Vols know 'Dogs will make run a focus

Safe to say Tennessee knows Knowshon Moreno. And after four years, the Vols are also well acquainted with Thomas Brown.

And Georgia's two tailbacks, who have rushed for more than 800 yards in five games, probably have some idea about Tennessee's suspect run defense.

That's why the Vols spent much of last week's practice getting back to fundamentals in hopes of slowing down the No. 12 Bulldogs' runners in their return to SEC play Saturday (TV: WVLT, 3:30 p.m.).

"We got a lot of tackling work," UT coach Phillip Fulmer said Monday. "We worked at it really hard and the players have been responsive to it. We've been tested. We've had a couple good backs that we've played against, and these two are certainly good backs, too."

Moreno, a freshman, ranks eighth in the SEC with 86 yards per game, while Brown is 10th with 79 yards a game. The only conference teammates who rank higher are Arkansas' Darren McFadden and Felix Jones.

Moreno and Brown each has a 50-yard run to his credit this season, and Brown helped break open a 17-17 tie last week against Ole Miss with a career-high 180 rushing yards.

But after facing players like Cal's Justin Forsett, Florida's Tim Tebow and Kestahn Moore, and even Arkansas State's Reggie Arnold, Tennessee has seen some pretty good runners.

They just haven't stopped them.

"We have certainly been tested in the run game," Fulmer said. "We'll have seven or eight really, really good plays - or 10 good plays or 15 plays - and then one that somebody gets 40 yards on. That's what we have to eliminate: Those plays that change field position or give up a score, big plays. That goes back to being fundamentally sound, staying in our gaps, tackling well, doing our responsibilities first and then reacting. That's the front, that's the linebackers, that's the secondary doing what they're supposed to do."

Good Timing: Fulmer said UT's lone open date of the season came at a good time, considering the amount of minor injuries suffered by several players in the first four games.

"It healed us up and that was a real plus for a number of guys playing with bumps and bruises," Fulmer said.

Florida's loss to Auburn on Saturday night helped even more than the week off, though.

"I think they're more energized by Florida's loss, and the fact that there's a lot of people in the conference now that have a run at it, and we're one of them," Fulmer said. "We will certainly do our very best to make the most of an opportunity."

Starting 22: Tennessee has yet to start the same 11 players on defense in any game this season, but most of that is due to some shuffling in the secondary after Antonio Gaines suffered a season-ending knee injury Sept. 8.

Despite the shuffling, Fulmer feels like Tennessee's starting 22 is set in all but a few positions.

"We were in a bit of disarray there for a little bit, trying to find the right combination of guys," Fulmer said. "I like the group that we've settled on athletically. There's still competition at a couple positions, and that's almost a daily kind of progression."

Bama Time: According to its Web site, CBS Sports will either televise Tennessee's game at Alabama or Florida's game at Kentucky on Oct. 20. Whichever game is chosen will be shown at 3:30 p.m.

CBS also lists two other Tennessee games as possibilities: Nov. 10 vs. Arkansas and Nov. 17 vs. Vanderbilt. Both games will be played in Neyland Stadium.

No TV: Tennessee's Oct. 13 game at Mississippi State will not be televised and is set for a 2:30 p.m. Eastern kickoff.

Five other games involving SEC teams will be carried that weekend on a combination of Lincoln Financial, ESPN, ESPN2, ABC and CBS.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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