Event Details
- What: Tennessee at UCLA
- When: Monday, Sept. 1, 2008, 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
- Where: Away The Rose Bowl
- Cost: Not available
- Age limit: All ages
LOS ANGELES - Sometimes, what doesn't happen is as important as what does happen in preseason football. And as Tennessee prepares for a slightly belated season opener on Monday night, its fans should be encouraged by what didn't happen.
They should feel good about something else. UT gained ground on its toughest SEC opponents.
It's all about attrition. Compared to the competition, UT's preseason attrition was minimal.
The Vols lost tight end Jeff Cottam for up to eight weeks with a back injury. They also lost backup defensive tackle Chase Nelson, whose absence is magnified by the lack of experienced depth at that position.
But Florida, Georgia and Auburn all lost more in preseason.
The Gators lost preseason All-SEC tight end Cornelius Ingram for the season. In an offense that relies on so many wide receivers, don't underestimate that loss. Ingram is a tight end with wide-receiver speed, and Gators coach Urban Meyer had planned for him to have an expanded role in the offense.
You also might wonder about the status of wide receiver/running back Percy Harvin, another All-SEC player. He has been slow to recover from off-season heel injury and didn't play in Saturday's season opener against Hawaii, although you couldn't tell it by Florida's 56-10 victory.
The Gators have enough talented running backs that they don't need Harvin as a runner. But they do need him as a receiver, especially after the loss of Ingram.
Georgia didn't lose an All-SEC player, but it did lose offensive tackle Trinton Sturdivant, who was good enough to start last season as a true freshman. As solid as the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs might look, you can't expect them to be as good offensively without their best linemen.
At SEC football media days Georgia coach Mark Richt was asked what were his biggest concerns. His answer: a new placekicker and depth in the offensive line. With Sturdivant out for the season, the Bulldogs have even less depth.
Depth in the secondary was one of Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville's preseason concerns. So what happened in training camp? He lost starting cornerback Aaron Savage to a season-ending injury.
Florida, Georgia and Auburn are the three UT opponents who outranked the Vols in the preseason polls. Based on attrition alone, UT has gained ground on all three.
And it might have gained more ground on the first weekend of the season.
Tackle Jeff Owens, one of Georgia's best defensive players, suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury in the first quarter of Georgia's 45-21 victory against Georgia Southern. Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said the injury might be a season-ender.
As Owens was helped off the field, it was just another reminder that the gap had narrowed between UT and the best teams in its division. And the Vols haven't even played a game.
Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com.
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Comments » 19
rrvolfan#230816 writes:
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John Adams byline = IGNORE THIS ARTICLE
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pdhuff#552644 writes:
We can't count on narrowing gaps due to injury.
We are not exempt from the same thing happening to us. Wish them all a safe season.
The biggest gap that will tighten is between my cheeks if we play like Michigan did today.
Shouldn't happen, but, wow!
rrvolfan#230816 writes:
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The quality of the KNS would be improved with the loss of John Adams!!!!
CoverOrange writes:
Well said PD. Can't believe this article was written even if it was by JA.
I would be really surprised if Cottam comes back before the end of the season much less in 8 weeks.
murrayvol writes:
pd: Tend to agree with you but.....the SEC talent gap isn't really wide enough to keep filling behind quality players. And what if we lost JC? Damn!
Doubt that many Wolverine fans saw this coming. And they haven't had a losing season since when?
Good luck with that cheek gap on Monday.
newtonrail writes:
I don't like some things JA has written over the years, including calling for Fulmer's firing. But----, you all are wasting your time fuming about it. KNS is selling more papers because he stirred the pot, and even if they felt pressure from UT, they would never cave to it this close to the "Big Article". That said, I'll read his articles, and if I don't like them, I'll comment. Not that it will do much good.
CoverOrange writes:
Newton, I'm not fuming, I'm just being a critic. It's not that I dislike JA, I just think he is generally a mediocre writer but especially a bad journalist. Even if he wrote for the Peoria Daily Shopper, I would think that.
