Event Details
- What: Tennessee at Florida
- When: Saturday, Sept. 15, 2007, 3:30 p.m.
- Where: Gainesville, Fla.
- Cost: Not available
- Age limit: All ages
Tennessee Stat Book
Florida by the numbers
When Britton Colquitt drops back to punt against Florida on Saturday, don't touch that remote. You'll miss something.
Colquitt will be punting - he hopes - in his third game against the No. 5 Gators (2-0) when No. 22 Tennessee (1-1) visits The Swamp (TV: WVLT, 3:30 p.m.)
If the underdog Vols are to have a chance at the upset in the SEC opener for both teams, they'll need more good things than bad to happen in the kicking game.
And things will happen.
Consider 2005, Colquitt's first visit to Florida as a redshirt freshman.
"Oh, yeah, that's a great memory,'' Colquitt said this week, rolling his eyes.
Florida capitalized on three Tennessee punt-team breakdowns in the third quarter. Each resulted in a Florida field goal, adding up to a 16-7 victory.
First Jonathan Hefney fumbled a punt return at the UT 28.
Next, Colquitt stunned everyone - including UT's coaches - by improvising a pass to Inky Johnson from punt formation on fourth-and-10 at the UT 32.
Florida broke up the pass and the Gators had a short field to add three more points.
"If he'd thrown it out there a little better he'd have been a hero,'' UT coach Phillip Fulmer said this week. (Fulmer was less philosophical at the time.)
Colquitt's next punt traveled all of 8 yards.
"Well, it's a good memory to have just because you learned something,'' he said. "I had some ups and downs but now I'm a lot older. I'm trying to erase all that.''
Last year, Colquitt had a career day against the Gators, averaging 48.2 yards per kick. Twice, however, the Vols averted disaster on returns.
Florida's Brandon James returned one boomer 89 yards for an apparent touchdown. A penalty nullified the score.
When James broke through on another return, Colquitt, the last defender, tripped him after a 35-yard gain, saving a touchdown.
"I thought it was illegal when I did it,'' said Colquitt, "but it's legal in college. You can trip the ballcarrier.''
He hopes it doesn't come to that Saturday.
His first hope, though, is to get on the field. The quadriceps muscle he strained last month has been slow to heal.
Colquitt, an All-SEC punter in 2006, was set to add field-goals and kickoffs to his repertoire before the injury.
He was limited to punting in the 45-31 loss at Cal. DeSean Jakcon returned his first kick of the year 77 yards for a touchdown.
Colquitt didn't play at all against Southern Miss.
His inactivity has been mitigated by the fact that Daniel Lincoln has been perfect on field goals and Chad Cunningham had a solid 40.2-yard net average punting with zero returns against Southern Miss.
Kickoffs, though, have been problematic. Neither Lincoln nor Cunningham has the leg strength Colquitt does to compensate for the new rule moving the tee back 5 yards to the 30.
Colquitt predicts he'll be 100 percent by Saturday, at least for punting. Kicking off, that's less certain.
"It's kind of scary because that's how I (injured his leg),'' Colquitt said. "We're struggling right now with the field position so I want to get back.''
So he'll loosen up good Saturday and see how it feels.
"If I could do it this week, I would,'' he said.
The more a battle-tested junior can do at Florida to take the heat off a couple of freshmen the better.
"You've got to be really good physically and mentally," he said, "but you also have to be totally prepared to go down there.
"It's not one of those games where you can pull something out of your hat.''
Nobody knows that better than Colquitt.
Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276.
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Comments » 24
threehundredbowler writes:
We will lose this game because of poor special team play.Special team play has cost us at least two losses a year for the past 6 years.Not one coach seems to realize that or if they do,they do not care.If they did they would work harder to find a fix.
yeavols#228407 writes:
We don't have a special teams..that fell by the wayside years ago. And seven_pin is right..no one has picked up on it. Anyway, good luck VOLS..Lou Holtz has predicted that gators will be leading 49-3 at halftime. Now what?
N_Knox_Vol writes:
Here's a better start to this thread.....Special teams will be a key component of the game. We must outplay the Gators on special teams to put ourselves in a position to win. With Colquitt back and Lincoln strong at field goals, it up to coverage and returns to step up. If they do, WE WIN! GO VOLS!
yeavols#228407 writes:
Football gurus are saying Tebow should don a superman costume..how nice..who knew?
bigorangesob writes:
Some of you guys are so negative, how about talking about things that can help us win, damn
DadwasaVol writes:
Turnovers, and lack thereof, may turn out to be more important than any possible deficiencies the Vols have on special teams. I'm a little worried about Florida's returns but turnovers, which could go either way, will be more of a deciding factor in this game.
gohawks1 writes:
Florida punt returns shouldn't be a concern. It's simple ... if they have a top-notch returner, then YOU DON'T KICK IT TO HIM! Why is that so hard to understand? It's like walking a homerun hitter. It's a no-brainer.
