Plight of Fulmer not a distraction

With Tennessee at 3-5 more than halfway through its season, UT coach Phillip Fulmer's job status is a hot topic.

During his teleconference Sunday night in advance of this week's game at South Carolina (TV: ESPN2, 7 p.m.), Fulmer said he didn't think his team has been affected by the speculation and attention surrounding him.

"The guys have played hard and have tried to respond as we've asked them to," Fulmer said. "We haven't had any off-the-field issues or those kinds of things that sometimes come when the players sense something. I think they've really tried to rally and support the staff." Fulmer also said he's confident the Vols can finish strong in their four remaining games.

"I've never gone into a single game that I didn't think we could win," Fulmer said. "We've got our challenges ahead of us as we play South Carolina, Wyoming, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. My thought process is we're going to get all four of them. We've got to play like heck and play a lot better, particularly offensively, to do that."

Asked about the early exit of fans from Neyland Stadium during Saturday's 29-9 loss to No. 2 Alabama, Fulmer said:

"I thought the crowd was really good, actually, until late in the game. I thought they were very into it. The Vol Walk, everybody had great energy and the stadium was great energy. As it went along, and it was late in the second half and it became apparent that we were going to have a hard time winning, that's (fans leaving) anywhere with any people."

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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