Event Details
- What: Tennessee vs. South Carolina
- When: Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007, 7:45 p.m. to 11 p.m.
- Where: Neyland Stadium
- Cost: Not available
- Age limit: All ages
Tennessee Stat Book
Tennessee football is no longer in the top 25. It doesn't show up in the BCS standings.
But that doesn't mean it hasn't had an impact on the 2007 season. In fact, it could play a prominent role in who wins the Heisman Trophy.
The Vols got involved in the Heisman race right away. Remember watching them try to tackle Cal's DeSean Jackson on his 77-yard touchdown return in the season opener?
Unfortunately for Jackson, the UT defense also made everyone else who carried the ball for Cal look like a Heisman candidate.
Two weeks later, the Vols hoisted Florida quarterback Tim Tebow onto the Heisman stage. He completed 14 of 19 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for another two touchdowns.
Unfortunately for Tebow, the UT defense also made Florida wide receiver Percy Harvin look just as much like a Heisman candidate. He had 120 yards in receptions and 75 rushing yards.
Harvin and Jackson aren't the only opposing receivers to look Heisman-worthy against UT. Alabama's DJ Hall had 13 catches for 185 yards and two touchdowns last Saturday.
Never mind that Hall doesn't show up on Heisman watch lists. That says more about Alabama's promotions than UT's defense.
It might take both promotions and UT's defense to win the Heisman, which should be encouraging for Arkansas running back Darren McFadden and Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson.
McFadden, who leads the SEC in rushing, has a favorable schedule the next four weeks. Up next is Florida International, which ranks 102nd nationally in rush defense. Then comes South Carolina, which ranks 10th in the SEC in rush defense; Mississippi State, which ranks eighth; and UT, which ranks ninth.
Woodson, who leads the SEC in passing, won't have as easy of a schedule. Kentucky's next three opponents all rank in the upper half of the SEC in pass defense.
Nonetheless, Woodson has a chance for a big finish. The Wildcats play UT in their final regular-season game.
Here's my top-10 Heisman watch list (UT opponents only):
Tim Tebow, Florida - 14-for-19 passing, 299 yards, two touchdowns; 18 carries 61 yards, two touchdowns.
Percy Harvin, Florida - four catches for 120 yards and nine rushes for 75 yards.
DJ Hall, Alabama - 13 catches for 185 yards and two touchdowns, also had a reception for a two-point conversion.
John Parker Wilson, Alabama - 32-for-46 passing, 363 yards and three touchdowns.
DeSean Jackson, Cal - 77-yard punt return for a touchdown, four catches for 45 yards, one rush for 21 yards.
Justin Forsett, Cal - 28 carries for 156 yards.
Nate Longshore, Cal - 19-for-28 passing, 241 yards and two touchdowns.
Brandon James, Florida - 83-yard punt return for a touchdown, four kickoff returns for 102 yards.
Reggie Arnold, Arkansas State - 16 carries for 130 yards (8.1-yard average per carry).
Anthony Dixon, Mississippi State - 26 carries for 108 yards.
Heisman candidates to come: Darren McFadden of Arkansas (Nov. 10), Earl Bennett of Vanderbilt (Nov. 17), and Andre Woodson of Kentucky (Nov. 24).
Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.
Memorable moments in Pat Summitt's…
Tennessee's signing class for 2012
Phillip Fulmer through the years
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 44
scvols writes:
I think John just slammed the VOLS D. Here is a little hope, all of the above came on the road. Maybe we will have a great D at home the rest of the year. I also can wait to see Santa flying around with his reindeers later this year.
Colliervol writes:
What's a Heisman? That award doesn't exist anymore.
Pullingguard writes:
John, you have correctly summed it up... The Vol defense started out bad and have only become worse as the season has progressed. You can mark McFadden up for 140 or more... Yep, the vols are enhancing the Heisman candidates numbers to where it might not be fair to others who do not play verses the Vols.
nicksjuzunk#646117 writes:
This article and the one Pennington just wrote have me pissed.
