Vols show some power with running game

Tennessee found the final piece of its offensive puzzle against Georgia - a power running game.

The Vols pounded Georgia 35-14 on Saturday thanks in part to 190 yards rushing.

"I just felt like our players had an edge about them," offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe said when asked why he relied more on the run than anytime this season. "That brings confidence."

The newfound power running attack didn't affect Erik Ainge's efficiency. The senior quarterback completed 17 of 22 passes for 165 yards.

"When they came in and tried to stop the run," receivers coach Trooper Taylor said, "we were able to throw it and catch it and move the chains."

Coming into the game, UT had a run-pass ratio of 42 to 58 percent. In the first half against the Bulldogs, UT ran the ball 63 percent of the time en route to a 28-0 lead.

"We studied ourselves and felt like we could run the ball and throw out of some run sets," Cutcliffe said. "We think there's more there."

Arian Foster was the primary recipient of the new dedication to running the football. The junior tailback rushed for 98 yards and three touchdowns.

"All the credit in the world to the offensive line," Foster said. "Those guys were moving people around."

To signify the strong rushing attack, UT's tailbacks tapped their wrist just as they scored, as if they were wearing a watch.

"Punch the clock," said sophomore tailback Montario Hardesty, who ran for 70 yards and a touchdown. "Get ready to play. Lock in. Get focused. And play."

The Vols also relied more on a traditional I-formation attack than they had previously this season. Cutcliffe said matchups predicated that game plan on Saturday.

He added that UT would have relied on the formation more this season, had it not been for David Holbert's season-ending knee injury suffered in the preseason. In his place, was tight end Chris Brown, with his hand on the ground in the backfield for the first time this season.

"It's weird coming out and doing those things," Brown said. "I have to do whatever I can to help the team win and that's what I'm going to do."

Offensive line coach Greg Adkins said the running game was inspiring.

"We put some runs back to back to back together and that got everybody excited," he said. "We haven't had much success with that all year long.

The Vols also converted a key fourth down in the second quarter on the ground that helped set up a score.

"Bottom line is you make that decision, probably, on how effective you've run the ball that day," Adkins said.

Sophomore offensive lineman Chris Scott said he and his fellow linemen had heard plenty about how UT couldn't run the ball on short-yardage downs.

"We figured we needed to take that on our shoulders and get the job done," he said.

Said Cutcliffe, "Anytime you get better up front, good things start happening for you."

The good things started happening thanks to Cutcliffe's bad attitude in practice last week.

"They might like me now, but they didn't last week," Cutcliffe said. "When you don't like what you're getting, you've got to change what you're doing."

Cutcliffe said he was most pleased with UT's ground attack when Georgia knew it was coming. That included a scoring drive in the third quarter that answered Georgia's first score.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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