Event Details
- What: SEC Championship
- When: Saturday, Dec. 1, 2007, 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
- Where: Georgia Dome
- Cost: Not available
- Age limit: All ages
Tennessee Stat Book
Quick, first impressions on Tennessee vs. LSU for the SEC championship:
- You could see this coming in mid-September, right?
Not exactly.
- On Sept. 15, UT lost to Florida 59-20. At that point it was 1-2 and was giving up 41 points per game.
On the same date, LSU improved its record to 3-0. At that point, it had outscored its opponents 137-7.
- Never mind what happened on Oct. 6 (LSU edged Florida, and UT routed Georgia). If you had to pick a team to represent the SEC in a national championship game, either Florida or Georgia would be a better choice than either LSU or UT.
- If you polled the media, neither LSU coach Les Miles nor UT coach Phillip Fulmer would rank in the top five among SEC coaches. If you polled the media on the luckiest coach in the SEC, Fulmer and Miles would be first or second.
- How many players on UT's defense could start for LSU?
Jerod Mayo could start at linebacker, and freshman safety Eric Berry would start somewhere in LSU's secondary.
That's it.
- You're probably wondering: "If LSU's defense is so talented, how did it give up 34 points to Alabama and how did it make Ole Miss quarterback Brent Schaeffer look like West Virginia quarterback Patrick White?"
Those are questions for LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini.
- Injuries have been a factor in LSU's defensive decline. For example, All-American defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey was so gimpy against Arkansas, he was a liability.
Bottom line: LSU's defensive dominance is now more myth than reality.
- In the spring of 2006, I convinced myself that LSU would be better off with Matt Flynn, rather than JaMarcus Russell, at quarterback. Oops.
After the first half of last week's LSU-Arkansas game, I almost convinced myself that LSU would be better off with Casey Dick, rather than Flynn, at quarterback.
- The game can't come soon enough for LSU wide receiver Early Doucet. He should be absolutely giddy all week after watching UT's cornerback play against Kentucky.
- UT's special teams took a few hits from critics - OK, more than a few - for their dreadful play in the first half of the season. But their drastic improvement in the second half of the season has been a factor in UT's five-game winning streak.
Another factor: They haven't had to tackle Cal's DeSean Jackson or Florida's Brandon James.
- "What a way to make a living," Fulmer said after sweating out his team's four-overtime victory over Kentucky on Saturday.
Yeah, it's a crazy business, especially since you're only making a little over $2 million a year.
- Coaches and players always say you need short memories to play in the secondary. It's as though everybody on UT's team has a short memory.
From one play to the next or one game to the next, the Vols haven't been affected by their previous failures.
This team reflects Fulmer's greatest strength as a coach. No matter how hard or far his teams fall (see Florida and Alabama for details), on a given Saturday, they rarely fall apart afterwards.
- If Miles is angling for the Michigan job, he can count on a good reference from Ohio State coach Jim Tressel.
- Arkansas' upset of LSU last week should be worth at least 10 points to UT. Having just lost its shot at a national championship, LSU should be about as fired up Saturday as Ohio State was against UT in the 1996 Citrus Bowl.
LSU looked uptight in the first half of its loss to Arkansas. It looked physically and emotionally spent afterward.
- UT fans should have been dreading this match-up a few weeks ago. Now, they should be making New Year's reservations in New Orleans.
Just in case.
Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.
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Comments » 38
govolsfan#214750 writes:
I've already started to drink the team to victory for the game this Saturday. Go Vols..........take all you can and give nothing back........yo ho ho me hardies!
eefor10c writes:
Wow!!!! What wonderful insights from the chief Vol critic and you get paid for this.
CrankE writes:
I'm hearing James Brown; "Payback" in my head. Katrina might look like a stiff breeze once UT finishes up Saturday.
oasis3#214380 writes:
John, I think you just set a record for the number of cheap shots at Fulmer and the Vols for one column. I know you are disappointed but the Vols are SEC East champs. Deal with it. By the way, how much are you paid to write this garbage? You must be far more overpaid than Fulmer. Salary jealousy seems to rearing its ugly head.
Pocket_Passer writes:
So far, every pre-game prediction I've heard for all of our big games this year, from every media source has been wrong. So like GA, this looks like an LSU blow out of our Vols. I'm not paying any attention to what you guys say, you're track record sucks this year. Plus we owe them from our last matchup in Atlanta.
DenmarkVol_aka_Mbumburu writes:
Luck, you've been a lady at times for us this season. Please be a lady for us next Saturday.
