Berry hopes to give others opportunities

Believe it or not, Eric Berry is human.

Case in point, Tennessee’s superstar safety has only recorded one ‘A’ grade for a game this season, by way of the 95 he earned for his play against Mississippi State.

Other than that, it’s been all ‘B’s for Berry. His worst grade came following the Auburn game when he scored an 83.

“I could feel that I wasn’t myself that game,” Berry said of his three-tackle performance against the Tigers. “I wasn’t really flying around like I should have been.”

With five interceptions and five pass break ups, don’t be surprised if teams start to throw away from Berry — if they haven’t already.

“I take that as a form of dominance,” Berry said. “If they don’t throw it my way and give somebody else an opportunity to make a play, I feel like I’ve done my job.”

As for those grades, they’re given out by defensive backs coach Larry Slade and are likely used to motivate as well as assess.

“He grades me and (cornerback) Dennis Rogan extremely hard,” Berry said with a smile.

Injury Report: Head coach Phillip Fulmer described receiver Gerald Jones as “functional” but not 100 percent following Thursday’s practice.

Jones has been limited in practice this week after missing last week’s Alabama game with a high ankle sprain.

“I’d be shocked if Gerald isn’t playing and isn’t close to full speed,” offensive coordinator Dave Clawson said.

Fulmer seemed optimistic about defensive tackle Dan Williams, who also has been limited this week with a high ankle sprain.

“Dan Williams looks like he might be able to play,” Fulmer said. “I wouldn’t have bet that at all on Monday.”

Williams’ play could be key considering defensive tackle Walter Fisher still suffers from turf toe.

Fulmer said he thought defensive end Wes Brown will play Saturday. Brown has been dealing with a sore knee all season, which was re-aggravated last week against Alabama.

Nick of Time: Nick Stephens hasn’t attempted enough passes to be rated among the quarterbacks in the SEC. However, his 123.95 passer rating would rank seventh-best in the conference if he met the minimum requirements.

“Nick’s playing like a first-year quarterback,” Clawson said. “Right now, Nick is taking care of the football and we’ve been in games with him.”

Through four games as a starter and 97 pass attempts Stephens has yet to throw an interception. He’s been so error-free in fact that he’s even eliminated practice interceptions for three weeks.

“If I do, it doesn’t bother me because it’s practice. It bothers the coaches a lot more than it does me,” Stephens said with a smile.

When Stephens does throw an interception in practice, it’s as much a test as a turnover.

Stephens’ last practice interception allowed him the understanding to avoid throwing the same pass into the same coverage in the upcoming game.

“I learned a lesson that way,” he said.

With UT’s offense ranked 112th in the nation, some have wondered if the Vols might give Jonathan Crompton another chance. Crompton started the first four games this season and has a 95.83 passer rating.

Crompton was lauded for his practice performance despite his struggles in games.

Clawson said Crompton has continued to work hard, but because of decreased practice snaps his performance has declined.

“If you just change for the sake of change, I don’t think it’s an answer,” Clawson said. “He’s (Stephens) going to be our starter this week.

“I hope he plays well and continues to play well. But you never say never.”

Scouting Report: Clawson is plenty impressed with South Carolina’s defense, which ranks fourth-best in the nation. Even more so considering the Gamecocks’ offense ranks 79th in the nation.

South Carolina isn’t a team built for controlling time of possession. The Gamecocks rank 108th in the nation in rushing offense and 36th in passing.

“The fact that they have the defensive numbers they do with the style of offense they run is even more remarkable,” Clawson said. “That tells you how good they are.”

Defensive coordinator John Chavis said South Carolina’s skill position players are very similar to those he faced when head coach Steve Spurrier was at Florida in the 1990’s. Chavis said disguise is important in order to defend Spurrier’s passing attack.

“If you show your hand, it’s tough to compete against him,” Chavis said.

Defensive tackles coach Dan Brooks said South Carolina is particularly adept at running draw plays and play-action passes off draw looks.

“I think they’re a good group,” Brooks said of South Carolina’s offensive line. “I don’t think they’re a great offensive line but I think they’re good at what they do.

“We’ll have to play well up front. If we can challenge ours to go hit ’em like we did last week, then I think we can be OK.”

Slade Said: There will be a target on cornerback DeAngelo Willingham this Saturday.

“He’s going to get challenged a little bit,” Slade said. “Steve Spurrier is one of those guys; one of his biggest concepts is get his strongest, best receiver at what he looks at as the weakest defender.”

That may well be Willingham, who has struggled at times in pass coverage this season and has drawn multiple penalty flags.

Slade described Willingham as an overachiever and hinted that he may be better suited to play safety.

“He’s just a hard working dude,” Slade said.

Ascending Arian?: It’s looking less likely that tailback Arian Foster will become UT’s all-time leading rusher.

At one time it seemed a cinch that Foster would eventually pass Travis Henry’s 3,078 career rushing mark. Foster began the season just 684 yards shy of Henry.

Through eight games this season Foster has just 402 yards, leaving him 282 yards shy of the record.

Foster has four regular- season games left and possibly a bowl game to eclipse the mark. Foster is averaging 50.2 yards per game meaning he projects to have 200 during the regular season and 251 if the Vols make it to a bowl game.

Spurrier Sighting: Clawson saw Spurrier up close in 1997 when he visited Florida’s practice as an assistant at Villanova. Clawson cited one of Spurrier’s motivational tools when asked about what he remembered from the visit.

“He was really creative with how he called plays,” Clawson said. “They would name plays after players. If you had a play named after you, that was the greatest honor.”