Unfortunately, I also find them to be true.
Now I'm really pissed.
(Sorry if that word offends)
andy112382#209793 writes:
Any meaning the heisman had went out the window completely when Manning didn't win it, so who care!
nicksjuzunk#646117 writes:
I'd like to see a "10 years later" look at the stats of Woodson and Manning that fateful year.
After 10 years (not looking at their pro careers), are we still as certain that Manning deserved it?
Anyone got stats for this one?
SmokeDog72 writes:
If the truth hurts.........
Just say ouch.
TommyJack writes:
Manning + Heisman = hosing
RemembertheAlamo writes:
Majors + Heisman = hosing....also
newtonrail writes:
I have finally come to the point I agree a coaching change is needed, although due to $$$, it won't happen this year. However, to read so called Vol fans such as CR and others take glee in the state of our program, and to slam players is totally unacceptable. Not to mention childish and immature.
orange_glory writes:
AM I ON A VOLS BLOG? OH I DIDN'T KNOW IT IS ALL SO UNINSPIRING AND DULL TO BE A VOLUNTEER FAN RIGHT NOW.
utnutt writes:
FIRE FULMER NOW THERE IS NO REASON TO KEEP HIM ANY LONGER THIS SEASON IS OVER. WE WILL HAVE AT LEAST TWO MORE LOSES BEFORE SEASON IS OVER. WHY WAIT FOR SEASON TO BE OVER TO FIX WHAT NEEDS TO BE FIXED. LETS START LOOKING FOR A COACH NOW. FULMER IS NO LONGER A GOOD COACH IF HE EVER WAS ONE AND IT DOESNT LOOK LIKE HE CAN RECRUIT LOOK AT HOW THE PLAYERS PLAY. THERE IS NOT ONE GREAT PLAYER ON THIS TEAM!
bloodrunsorange writes:
After Majors and Manning the Heisman is a complete joke, a fraud that should be completely dismissed.
pete.broockman#629092 writes:
Let's take up a collection from all the fire Fulmer people out there and give it to the University to offset the buyout. Empty seats in the stadium arn't going to do it, Have you seen the price of tickets on E-Bay? I still can't afford to go to a game. It will take Fulmer stepping down before he ever goes. That or him having a heart attack and craoking as he chews his gum and claps his hands after we get beat by 40 points by KY!
Bigger_Al writes:
The Heisman is the College Football award that typically goes to the best player on the best Big 10 team.
mickey9830#643278 writes:
hiresanders you are a moron.Manning no doubt owned it until he passed for almost 600 yards against Kentucky.Go figure that one out.We had a defensive back that year that had almost as good of stats as Woodson.His name escapes me but I know it was so.Yes Horning was a great NFL player.But the trophy is given to the best college player not NFL.Had he not been playing for Notre Dame(back then same as now everyone had Notre Dame up their nose.)by the way how many has won it since with just 3 wins(I believe this is correct)SO yes Johnny got screwed even worse than Manning.I believe he played 3 or 4 positions and played them great.I do believe Johnny won a National title and is in 2 hall of fames(as a coach and player)and yes he does deserve to have his jersey retired at UT.Not penalized because he was also great at Pitt. The facts are to the best of my knowledge.Thank you and may God Bless you all.
vscebail#247785 writes:
Politics, politics, politics --- who cares about the Heisman anymore, anyway? All they do is rotate it between the different conferences to try and keep people happy. Charles Woodson deserved the Heisman as much as Al Gore deserved the nobel peace prize: for narrating a movie that someone else filmed!
phi0129 writes:
Hiresanders: I agree, you are a complete moron. Let's hate on one of the best and most loved players in TN football history. I'm starting to question whether you are a TN fan or just some chump who has nothing better to do than join the discussion on this board. Although I wasn't even a teenager yet, I remember the exact moment they announced Woodson beat Manning. I was in a place with a ton of people and a giant gasp and sigh followed by one of my first experiences with excessive cussing ensued. That was the day I learned about the promotion machine that is ESPN and how they HATE TN. I'm just glad we threw oranges on D-bag Corso last time Gameday came.
