Full video
Event Details
- What: Tennessee vs Memphis Tigers
- When: Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009, 7 p.m.
- Where: Neyland Stadium
- Cost: Not available
- Age limit: All ages
Tennessee Stat Book
Memphis Stat Book
Tennessee isn't getting rid of the traditional one-at-a-time approach.
It is looking for a more efficient way to pile up wins, though.
For all the excitement the Vols have generated with a couple lopsided victories and the goodwill Lane Kiffin has created by hanging tough with a couple top-ranked teams, there's still one glaring hole on the resume. The UT coach still doesn't have his first winning streak heading into the last month of the season, although he could change that Saturday night (TV: ESPNU, 7 p.m.) against cross-state rival Memphis.
"As far as what I said about how many we're going to win, I don't know, and I didn't know at the beginning," Kiffin said. "All we do is take it one week at a time, one day at a time and develop our guys.
"Hopefully we'll be really strong here at the end of the season, which was our plan all along by playing so many guys early, especially the young guys. They'd be developed so by the time we get to right now in crucial games they're not making the same rookie mistakes they were early in the year."
Those errors have largely kept the Vols (4-4, 2-3 SEC), from stringing together any sort of consistency, but they seem to have found some heading into Homecoming with the Tigers (2-6, 1-4 Conference USA).
The offense has taken off behind steady running from Montario Hardesty and the emergence of quarterback Jonathan Crompton. An injury-plagued defense has buckled down and allowed just one touchdown in the last three games.
And though the special-teams unit continues to struggle and helped keep the Vols from posting back-to-back wins for the first time this year at Alabama, UT should be able to make up for it down the stretch. A team without even a two-game run at this point could conceivably rattle off five in a row to close the season, and it has every expectation it will.
"It's a good thing, because obviously we want to go undefeated in November," Crompton said. "That's the goal of every team because that's the hard stretch, that's where what you did in the summer and in camp really pays off, all the conditioning and all the extra work you came in and did.
"We are really taking pride in it, and we kind of almost count South Carolina in it because it was the day before November. We're trying to go in undefeated because if we finish 8-4 we've accomplished a lot, especially losing two close ones to No. 1 teams in the country."
Those losses to the Crimson Tide and at Florida clearly sting, though it's the losses to UCLA and Auburn that might eventually be the most painful considering where UT might have wound up in the postseason with a couple more wins.
Either way, the Vols aren't looking back with any regrets, and Kiffin certainly isn't second-guessing his decisions - particularly with so much left for which to play.
"That's this system," Kiffin said. "If you're going to play that many freshmen early on and new guys, you're going to take your lumps. You're not going to play as well as maybe you would if you just played the veterans. But that's for a reason, now that you see these injuries and see these guys go down. We have guys that have played, instead of all of a sudden having to take guys (off the bench) and get them ready.
"This always helps you. It always has and hopefully it will help us down the line in this stretch run because so many guys have played for us and our young guys, hopefully our freshmen don't feel like freshmen."
There's still one thing they haven't experienced at UT, though. The young Vols have won some big games, just not consecutively.
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Comments » 33
Greer_Vol_22 writes:
one at a time guys.
the10sevol writes:
da-lusional.
guess they decided to open the fllodgates for comments. this should be fun.
GBO
the10sevol writes:
oops, floodgates.
GBO
the10sevol writes:
hey witchie (and all), were you aware josh ward has a side job doing a recruiting round-up for mrsec.com? surprised me, i thought kns was a full-time gig for him, guess not?
link:
http://mrsec.com/category/Recruiting
GBO
kennypowers writes:
Your predictions are as accurate as your spelling
steamboatticket#484773 writes:
I got a lot of fan type love for Hardesty. We're going to need him. Brown has already shown what he is, a great RB. We're going to need him too. I got all the faith in the world that Oku is going to be a great player for us. But I also want to see more of Taureene Poole. Hey, I am not the coach...just a fan. I want to see all of our deserving players get their shot and their cheers.
steamboatticket#484773 writes:
Oh boy...DaMan(WTF?) think what we need is a "professional staff in here..." LOL
Volie writes:
Fulmer...is that you? Thanks for everything and good luck in the future.
minnehan writes:
DaMan is just one of those delusional KY fans who think they can beat Tennessee every year since.....say 1984.
