fulmer responded. "I didn't even know."
Whether you support him or not, I expect most everybody will feel the same way about that one.
iowavol writes:
Agree with you guys, good quote from Fulmer on both aspects. I didn't even know this morning who was in the running other than the SEC guys. In retrospect, ESPN won the heisman for Woodson and I think they did the same thing for Tebow. Tebow lost three games but accomplished some stuff none other had - but was it tebow or the system - and a bunch of good players around him. McFadden did some special things too and will more than likely be a top 5 pick, but he did it on a team with less talent and a coach who sometimes looked lost.
volgrog#210164 writes:
Who cares about the Heistman? ESPN popularity contests don't mean anything to me.
Hunter writes:
I am glad our coach is so in tune that he hasn't watched film yet and had no idea who won the most revered individual award in sports. Then again, with our recent bowl history (2-7 last 9 years), why bother with film? It's just a big, slow Big-10 team......we never have trouble with those......
Not a Fulmer-basher. Just call it like I see it.
orangesox writes:
Peyton was robbed!!!
RangerForSix writes:
Study hard guys... The 'security' and 'prosperity' y'all are working toward, is in a U.T. diploma first and foremost!!
Get Serious after finals and 'scheme' and 'execute a plan' to beat Wisconsin on the 1st!
It's nice to be "one of only two SEC teams" to "play 14 football games" in the 2007-08 season!
not florida, not georgia, not south carolina, not arkansas, not mississippi state, etc, etc...
"U.T. Won the Eastern Title" and LSU the West. Boy is SEC football a game of just a few play(s).
We 'Earned Our Good Fortune' In Winning So Many Close Games, With A 'Team Over Self Attitude'. But.....Ya 'Can't Win Every Close One'; So Score 5-6 Touchdowns On The 1st...Or Whatever It Takes To Win!!
Double digit wins is a damned good thing!
'Not many' teams can EARN their way to the "SEC title game" twice in four years either!
This team did it without 'Two 1000 yard rushers' and 'no potential NFL receivers,' like the 2004 team. Just a bunch of 'hard working guys,' a 'few "real gifted athletes"' on both sides of the ball and a 'pitcher who threw 'mostly' Strikes'!!!
The only thing "the last two Eastern Titles" have in common is Fulmer, Ainge, Hefney, some other good asst's, and a few special team and substitute players...along with all the faithful UT football fans...
So Go VOLS, beat the Badgers!!
We'll think about 2008-09 starting on January the 2nd. As this team has proven, when they come to 'WIN', not just to play, they can beat anyone!! What was it, "we beat 7 bowl eligible teams?"
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
McFadden got ripped. As someone said, Nutt looked losr, and I believe ark, losr ir's o-coord this season.
tebow is a fine player, but for McF it'd 2 years in a row to finish behind a qb....
sorry about the typing, broken index finger....
DenmarkVol_aka_Mbumburu writes:
Hunter, you call the Heistman "the most revered individual award in sports?"
What planet are you living on? Give me a break...
pdhuff#552644 writes:
IPO - Hunter - don't you dare go there and accuse our beloved Phil from being out of touch! They'll come for you. Don't ever question a man with both a NC and a loss to Vandy to his resume. He's been across the spectrum. Wait until you see what he unveils for Wisconsin. He suspects now they'll probably try to run against his 74th ranked defense.It'll never happen and we all know large slow Big Ten teams can't beat fast SEC teams. So there.
What's that Ma, we lost to Penn St. What, they're slower than loaded dump trucks. Well, that was a fluke, just check our bowl record. Fear the Phil, Badger, he'll have them ready and fired-up as usual. On to Tamper fer the game. At least when Bobby Johnson goes to Duke we won't lose to the Commodores again. Whats that, Johnson had more players on the 1st team All-SEC than Phil. Psshaw. Leave realism and facts out of this. Merry Christmas.
cltvol writes:
Tebow is only the 8th sec player to have won the heisman. Neither TN or AL have had an award winner with AL among the top 5 all time programs and TN among the top 10 (using conf. championships, bowl appearances, and natl titles as a benchmark). Fulmer is right, this part of the country gets snubbed on this deal.
vol52 writes:
Former winners also get a vote which tilts the results. That is why Peyton did not win. You people like eddy george voting for woodson. You can package it any way you want but it is a meaningless award.
GreerVol22 writes:
Two days of light practice....that ought to about do it. Thats one more day than he spent on the past few bowl preps...
Ainge...Wisc wears Red and white. Do try to remember, will ya?
TommyJack writes:
Pass the chocolate glazed.
DadwasaVol writes:
Abolish the Heisman. Football is a team sport. That's how I learned it, coached it, and played it. Forget the individual awards, give it all up for the team, I tell my kids.