PreventUT writes:
Besides the obvious gap between the schools' rankings, what in the hell is he talking about? As of right now, who knows what kind of gaps exist.
"it was just another reminder that the gap had narrowed between UT and the best teams in its division"
correction: between UT and the other "good" teams...
PreventUT writes:
sorry, even that correction doesn't cut it! the implication of an inferior ut team is still there.
Bigger_Al writes:
Would Adams have written this article in the many cases where UT's injuries were worse than everyone elses? NO! He has invested his credibility in UT's demise.
It's obvious that he is trying to set the stage to diminish UT's accomplishments, and he will be delighted if he gets to write about UT's losses.
givehim6 writes:
Was John trying to say somthing positive about UT, or was he trying to give UGA and UF excuses to say when we beat them?
cleVOLand writes:
So, what you're trying to say is that our opponents' injuries makes us better? What about staff changes, coaching, and the hard work of the players? Could it have anything to do with our off-season training changes, or maybe our practice regimen? Give credit where credit is due you big ninny.
richvol writes:
Newtonrail- I respect your opinion but completely disagree with you. The KNS is losing readers and has been for years. Subscriptions are declining along with the quality of it's articles and writers.
The sports section of the KNS was, at one time, second to none in content and quality. Tom Siler was a real journalist who as editor produced a product that people wanted to read...especially on Sundays after a UT game.
The entire paper,not just the sports section, now exibits poor grammar, terrible spelling, apparently a lack of editing and a general lack of effort to satisfy the local markets hunger for insightful coverage of the Vols. The reason they are read at all is because they are the only game in town... and that's a really sad state of affairs.
It is not a waste of time to let the KNS know what you think of their product. Believe me, they need to know.
arkyvol writes:
is this supposed to make us feel good-the fact that injuries are bringing our opponents down to our level? and what happens when we run into a team at full strength?
Ralph_Crampton writes:
C'mon guys, take it easy on John Adams...The late, great Tom Siler was critical at times of the Vols and the coaches. Tom was a Vol fan but first of all he never sugar-coated anything about the Vols, something a true journalist should always do. The KNS does not make money on sale of paper, instead it is advertisers. But all newspapers around the nation are suffering, because of costs, competeting with 24-hour Tv, news shows. John is doing what he is paid to do, stir interest in the readers, yes even get reactions from them, both, good and bad. None of us would want cheerleaders parading as sportwriters. Of course not, even the great Neyland was victim of critical remarks from local sportwriters from KNS.
murrayvol writes:
DC: Wouldn't hang my hat on what the mighty Gators did to the not so mighty Rainbow Boys. Georgia wore them out when they actually had a few players and a coach.
You'll know more at close of business on 9/20.
CoverOrange writes:
General, 7:49, tell TDTN that it's not like it is in the unemployment line. Getting Fulmer fired won't move him up in the line to get a job.
DC, if Drayton was so bad how come Urban didn't fire him long before Fulmer called him? Serious question.
CoverOrange writes:
Maybe, but I remember the last coach we got straight from Florida.
OTOH, how may yards were picked up by RBs that didn't play last year? Demps is true freshman and Rainey is redshirt freshman. Moore is a senior and only got 33 of that 200 yards.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Whatever one thinks of JA in general, his basic point is correct. As everyone should surely know, the talent gap between any two top-echelon teams is very thin these days, especially among the top 40 or so. Any team that loses a key player or three is going to suffer compared to equally talented opponents who do not lose such players. So far--knock wood!--several of UT's future opponents have suffered such losses while we have not; when those opponents are UF and UGA, who were rated above us in pre-season, one could reasonably say that the gap between them and us has narrowed. OTOH, how silly of me to try to use logic on a football fan board populated by JA-haters(;-P)! EIGHT MORE HOURS!!! GO BIG ORANGE!!! I CAN HARDLY WAIT!!!
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