You are a critcal part of our game plan.
ncvol17 writes:
wackier things have hapened this year but LSU has to be miffed after Arkansas handed them their lunch and closed the door to the Nat'l Championship
chefjorge writes:
This season has been so unusual that there is no question whatsoever that the Vols have a very legitimate shot at this game. Why ever not? UT has looked just great against both UAR and UGA. I live in the Pacific NW and can't make the game, but I implore those that can to turn the GA Dome into Neyland Stadium for the night. LSU is a better team at home as we are. My HS Football coach was a bit of an intellect loved this quotation from Rudyard Kipling:
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy how's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.
Go Vols
ltd96#541219 writes:
I love the VOLS and there victory, but could somebody please tell coach to stop being so conservative when we get good league in the first half. There are 4 quarter to be play.
asleep#212036 writes:
I say LSU could care less about this game and they have the worst coach in the league - bad combination. I hope Michigan doesn't want him, we need him to stay at LSU or they could win every year. They can be beat and we've got the tools to do it. As far as Adams column, I didn't necessarily think he was personally dissing Fulmer and the Vols, just stating some pretty obvious facts and summing up what most of the other people (non-Vols fans) say and think. We don't have their talent and we have escaped several bleak moments this season but criminy, so have they! I just hope the line is double-digits, the media is gloomy, the fans are hopeless, and Fulmer is being ridiculed - we'll win for sure then. Has there ever been a coach who can win "impossible" games like ol' Phil? Go Vols!!!
takebkknox writes:
Here it comes. Listen (and read) closely this week as Adams and Hyams steadily ramp up their rhetoric and try to convince anyone who will listen that LSU will win. It'll start as giving UT a slight chance today only to be full throttle against the Vols by Friday. They may say they have no preference but if you listen closely you can hear them salivate as they utter the initials L-S-U. Yep, their blood runs pee yellow. Reality is this is Erik's shot at redemption and look for him to light it up. Go Vols!
eduardo writes:
Hey Fans we're only a girls throw from getting beat by LSU. Geaux Tigers. Come on Little Erik throw one out of the back of the end zone and we can bring in Casey's brother! Oh yeah he quit too! Wake up sheep
skyhawk836 writes:
Posted by eduardo on November 25, 2007 at 10:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey Fans we're only a girls throw from getting beat by LSU. Geaux Tigers. Come on Little Erik throw one out of the back of the end zone and we can bring in Casey's brother! Oh yeah he quit too! Wake up sheep
------
On 2 different threads you keep telling sheep to wake up.
Is there something we need to know about you and the sheep?
You've also said, "Geaux Tigers" on both threads.
Is it so important to you to be right that you have to root us down?
bmaples writes:
Pennington has it right -- this year's team is neither as bad or as good as many of us have claimed. A good team doesn't lose like we did to Fla, Bama, and Cal. A bad team doesn't beat Georgia (very far above us in the BCS) like we did. And frankly, a mediocre team doesn't win that game Saturday.
So, we've got a team that has shown flashes of solid play, entire games of lousy play, and has somehow hung in there through the craziest season I've ever seen and is now in the championship game. If the Fl/Bama/Cal team shows up, we'll lose by 30. If the Ga/Figure-A-Way team shows up, we have a shot. I don't think we're better than LSU as a team, but if there has ever been a time for "any given Saturday" this is it.
Two final comments:
-- I've got to give Fulmer credit for one thing: somehow, he keeps the team believing.
-- The SEC East is better, top to bottom, than it has been in years. No gimmes in November any more.
I'm ready for one more great game. Here's hoping the right Tennessee team shows up Saturday! :--)
navdocvol writes:
Great bulletin board material for LSU without giving any credit to the vols. Ranks in the KNS tops of all time:
-article describing Death Valley as Dead Valley just before our trip to LSU two games back.
-article calling out our starting quarterback before the GA game here 2 years ago.
-article this year describing former players and their lack of confidence in the program.
Anyway, there's only two teams with a shot at the SEC conference title and one of them has a big orange powerT on the sides...go vols.
DenmarkVol_aka_Mbumburu writes:
KNS staff, will you please ban this Eduardo kid?
BigOrangeJeeper writes:
So this Eduardo must be like every other LSU fan with his clear lack of intelligence and being to drunk to come up with any other insult. He will probably carry on like this for the rest of the week because he has nothing better to do.
volgrog#210164 writes:
Eduardo,
I'm not sure if you are an LSU fan or just a fan I would like to fire. If you are indeed a TN fan, go somewhere else. I'm not big on guys who keep looking for Fulmer's job, but I respect their opinion.