Stumps writes:
folks need to let that Manning thing go. He's won a superbowl, put up hall of fame numbers, and the world knows how he now compares to Woodson. let's move on. Something that happened 10 years ago isn't relavent.
Southland writes:
the most revered award in football? After not giving it to Peyton they can stick the thing up their rear. Tebow is a good young man Happy for him but the Big Ten butt kissers can just keep the Heisman. If Bama with all of the greats they have had doesn't have a Heisman winner then you know something is wrong with the voting. Keep the little stupid award in Ohio and Michigan and give it to Clausen for this years national championship at Notre Dame
VOLinDAWGland writes:
3rdtenn,
Great point! I was looking at the list of Heisman winners and I was shocked that AL has never had one after all those great years with the Bear. Ridiculous.
The Heisman is headed the same place as the Nobel...irrelevent.
hueypilot writes:
Alabama would not have a Heisman candidate because under Bear he would rotate players in and out His second team offense always spelled the starters in the first posession of the second quarter and usually ditto in the first posession of the 4th quarter. Running backs were in and out all the time , but I can't tell you how many times during that eleven in a row streak, their fresh legs whipped us. Not sure Bear ever had a 1,000 yard rusher but he did have one Heisman winner, John David Crow at Texas A and M.
Loved Fulmer's "did he" quote. Not just pissed about Manning. Majors losing to Hornung, still the only player ever selected off a losing team (2-8 that year at ND) because ND was the first program in the country to have an SID and lobbied. And Lauricella losing to a back from Princeton in '51? As for as this UT fan, I call it the Irrelevant Trophy, and left a Christmas party here in Florida Saturday night because all the little Tebow worshipers (this is his home high school territory) were glued to the TV for his coronation. Couldn't watch it and so I left.
hueypilot writes:
For the fans who remember Marvin West, I guess he still writes a column for some little community shopper newspaper. His analysis of the 2007 season is on the money. Not as bad as the Fulmer haters claim, not as good as the Fulmer supporters claim. Here's his take if anyone is interested.
http://www.shoppernewsnow.com/aWest.aspx
hopalong writes:
Tim Tebow - love him or hate him. Fact is though, however he got it, he received the Heisman. And, he is probably thanking the U T defensive unit for their effort in holding McFadden to a sub-par effort when Arkansas was in town. McFadden's performance that day did little for him in his pursuit of the Heisman.
murrayvol writes:
Enjoyed the Marvin West article huey. It was as always "on the money." I guess you just can't quit writing til you die.
VOLinDAWGland writes:
Good one huey...thanks
tenndave writes:
If you Fulmer Bashers had YOUR WAY, like Ark, we would not have a coach, wouldn't be able to sign anyone except grad assistants maybe, have no active recruiting and be in the Liberty Bowl. Wow, wouldn't that be great??? Then again why would anyone want to come coach or play at a school that wins 2/3 of their games, is playing on New Year's Day, but has to put up with fans like you. Fla, ALA, LSU, etc love you. You are better recruting for them than their own coaches. From them, "Keep up the good work," from the rest of the Vol Nation, "Get Lost"
See you all in Tampa, thank goodness.
Go Vols! Beat Wisc and whoeverelse you play!
hopalong writes:
tenndave - "See you all in Tampa, thank goodness."
The overall tone of your comments supporting Coach Fulmer is to be commended. However, I think your comment listed above says volumes about your true feelings. After all, how long has it been since Coach Fulmer coached a Vol team in a bowl game that has not been second tier at best?
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Some of you may be too young to remember, but Marvin West won numerous awards as a sports writer and, I think, sports editor at the KNS. He also wrote several books about UT sports. Some of you speak as if he were just some ol' granpa writing as a lark for his neighborhood weekly, but he has forgotten more than most of us ever knew about Vol athletics.
tenndave writes:
Second Tier So let me get this straight. New Year's Day bowls that are not the big 4 are second tier. That is where we part company. Shreveport is second tier, Memphis is second tier, Tampa is not second tier. If your idea of success is only the top 4 you will be a frustrated fan your whole life. Yes, I want another NC and I will bet Fulmer wants it more than you do. For this team with the injuries it absorbed, to be in the SEC picture until the last seconds is a feat most coaches dream of. Name me one coach, of any quality, that you think would come here to coach if the University Fired Fulmer. If you believe your answer, send me some of that kool-aid. Our stature would be lower than Ark and Michigan. Do they have coaches yet. Oh wait, their top 3 choices told them where to stick it. And you think we wouldn't have the same fate?
Go Vols, Beat WISC!
gotvols writes:
TouchdownTN - what direction did Florida go in this year? Three loses in the conference. Yeah, they really are going in the right direction unlike us.
