Event Details
- What: Tennessee vs. Arkansas State
- When: Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
- Where: Neyland Stadium
- Cost: Not available
- Age limit: All ages
Tennessee Stat Book
Arkansas State
When "The Human Weapon" talks, you better listen.
He's big and he's learning how to destroy people with his bare hands.
Bill Duff definitely grabbed the attention of the Tennessee football team.
The former UT defensive tackle - who is co-host of the History Channel's "The Human Weapon" - gave the Vols their post-walkthrough pep talk Friday afternoon at Neyland Stadium.
He leaned on some personal experience to try and get the players to forget about a slow start to the season.
"I know they haven't started out well at 1-2, but my first year here (1994) we started out 1-3," Duff said. "They have an opportunity to really turn it around and fix it.
"I told them that and I saw it in their eyes - that little spark. I think they have a lot of fighters on this team and it's going to show."
Tennessee gets a chance to prove Duff right or wrong at 7 tonight at home against Arkansas State (TV: Pay-per-view).
Duff, a player who earned a bit of a wild-man reputation as a defensive tackle for the Vols 1994-97, also came to the defense of UT defensive coordinator John Chavis.
"Coach Chavis doesn't play in the games, does he?" Duff said. "That's what I tell a lot of people when they blame the coaches. It's the players out in the field.
"Coach Chavis has won national championships, won SEC championships and been offered NFL jobs and stayed here. Let's give Chavis his due. He's a good coach.
"Besides that, the guys who are young need to step up and that's all you can say about it."
Duff will remain in town for the game and take in some of the festivities with Vol fans prior to kickoff.
As for being the "Human Weapon," Duff said it's a gig that has its ups and downs.
"Some days are unbelievable, you're training in front of the Eiffel Tower," he said. "And some days you're in Cambodia being chased by a water buffalo.
"It's the good and the bad, but it's a lot of fun."
Still 1-2: Quarterback Erik Ainge isn't sure whether Cal and Florida, both ranked in the top 10 nationally, are the two best teams the Vols will face this season.
Ainge praised both teams, but stopped short of saying the Vols won't see better in their remaining nine games.
"We've played two top-10 teams that are very legit and are probably going to do a lot of big things this year," he said. "Whether they're the two best teams on our schedule will remain to be seen.
"Arkansas in three more weeks could peak and be playing the best football of anybody. You never know who's going to peak when. Florida could have peaked early. You never know."
As for whether the Vols' record reflects the team accurately, Ainge said, "We are 1-2 so I wouldn't say we're not a 1-2 football team.
"But we're a very good 1-2 football team."
Cottam, Stocker close: Tight ends Jeff Cottam and Luke Stocker are closer to making more of an impact in the passing game.
Through three games, Cottam has one catch for 4 yards: Stocker has yet to catch a pass.
"I'm really surprised they haven't had more catches - I'm sure it's our schedule," UT coach Phillip Fulmer said. "I would have thought that wouldn't have been the case."
Coker Closer: Running back LaMarcus Coker is getting closer to full speed after missing nearly three weeks of practice due to a suspension.
"I think he's still shaking some rust off," Fulmer said. "He's shown his abilities. I don't think we've seen the best he's got yet."
Coker has rushed for 16 yards on nine carries in two games, however he leads the team with 207 kickoff return yards.
Atkins Sign Fixed: The botched Tennessee "Wall of Fame" sign that read "98 Doug Adkins" has been fixed to correctly read "91 Doug Atkins."
Tennessee officials discovered the error prior to the Vols' home opener two weeks ago against Southern Miss.
Hargrave JV game: The Vols vs. Hargrave Military Academy junior varsity game scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at Neyland Stadium will feature free admission and parking (G-10 lot).
This is the first UT JV game since the Vols defeated Chattanooga 26-13 in 1992.
"We saw an opportunity with a lot of young guys on this year's team to get them some playing time against a quality opponent," Fulmer said. "Hargrave has an excellent program.
"It will be nice to see them on our campus and give coach (Robert) Prunty and his players a chance to see us up close."