If you indeed want TN to lose, then you are the loser and need to go away. You can find the team with the best shot at the National Title every year and follow them. You can start with Mizzou, maybe? Or how about West Virginia? But if TN is in the hunt, do me a favor and just stay away.
GO VOLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
VOLinDAWGland writes:
This has got to be one of the most disjointed and strange article of seen in a while...nice cheap shot on Fulmer's salary which so happens to be a decent value for a top shelf coach. I think Adams is the overpaid hack.
Smokey57 writes:
Vote for Antonio Reynolds for the Pontiac Game Changing Play Of The Game!
http://pontiac.com/ncaa
eduardo writes:
All you bums that want me banned,Sorry! I am here to stay to stick it to you to make you realize how pathetic this coaching staff really is. You can ban Small Mike on 990, but you can't ban anyone in cyberspace. So just deal wit it, you sheep.
leedsvol2007 writes:
Lets for a moment say that what Adams says is correct Fulmer is middle of the road as an SEC coach.
Looking around the SEC Rich Brooks has the stadium named after him in Oregon and has been a head coach in the NFL. Nick Saban has won a national championship and been a head coach in the NFL. Steve Spurrier has the same credentials.
Urban Meyer is the new legend in the SEC having already won a National Championship. Tommy Tuberville has had a 13-0 season. Bobby Johnson had a great record at Furman and has done great work at Vandy.
Mark Richt obviously can coach and has his team in the hunt this year.
All of these coaches would rank in the top 25 coaches nationwide.
If you look at Fulmer's credentials he has won 2 SEC titles outright, 5 division titles,has a tremendous winning percentage. He has one of 2 "undisputed National Championships" in Tennessee football history. In addition the only undefeated /untied season since 1938.
Yes we were lucky at times this season just as we were very unlucky in 2005 and other seasons since the NC.
Bottom line its not where he ranks among SEC coaches but its how consistently we are competitive. In most all of Fulmer's years we have been in the hunt.
I would agree with Adams that 2 million dollars a year for a football coach seems out of line. However, when you look at what other coaches are making its what the market will bear.
TV and movie actors at the top of their profession make a lot more money than doctors, researchers, missionaries, and sports columnists. Its not fair but its the way it is.
Is Fulmer the best coach in the country or in the SEC probably not. Is he good enough I think the answer is a resounding yes.
GoVols!
mtnvol writes:
Jack A$$ never passes on an opportunity to mention CPF's salary. Come clean! How much does this rag pay you? Let's get THAT info out in the light of day to give "critics" an opportunity to discuss.
vscebail#247785 writes:
Does everbody remember Adams column/poll at the beginning of this season? "How many games must Fulmer win to keep his job?" -- Adams is a such a jerk! I'm just glad that Tennessee supporters are getting the last laugh over on him. Here's a question that we should put to poll: "How many people are sick of John Adam's negative articles on the University of Tennessee and its coaches!?!
douglasawilliams#582863 writes:
WHY36NOT - I liked some of your comments. Even the great 98 NC team needed a lot of luck to get as far as it did. If Clint Sterner did not trip over his lineman's foot with 1:30 to play game over no NC. Remember Florida State was starting a 3rd string QB in NC game. Not trying to tarnish the 98 team just keep everything in perspective about UT. Were not nearly as bad as some would like to paint us or as good as some think. Even in the Florida massacre we were only 7 points down in the second half before a bad exchange sent the momentum sliding all the way to an embarrasing blowout. If we played Florida again I guarantee you things would be much closer. Let's admit this team has some fight in it and while blowing leads still managed to win. If Georgia is a more deserving representative why did we dominate them at Neeland Stadium?
DennisVols writes:
What can we expect next week in Atlanta?
1. Expect the unexpected. If we have learned anything this year we cannot expect what we think is right to go right and what we think is wrong to go wrong. As Adams (KNS) stated “You could see this coming in mid-September, right?”
2. Expect UT to make some mistakes during the game. There will be a dropped pass or 2, a missed tackle. In the 8-1 stretch run UT has just completed there have been plenty of them pointed out. No one plays a perfect game. What counts is win and losses. UT has limited their mistakes enough to win 8 of those games. It will be important to continue limiting those mistakes in this game.
Go Vols!!!!!!
For more on what to expect go to:
http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/Denn...
Colliervol writes:
I think I saw Eduardo helping some sheep over a fence near his house.