You know, I here they have nice weather down there for you fair weather fans....And I hear they have openings for fans at a great price.
How many titles have you won while you are sitting there scratching your head?
We'll see how Mr. Heisman fairs next year with an experience UT defense. They took advantage of an un-experience Berry and company. I think it will be a different story.
Thanks Fat Phil for the great comment. "Oh, did he?" - great. Very Spurrier-like sounding.....
gotvols writes:
America... What a great place.... You can say all the stupid stuff you want, and not get ruffed up over it.
It is nice to know that they allow sub-par intelligence on this site, or else all the stupid people would just have to talk to their mothers about how smart they are.
Hunter writes:
I never called it "the most respected award in sports," just "the most revered." Someone get these fools a dictionary.
Peyton got jobbed, and I don't put much stock in the Heisman personally. However, I expect "the winningest (percentage) coach in Division I with at least 10 years experience, more than 2 kids, over 250 pounds, over 50 years old......."(they keep adding asterisks - why can't I?) to keep up to date with events that transpire in his field of work.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Tenndave - love the fervor - don't ever give that up. Stay your course. Yes we're in a New Years day bowl, but so is Ga , a team we beat. Their game pays several million more. Its called BCS. What happened? Coaching and recruiting happened. Love Phil all you want but Ga and Fla usually finish in the top 10. Vols, no top 10's in last many, many years.
We all want the Vols to get back in the top 10, BUT THEY'RE NOT!!! A program is either going forward or slowly sliding backwards. Which do you think we are? Merry Christmas. Good post.
missrvrvol writes:
Could someone please replace the Heisman with some ice cold Natty Lites?
jeremy writes:
I quit watching the game last year. hoping for a different outcome this year.
nicksjuzunk#646117 writes:
Eric Berry for Heisman
cdldoc#211897 writes:
TouchedintheheadTN, you sure are are obnoxious. It is hard to believe you are a Vol. Or are you? By the way, what kind of job can you do for your boss if you spend all day surfing on his computer? I do believe one thing, you do not work for yourself. Someone must be paying your wages while you surf the net all day. You and your kind are the hated fifth column. You would rather stir up s--- than help get good recruits and improve the record next year. You would rather make anything worse, even your own existance. Reading your posts is a lot like reading phooey out of Alabamba.
"Touchdown Tennessee, give 'em six" John Ward, a real Vol.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
errr....cdldoc, miss John Ward, too, but he like many good things about the Vols are long-gone! Things like SEC championships. Top ten finishes. Respect in the football nation. One minor bowl loss away from finishing barely (maybe) in top 25. Top 10 recruiting classes. D-linemen. Fast linebackers. People who tackle. Holding Fla under 59. Not losing to sub-par Bama team. The list goes on. Many of us do not see where any corrections are in place. More of the same. Next year......Then the year after that....
TommyJack writes:
cdldoc: Are you Eduardo?
missrvrvol writes:
I personally love the 10a CST start. That way I can be hammered by noon and not waste an entire day.
BadgerBilly writes:
Hey y'all...the Civil War is over. (And we won). Enough of this northern conspiracy Heisman voting stuff. It's time to knock the big chip off your shoulders. Which I fully expect Wisconsin will do on January 1. Just compare the Bowl Records of the two teams involved. Bottom line: Bucky likes his chances alot, especially when playing a team that thinks they've already won.
missrvrvol writes:
BadgerBilly likes dudes...
pdhuff#552644 writes:
TDTN- How was the meeting?
martinvolfan writes:
Badger Billy: Tell Bucky to crawl back into the hole where he came from. Fans from the cheeshead state have no credibility down here in Dixie. Did you know that the mighty badger is from the weasel/otter family? No Yankees allowed on this here sight. Don't be surprised if Smokey does the Big Orange Polka on youz guy's hide!
Go Vols! Beat DA BADgerzzz!
orangebloodgmc writes:
Badgerbilly, when you eat too much cheese ...
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Badgerbilly, welcome. Op-ed points are interesting, sometimes.
Just run the ball (as you do) straight at the Vols and we'll usually put on a clinic on how not to tackle. Our CBs will have many more stops than our LBs. Run wide and you'll give our DBs time to close. But straight ahead as Hester at LSU and others have done, Lord help us.
And don't throw any 8 yd curls. We've had our quota this year, thank you. I think Bama and Fla plus Cal had 5-600 yds on those.
But you'll have to figure out how to stop a three-yd quick toss on 3rd and 8. Wait, that don't make sense. Well, he#l we'll run it anyway. One final note, I can guarantee you wo'nt get behind our CBs. We know how to drop back. Have a big time in Tamper. Oh, you've already got this scouting report. Fla & Bama film! We're on film with those outings! Oh well. Go Vols.
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