Fulmer said NCAA rules prohibit playing in more than 12 regular-season games, so players who have not played in all of UT's early season games could see action. Redshirt candidates, however, cannot play without losing their redshirt status.
Drew Edwards contributed to this report.
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Comments » 22
CrankE writes:
"But we're a very good 1-2 football team." Sigh. What are they teaching these kids?
CoverOrange writes:
I like the Human Weapon on the History channel. The pain these guys endure in training and combat is unreal. My only criticism is that Bill seems to hold back goofing on his sidekick who needs to be goofed on more. Need more smirky, wildman humor.
On another note, why should the TEs be catching passes when the WRs are running their underneath routes? Here's an idea, send the TE on a post ala Jason Witten!
chrisw2967 writes:
"Arkansas in three more weeks could peak and be playing the best football of anybody. You never know who's going to peak when. Florida could have peaked early. You never know."
Ainge "But we're a very good 1-2 football team."
I got news for Ainge they are not a good 1-2 football team
well if any body plays Tenn this year then Im sure they will have peaked , we wont have to worry about peaking this year or next year.
CoverOrange writes:
And another thing, I'll never forget that smack down Bill Duff put on that Ohio State Heisman RB Eddie George in the Citrus Bowl at the three yard line. Ah, the good old UT defense days.
Urbiewerecomingtogetyou writes:
Bill
You're one of my all time favorite Volunteers. The goal line stand in the Citrus bowl against Ohio State was phenomenal. I like Coach Chavis as well, but the problem is more than about the success or failure of this year. It absolutely doesn't matter if Coach Chavis plays in the game or not. He is responsible for the outcome, period! I'm going to say it, as many times, as I have to. Anybody that looks at the past few years and doesn't see that we need change are just offering blind loyalty. I've been very loyal to my team these very same years and that includes the coaches. I along with many thousands donated my money and didn't say a word during all of those peach bowl blunders. Losing countless games that we obviously should have won. The year of the perfect storm comes to mind. Years going by with out a hope of (competing) for a championship, even though everybody knew, we had more than enough talent to do so. I certainly would like to see this team win out. Anything less, is with out a doubt, an absolute failure, and very unlikely (snowballs chance) to happen. Erik, if Cal and Florida aren't the two best teams we're going to face, then we're in big time trouble.
vol4good#206163 writes:
Will everyone that is defending Phil and Co. please stop calling this team "YOUNG". Florida played twice as many freshman as TN, and no one is calling that team "young". Players mature and learn at the pace of thier coach. Not because they are young. Hell even Ainge is "young" in years. Say they were ill prepaired, but please stop blaming the failures on youth.
smith7206 writes:
What, had everyone rather Ainge said "we are a sorry bunch of losers"? In the "Forgetting Florida" article comments folks are blasting Ainge for admitting the possibility of loosing to Ark St, here he's being blasted for showing some confidence.
Is there anything that Ainge can say which won't be used as an indicator of how sorry everything, and Fulmer in particlar, is?
The folks crying the loudest this week are the same ones who will be crowing the loudest should UT run the remainder of the schedule.
newtonrail writes:
CR, you are about as funny as a Colonoscopy without sedation.
BigUn writes:
"I'm really surprised they haven't had more catches - I'm sure it's our schedule," UT coach Phillip Fulmer said.
Says it all right there. You get outcoached, outschemed and outplayed and instead of rising to the occasion and playing/coaching better, you blame the schedule! Brilliant. Must be part of your pregrame snoozer pep talk you give before having our guys sleep walk onto the field, Phil!
agentorange writes:
like to see uf on the road agst to top 10 teams in their first three games. never happen b/c foley scheduled cupcakes. maybe we should blame dickey. cr is in love with his tranny.
snafu14u#241639 writes:
I would like to see Duff in some UT orange on the show. Come on show a little Tennessee pride, like David Keith. Bonzaivol
Feared_Mustang_Package writes:
Okay let me get this straight. He takes up for Chavis by saying, "Chavis isn't the one of the field playing the game, you the players are". Then, later in the story Duff lays out his resume as a SEC and National Championship winner.