dickbeeler#615203 writes:
Woodson stats in '97? Glad you asked. He was an excellent DB. 8 interceptions led the Big Ten. He also had 47 tackles (a nice season total - with 5 for loss. On offense, he played but was hardly an impact player, catching 12 passes on the season - with 1 touchdown. He also returned punts - again with 1 touchdown all season. Great player but hardly comparable to Manning as a Heisman candidate. The dirty political fiasco of the '97 race still reeks 10 years later.
TommyJack writes:
Hiresanders: I had you pegged for a moron long before this last lame post. Go help your Mom with the ironing.
memphisvolman writes:
The Vols Defense is notorius for making star QB's!
Jason Campbell- Auburn
Matt Mock- LSU
Chris Leak- Florida
Rex Grossman- Flordia
JaMarkus Russell- LSU
David Green- Georgia
Anthony Morelli- Penn State- Last Year's Bowl game
John Parker Wilson- Alabama
And soon to be added to the list- Andre Woodson
Look for this game to make him the Heisman!
ibvolman writes:
Now it all makes sense. After the Manning Heisman campaign was so stupidly last to Woodson, who has done nothing in the NFL, UT has developed a strategy by which they will have a big part in who the next Heisman winner is.
This is the worst D UT has ever put on the field. There is talent there, but at some point coaches have to develop it. I just do not believe this coaching staff knows how to do it.
Volunatic writes:
I hate it when I agree with John Adams' columns.
eddiehaskel writes:
editor is on the money. why are fans whining about the heisman's insignificance? talking about manning may be ok (10 years ago folks) but majors? the heisman is the biggest individual award in college football whether we vol fans like it or not. we are kingmakers anymore and we should not stand for that. the best way to move to the next millennium is to stop crying in our beer about general neyland, gene mcever and the countless other players that havent been on the is earth in fifty years and bring this program to current prominence. this administration constantly hypes the "good old days". listening to kessling before the game made me sick. no more looking back and griping about how wrong we've been done.
RemembertheAlamo writes:
to mickey9830...on defense in '97 we had Jonathan Brown, Terry Fair, and Leonard Little...Are you talking about Terry Fair?
eddiehaskel writes:
if we are going to be precise you are forgetting heath shuler. my point is that this program is stuck in its "rich history". further, we are one of the few schools remaining that is coached by an alum. this isnt the sixties or seventies. our head honchos in the coaching booth would rather talk and coach tradition than tackling and blocking. general neyland, bobby dodd and george cafego aint gonna get it done. two (or three) missed heisman trophies does not matter.
RemembertheAlamo writes:
eddiehaskel...how is the "Beav".....you guys still playing touch ball........
RemembertheAlamo writes:
it seems like 3 games allowing 40+ points doesn't matter either.....
eddiehaskel writes:
beav tore an ACL and is out for 6-8 months. ward took him to the wrong hospital and now he lost his vision. he needs your prayers...and your eyes.
Volunatic writes:
So, a lot of people posting here apparently want Hamilton to fire Fulmer. Or so I gather-- I could be mistaken. (Just kidding.)
I don't think it will happen after this season, unless UT wins fewer than 8 games (bowl included).
I'm curious-- WHO do folks want to be the next coach?
Just for kicks, I'll start-- (yes, I've mentioned this guy before) I think Greg Schiano at Rutgers might be a good choice-- he can probably be bought (I doubt that the State University of New Jersey can out-bid us for his services), he can rebuild a program from scratch, and he gets a lot out of the players HE HAS, instead of insisting that "3-star" players run the plays designed for "5-star" players.