TommyJack writes:
Colliervol: And they were smiling!!
mtnvol writes:
TommyJack, was it a smile or a grimmace? Those sheep might have been disappointed at "inadequate" help.
CrankE writes:
douglasawilliams: "..Remember Florida State was starting a 3rd string QB in NC game."
I do remember that. But I remember the press (maybe it was SI) calling him "indomitable." Despite the fact that UT was #1 and 12-0, they picked Florida State en mass, and opened the line with FSU as 5 point favorites.
AFTER UT won, the press turned into a bunch of Seminole apologists. Outzen was a third string QB, If Warrick had caught a couple more passes. If not for Warrick's illegal kicking penalty. If not for David Leaverton. If they hadn't done this, that, 'nuther. Rather than giving UT credit, they moaned about FSU losing and excused it and almost immediately started cheering for FSU's 1999 campaign giving them the preseason #1 spot.
Don't ever let 'em take away 1998 guys. That team earned the championship trophies they brought home. Period.
DennisVols writes:
CrankE
You know the old saying: "If ifs and buts were candy and nuts it'd be Christmas all year long."
I am sick of all the ifs and buts this year as well. "If Vandy doesn't rough the punter" is one. Truth is no one knows how thing might or might not be any different if one play was different or not. The final record of this season shows UT at 9-3 and those numbers don't do justice to what we really saw.
1) A team rebound for a 59-20 beat down to Florida and a 1-2 start. Many teams would have folded their tent at that point.
2) Facing GA as a under-dog at home and showing everyone just what they were capable of, following the UF loss.
3) A under-dog to USC at home with fans doubting their coaches and their talent they played to the very end to win.
4) Down by 15 to Vandy in the 4th and they did what they had to do to win. This same Vandy team had the now #4 team in the BCS on the ropes till the final seconds of the game.
5) Beating UK in a 4 OT game in Lexington. This UK team beat the team UT faces this week in OT. Yet some question UT.
I just don't get it. Yes I was upset at the Florida and Bama losses. No one is questiong that was below what should be expected. But seasons are now played over 12 games, not counting title and bowl games. We are just one win away from that SEC title that has been missing. There is no reason to complain.
VOLinDAWGland writes:
dlskaggs...very good post, but for some it appears that the Fulmer issue has become very personal and all consuming beyond reason, possibly to the point that these folks would be dissapointed with a NC because it would mean another extension and pay raise for Fulmer.
I also hurt with each loss and would love to see more consistently dominant play, but I also value loyalty, dignity, leadershi...the other tangibles that Fulmer brings to the program along with the W/L record. Fulmer is one of the good guys in sports who has devoted his life to the school. While this should not over ride loosing seasons, it surely should give him the benefit of a few seasons to get the program back which it appears he is doing. I understand and don't disagree with some of the criticisms, but on balance he's earned the right, assuming no more 2005 type of seasons, to write the ending chapter of his great career.
asleep#212036 writes:
dlskaggs,
Right on about Saturday. One thing this team has to keep in mind is that even though they have made plenty of mistakes, they still managed to win 9 games playing in the nation's toughest conference. They will make more mistakes against LSU but if they lean on the experience of the last 9 games, they should be able to fight through it. Honestly, I just don't see LSU wanting this game as badly as we do and in college football, that may be all the edge we need. Go Vols!!!
DennisVols writes:
7. Can we expect UT to win the SEC this year? Just as sure as we can expect some fans to complain how they did. UT was the under-dog against UK and yet fans complained it took them 4 OT to do it. They were not supposed to win what is the problem. The same thing happened against USC. Again UT was an under-dog (at home no less) and came away with a win in OT. Yes they had the lead at half but we play 60 min.s not 30 and we faulted UT because their opponents did not quit at halftime and let them breeze through. If UT wins this Saturday lets thank USC, Vandy and UK for teaching this team to be tough. To never quit and to not believe in what their critics say. What else could you expect?
Go Vols!!!!!!
http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/Denn...
madcow26#524674 writes:
go vols...beat the tigers....you owe them...
orangebloodgmc writes:
How many of LSU's overrated defense (gave up over 400 yds to Ole Miss and the next week over 500 to ARK) could start for UT? Maybe about 3 linemen and one db, Chad Jones, and the rest are TOO DAMN SLOW. Sux for you, Adams.
tenvolone writes:
LSU should be ripe for the picking come Saturday. Adams is right about LSU being deflated and worn down. For once in a long time, the excitement is on our side. Go Vols! Beat LSU!
hcjournals#206623 writes:
Did ya'll notice that VolCR had a somewhat positive post today? This is truly a good sign.
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