Richard fits into starting job

Vladimir Richard moves pretty well for a guy who weighs 300 pounds.

That’s on the field and in the huddle.

Making his first career start last week against Mississippi State, Richard didn’t seem to mind playing nearly every one of UT’s 50 snaps on offense.

He even had enough energy to dance in the huddle.

“At first when I started doing it a lot, I was just doing it for myself, feeling good,” Richard said. “Now my teammates are feeding off it. I had (center Josh) McNeil doing a little dance in the huddle. I don’t know if you guys caught that. (Guard) Jacques (McClendon) do a little something. It’s good to see that I can bring that energy and have my teammates doing a little something, too.”

Quarterback Nick Stephens isn’t quite ready to get in on the act.

“I try not to do that kind of stuff,” Stephens joked. “I think I might hurt myself if I tried to do that. He’s too big to be dancing like that, too. He might hurt somebody.”

Richard, though, still has hope for his quarterback.

“I’m going teach Nick a few moves,” he said. “He’s out there shaking a few people at quarterback. So I feel he can learn a few dance moves.”

Injury Updates: UT coach Phillip Fulmer said after Friday’s walkthrough that receiver Gerald Jones and guard Anthony Parker will be game-time decisions against Alabama. Both suffered high ankle sprains against Mississippi State.

Jumpin’ Jacques: After starting all six games this season, McClendon began last week on the bench in favor of Richard.

“He did respond well, like you want him to,” Fulmer said. “Then Anthony (Parker) got hurt early and he went in and played probably his best game of the year.”

Saban’s Touch: Alabama’s secondary, which ranks third in the SEC with 10 interceptions, has plenty of wrinkles that can make it difficult on a quarterback.

“They do a lot in the secondary that looks the same but becomes different things,” UT offensive coordinator Dave Clawson said. “There’s just subtle changes in how they play coverage. It’s difficult to tell your quarterback, ‘Hey, when they’re in this look, this what you’re going to have.’ They change up the leverage on the perimeter so much and in so many different ways, that it’s a real schematic challenge and it’s also a real physical challenge.”

Credit much that complexity to Alabama coach Nick Saban, who began his career coaching defensive backs.

Not Impressed: UT did not commit a turnover against Mississippi State and had no offensive penalties a week after wracking up 10 as a team against Georgia.

Clawson, for one, isn’t exactly impressed.

“That should be expected,” he said. “Whenever you’re excited you didn’t do something stupid, that’s kind of a low standard.”

Those 10 penalties are a season high, although Tennessee has had at least eight penalties in three other games (UAB, UCLA and Florida).

Clawson said he hopes the offense has finally learned its lesson.

“Maybe it took to really get burned by it to have guys to buy into it,” he said. “I’m still disappointed we even had those issues to begin with. So I’m not ready to jump and cheer because of the one game we didn’t do it. Hopefully it means there’s an understanding of how bad those plays hurt us.”

Coaches Fight MD: Fulmer and Saban are two of nearly 200 college coaches nationwide participating in a “Coaches to Cure MD” campaign today. Coaches will wear armbands with the “CTCMD” logo and public service announcements asking for donations will be read over the PA and shown on the Jumbotron.

Fans can donate to MD research by texting “CURE” to 90999 to donate $5 or by visiting the web site CoachToCureMD.org.