Kick-offs are a little trickier. It's all about coverage and being able to kick it deep. Do we know if Colquitt will be full speed ahead on Saturday?
tnfanincali writes:
contain tbow, play solid fundamentally on D, and open up the offense, we got this game in the bag. if we let tbow run on us, it gets in the heads of the secondary and they blow coverages. lou holtz's job is to say stupid s..stuff to keep people talking, but i don't think anyone takes him seriously.. do they? he obviously is either delusional or a mouthpiece to drum up interest/bulletin board material if he thinks that half time prediction is realistic and he obviously does not follow this rivalry. i think the game will be decided this year, as it has every year recently, by a few points. UT 41 FL 34...GO VOLS!!!
wyomingvol writes:
Why don't we wear Orange Pants anymore???
ThaiVolFan writes:
mmeletiou,
people stopped taking Lou seriously a long time ago. He's just a lisping side-show attraction.( I'd like to just hear him say side-show attraction) I also agree with the score in the end. I've been saying all week long 41-33 upset. Listen, if old senile Lou is predicting it to be 49-3 at the half that should make us Vol fans happy. He has also been talking about Notre Dame getting a BCS birth. He lost all reason a long time ago, we should take comfort in that. Go Big Orange!!
tnfanincali writes:
maybe he just had a "senior moment" when he said that. he is "gettin along" as we say in the south. as far as the orange pants, damn they looked retarded! i don't really care what our uniforms look like, i want some W's. and i'm not talking another george w...
movol77 writes:
mmeletiou, you can leave your cute "Bush-bashing" to some disrespectful website. Let's talk Vols!
BOASoldier writes:
Tennessee's Offense will outplay Florida's young D-line and secondary, however they have the same advantage against our D. IMO it comes down to which D finally steps up or like everyone else has said who does the best on special teams. by the way Lou Holtz is an idiot... this is the same old man that said Notre Dame was going to rack up the points on their first two opponents... we all know how that ended up. He needs to take the coke bottle glasses off and hang it up.
bigbluevol writes:
I don't like Holtz either, but he didn't predict that. He was talking about how everyone had criticized Florida's defense for giving up 31 to Troy. He then said, "They were up 49-3 at halftime" and went on to say, basically, that UF just let up. Mark May, who I deem defender of the Vols, said he thinks it will be a close game because of our O Line.
vol4jesus writes:
Poor Lou, everybody banging on him for a comment taken out of context. He likes to stoke the coals anyway like Leah Corso does "my young friend." GO VOLS !!!
orangebloodgmc writes:
Sounds to me like Florida LOST the last half of football that they played. Whereas we played a lot of reserves in the last half we played and we did better, not worse, and we were playing a better opponent than they were. Screw the gadars and every toady who sucks up to 'em.
99gator writes:
i can not believe how many of you are putting a lot of stock into the fl-troy matchup. has florida's early season opponents and the outcomes really affected florida negatively against tennessee. 2 years ago, i heard this stuff. new coaching staff, played against two chumps, now let's see if meyer can coach in the sec. either team could win or lose, don't get me wrong. but putting faith in your second half against southern miss and florida's second half against troy is senseless.
different week, different competition, different level of pressure, different location (for tennessee), need i go on.
waterskier3#226480 writes:
well let the game begin... I want our team to play hard, hit hard and play with i'm not going to lose today attitude... all we have to do is score more points and we'll be ok....lol
I'm with everyone else our special teams is what will get us beat tomorrow.
vol88 writes:
How in the world can a bunch of fans on a message board understand the importance of the kicking game when the coaching staff cannot??? It blows my mind! Special teams is 1/3 of football. And with kickoffs at the 30 now, it's even more important. Having another Colquitt is great. I've loved them all. But special teams also means TACKLING the guy before he returns one of our kicks 50 yards!
99gator writes:
i don't necessarily take solice in tebow's passing numbers this year. i take solice in the rest of the offense because the rest of the offense played in 2006. mostly i take solice in the o-line, as most of it is back from '06. generally speaking if the line plays well, you will score points. the thing about tebow that gives me confidence is that the coaching staff has not given so much as a hint of fear as to whether or not he will perform well throughout the season. granted, it's one thing to talk about it and another to do it. the thing that gives me solice on the defensive side of the ball is that florida has not been horrible on defense since i can remember. i think this group will be average. but there is a big difference between dreadful and average.
99gator writes:
one last thing as well. the other thing that gives me confidence in tebow is the nature of the offense. florida will dink or dunk or throw deep not a lot of intermediate routes. not like a spurrier offense where a qb drops back to pass and has to read a defense and throw to the right man. that's why i think the key for tenn is to put florida in 3rd and long, where they can't dink and dunk and he has to throw an intermediate route and prove he can read a defense.
99gator writes:
based on what everyone has written this week, the game will be determined by which team does not stop itself with penalties, a dropped pass, etc, and bail the opposing defense out. also, which defense can come up with a sack or some kind of negative play to kill a drive. an offense creates, a defense disrupts. and one play, a sack, a penalty, can kill a potential scoring drive.
vol4jesus writes:
Oh I want to go with my heart so bad.....You know BIG ORANGE hammers gators. My head says we are underdogs and it will be a tough swim in the swamp. If we win it will be by the tail of a coonskin cap. GO VOLS!!!
drpeek writes:
With as good a coach as Trooper Taylor has been to us why dont we designate him our ST coach?
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