RemembertheAlamo writes:
You don't want to talk about the past, then lets talk about the future.......we have Oregron in 2010, NC in 2011, Oklahoma in 2014, and Nebraska in 2016.......will we be the same old UT by then....If we are, if you think Florida or Bama beat us....wait to see what Oklahoma does to us....And UCLA next two years.....I can't "WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR, AND THE NEXT, AND THE NEXT...."
eddiehaskel writes:
vol76
my point exactly. this program will really spiral when recruits smell blood within the ut coaching staff. im sure they already ask who robert neyland was. look at nebraska. they at least have the guts to do something. we have to stop hanging on to these sacred cows and change the course. now.
Volunatic writes:
HireSanders,
Do you really want us to have a head coach at UT who wasn't competent as a coordinator?
Randy Sanders is a very good position coach-- he coached our running backs in '97 and '98, and our receivers before that, and is now doing a great job as QB coach at UK, but he was over his head once he was promoted to OC at UT, and our offensive results were, well, "offensive" from '99 through '05.
How does that qualify him to be head coach?
hoskinsfive#468391 writes:
Heisman means PI$$ after the greatest player to ever wear a uniform was robbed!
RemembertheAlamo writes:
have you heard about that freshman (in highschool) running back in Kingsport.....I sure hope he stays healthy and wants to go to UT....
newtonrail writes:
CR, still waiting for you to come over to Section Q, row 36, Seats 8 and 9 to discuss it like men before the SC game.. Not the constant dissing of a University you allegedly support. The crazy thing is I think you and I agree about Majors, but disagree about the way to handle this mess.
OldNumber7 writes:
CarryOn, I share your exact thoughts. I've never watched that dumba$$ award show since. When the voting weenies can't look at the big picture and recognize the load a QB carries to the field of battle versus the dumb athletism Woodson demonstrated that year - it gives "Football" and the all-encompassing game it is a bad name. Manning did 10x what Woodson did that year as a best "Football Player". Look who people are calling the best "player" now.
Is decision making at the line of scrimmage not considered "playing" the game? What about throwing, audibles, signals, and for goodness sake reading defense. I think Manning did more reading defenses alone skill-wise in '96 than anything Woodson did all year. The QB position is rightly glorified because it is the wisdom of the coach, the x's and o's, the strategy, and the gameplan all in one guy's head - not to mention his physical skill in executing the game.
Football is about chalkboards, war genius, and distances of inches as well as leaping and jumping. I have no respect for Heisman voters as they totally disrespected the game of football in favor of a jumping-catching-guy in 96; and totally convinced me they don't know the difference.
RemembertheAlamo writes:
CarryOn....I have heard about Sterling also....I know we (UT) use to recruit a lot of Quarterbacks, because they were usually the best athlete on the h.s. teams and then convert them to wide outs, DBs, or LBs....but H.S. teams have progress so much that athletes are more train at their positions than when players had to play both ways. I, also think they need to let the players play at their position, and only give them the chance to move if they get beat out at their position and they would like to move to get more playing time....
twin942 writes:
I believe I am a somewhat objective person, so let me say this objectively: UT is victim to some of the biggest Heisman shaft jobs in history:
1) Only one defensive player has ever won the Heisman (you guessed it; Woodson over Manning)
2) Only one Heisman has been awarded to a player from a losing team (Hornung over Majors)
My issue is how they change the rules. Heismans are almost always awarded for college career achievements, despite the blabber about awarding to the best player in a given year. That is why a fresman or sophomore has never won. So why didn't this apply to Manning? Also, Hornung may very well have been a better college player, but again, the rules changed when Johnny was up for the award. And I do agree with some of the comments on Big 10 bias (objectively speaking).
gmccown007#392764 writes:
What if I were to GUARANTEE you that I can give all of you the name of the ONE and ONLY coach in the whole of America that can return Tennessee to ALL of its heartbreakingly long lost days of glory? Now, if I could "do" such a miraculous, seemingly impossible thing, would you immediately "sign up" and --- with all of your heart --- "get on board"? Or would you --- with the NEGATIVITY that has now engulfed the VOL NATION --- and indeed, is now threatening to DESTROY it --- INSTEAD join --- GLEEFULLY, no doubt --- in the FLOOD OF NEGATIVITY that would almost certainly follow an idea so "wild" and, no doubt, certain to be PERFECT? Perfect, that is, once all EMOTION is completely wiped away.