Well according to your first quote it was the players that won Championships because Chavis don't play but.....by your second quote Chavis won those all on his own?
Human Weapon, not so much a Brain Weapon.
Urbiewerecomingtogetyou writes:
smith7206:
I've thought about your comments above and totally agree that the (present players) should not be brought into this discussion under any circumstances. I will refrain from doin so myself,and hope everyone else does as well. Thanks for bringing it up.
volintexas writes:
newtonrail, ouch! I liked Duff. He was always great for saying something like "we knocked them up the side of the head" on that play. He had a cogent eloquence. I liked the basics of his don't quit message to the team. Whether you like the coaching or not, you need to pull for the boys. Who would ever want a Volunteer to pack it in and make a Deion Sanders "business decision". Sure the war was over, but Andy Jackson didn't know it, and what if he had taken that attitude in New Orleans? Back to Bill, I think the "Human Weapon" has been preoccupied wrestling water buffalo or editing his own TV show, and he hasn't had much of an opportunity to really study game film of the Volunteers. Moreover, if poor tackling and poor poor angles are completely at the feet of the players, then why did we recruit such stiffs in the first place? Did they suddenly develop the poor angle and poor tackling virus on campus? I guess we can't blame that on the coaches either. Also, that water buffalo may have effected Bill's ability to count because unless the KNS writer whiffed (which is entirely possible), I remember one national championship (no s on the end)and 2 SEC championships in 14.5 years (Phil likes to include those interim 92 games on his resume in George O'Leary fashion), when he took over a loaded program, and since 98 it hasn't been pretty. Johnny won three in 16 years, but it took time to rebuild, and he won 2 in his last 4 years, and he came darn close to winning it in 91. As for Chavis, I haven't bought this defensive genius stuff ever. Chief was a great Volunteer. As they said in Rudy, he was "five foot nothing", but he was a D-line stalwart under Coach Majors because he was a fighter like Duff. He seems to have a great rapport with the players. If there is a coaching regime change, and that won't be decided here, I hope the University figures out a way to find some capacity for Chavis to stay around. However, as for the genius, I wish there was a statistic tracking UT's third down defense on situations ranging between third and 15-third and 25. I can't recall a defense giving up more of those types of plays than UT has under Chavis. Also, I am not sure where the genius has been whenever he got pimp slapped by Florida, especially under Spurrier, but Meyer certainly seems to have dialed on him as well. Boys, times will get better. It is time for a change, just like it was in 1976, but let's support the team, just like many of us did on that cold November day in 76 when we played Kentucky and the Vols fought it out (and lost) their shot at a Peach Bowl bid.
wbgbbg#625035 writes:
Tonight @ 7:00 we'll see how much the Vols want to win... About going the rest of the season undefeated is like Fulmer stepping down on his on...not a chance in hell... Ark.St. is playing some good football..see you all @ the game.
tennisvol writes:
Check out ole Phil's record since 2000 and against the top teams in the SEC. Take away Vandy and Kentucky during those years and that tells the story. Everyone seems to want to play TN now.
objk1#231846 writes:
Please huddle up.
papavol writes:
Fulmer resign. Id much rather see some of you cry babies resign as volunteer fans. Find a new team to cry about. GO VOLS!
lr167#656718 writes:
Amen, papavol! I am with you all the way. I've never heard such a bunch of crybabies in all my life. Have you men ever heard of hanging tough and giving those coaches and players your support when they need it most. I hope you don't have any young male children that are looking to you as their role model. It's great to win and I love to win as much as anyone, but give me a break. Put your beer down and find something else to whine about!
chrisw2967 writes:
papavol
Fulmer resign. Id much rather see some of you cry babies resign as volunteer fans. Find a new team to cry about. GO VOLS!
papavol must like a pathetic coachin and must be a loyal Fulmer fan , Fulmer must of gave you a free ticket to the game.
Urbiewerecomingtogetyou writes:
chrisw2967
Some fans are delusional and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. I should know, because I'm formerly one of them.
papavol writes:
All i'm saying is that the moaning and complaining isnt going to change Sh*t. Go be a kentucky fan, I here there doing pretty decent this year.
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