I have --- literally --- been sitting in that once hallowed stadium for OVER 55 YEARS!!! NO ONE'S blood runs any more orange than mine! NO ONE'S!!! Consequently, there is NO PRICE (other than my immortal soul) that I would not pay for a return to those once halcyon days of glory.
Want to return to such days of triumphant joy? Admittedly, now, only for a mere handful of remaining years? Or do all of you prefer to merely continue to endlessly, fruitlessly bicker? There is only the tiniest window of opportunity now left. But that window DOES exist. With no blasphemy whatsoever intended, there is a "savior" available to us. Incredibly, he is even a native son. Tennessee born and bred. Further, he is, regardless of one’s prejudices, the GREATEST football "genius" alive. WITHOUT QUESTION!
Now, mind you, we do not always see eye-to-eye. Collectively, or otherwise. But who cares? Particularly, for such a magnificent ultimate "prize"? I have sat around a hundred tables and heard it repeated a thousand times.
"Native son or not he would never take the job. Besides, there is no one alive who hates Tennessee any more than he does”.
I promise you, folks. Neither statement is true. Now, it IS true that out of high school, he “refused” our recruitment. But only because he was determined to remain a quarterback.(Tennessee still ran exclusively single wing and not being a Tim Tebow “type” (of that day or any other), he knew his running skills simply were not adaptable to U-T's offensive sets. And, mind you, he was more than "right".
Once he became a coach, though, he has been ready --- more than once --- to come back to Tennessee. Justifiably, though, he has never judged it "right" or "proper" to do the asking. And, indeed, why should he have?
Of whom are we speaking? Well, the one and only one man who can save the "train-wreck" that is now Tennessee football. Steve Spurrier.
By the way, time is running out. Like Lou Pinella with the Cubs, this would, guaranteed, be Spurrier’s last hurrah.
At this stage, it would probably call for one dollar more than Lou Saban. In case you have forgotten, the man who just handed us our a$$.
I don’t know about you but I will never forget that pain. Never.
I’m good for the first $100,000.00. Anybody got a dollar?
webbofconfusion writes:
we haven't played josh johnson yet....
Josh for heisman!
james#216392 writes:
I love the Vols- football or basketball, even Lady VOLS BB and Softball. Why don't we are quit blasting the FB program and see what happens after the season. I would hate to lose a good recuit with all this negative talk.
Congrads to Luke Stocker on your first TD. You are making us proud in Berea.
raynochonspeed#212632 writes:
newtonrail said: "CR, still waiting for you to come over to Section Q, row 36, Seats 8 and 9 to discuss it like men before the SC game."
Seriously, Internet Tough Guy? CRVol has riled you up so much that you give out your stadium seat numbers because you wanna fight? Pathetic.
It cracks me up to see how many people get upset by CRVol's comments. Keep it up, CR.
Southland writes:
to all cheerleaders I have searched and searched for you loudmouths that called all of us idiots after the Georgia game Maybe we will hear from you again after we beat the mighty team from Lafayette La. maybe then can you tell us the ship has been made right and we are setting sail once again to reach the prize to be found at Poulan weedeater bowl. Please remind us all at how good we are and how fortunate we are to support the team through the bad times and getting worse times. I know you will give us a pep talk that will change our minds as you did when we beat a bad georgia team Beat your chests and blow your horns and tell us how much better fans you are than those of us who think it is time for a change and also that we owe R. Sanders an apology because we now know who the real problem was and is
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