SEAL_9821 writes:
I would start off by asking how much weed you've smoked since Sept. 1st, but by the looks of your name i'll not say nothing more because you are DA BIGGEST DUMB a-- ever to post on our beloved site
bobbytodd writes:
Just wished the guys would talk about getting to 5-4 before talking about 8-4. Big win last week, big favorite this week, off the field issues and looking ahead 3 weeks into the future. Nothing says let down game like this one. I'm starting to get a little nervous. Kind of like Urbie gets when he thinks about about life after Tebow.
crimsonviper writes:
The first time I read one of your post I did not think you could get more ignorant.
Once again my opinion failed me.
bigorange61 writes:
Wonder how many people have cracked this guy's password? I mean, this poster is way too stupid to be one guy.
UT4ever writes:
So sure? Let's maka a bet then......we go 6-6, and I'll give you my car......we go 8-4 and you leave this site forever, and never come back.......I like my chances......Goodbye, DaBiotch!! HOHOHOOHO!!!!
wayoutwill writes:
I would disagree with daman on his post that this is an underachieving team,there are several reasons that we are at 4-4,but the team will have a letdown feeling if we do not finish the season at 8-4,though the truth is that very few of us saw a chance to finish at 8-4 after the Auburn game.Now we see that we had a better chance than we thought to be even better than 8-4 and there are not many teams out there who have had such a positive turn-around;I think a big part of that turn-around was caused by "Kiff" sticking with "that idiot Q.B." when he had nearly no-one else beliving in him.Great job of Coaching on that by "Kiff"!I agree with the gentleman that is worried about the 8-4 talk when we need to worry about 5-4 first,but hopefully the team can realize that and take 'em "one at a time"!GO VOLS!
BubbaJ writes:
Bubba think DaMan is Duhidiot. Could be Fulmer?
Probably some misled Tiger High fan. If he had watched any of the teams mentioned play of late,
no way such a absurd statement is made. This Tennessee team has impressed ol Bubba more than
imaginable. Ole Miss, once impressive on paper,
is now a bit of a flop. Kentucky, well I must
admit Calipari had them looking good tonight. Good luck on your prediction DuMan, just don't bet your tent on it!
Laydbakvol writes:
DaMan writes:
You guys are rite. I am a idiat. I just have a hard time cumunikating with other peeple and just want peeple to like me. My father leaft my muther befor i was born. My muther gave me away to the neihbor lady and her husband maid me sit on his lap and play docter with him until I was 26 years old.,I just say stupid things about the Vols and Mr. Kiffen to git atention. Your wrong about mhy wifes underwear thouhg. it's my mothers.
steamboatticket#484773 writes:
I was at that 1984 Kentucky game. It was really crazy. Kentcky played tough, so give them credit. But the zebras were throwing bad flags at the crowd after their bad flags at our players. After the game, driving uptown on Cumberland, I looked left at the car beside me and saw some dude beating his fists against his head. It was David Keith. Losing to Kentucky sucked so unbelievably bad. You probably remember him in the movie, "Fire Starter," with Drew Barrymore. He made a film called "Tennessee Buck." Anyways, let's beat Memphis, and Mississippi, and Vandy, and Kentucky...
rpenland21#231616 writes:
Im still pretty new to this site so perhaps someone can help me out. What exactly is a "professinal staff"? Is that anything like a professional staff? Cause if it isn't we are completely screwed.
And I had all this faith in this great staff we had assembled and the steps they have taken towards making us credible again. And now to find out they're not professinal.
Heartbroken...
steamboatticket#484773 writes:
Oh boy, that puke willy got hisself a disagreement with "da man." Boat got a hole in it. What I gonna do now? I gonna fix my boat.
ccVOLSdhf writes:
DaMan...WTF...get him DR
VolWoman writes:
You're forgetting the big one - An Officer & A Gentleman??
pdhuff#552644 writes:
I think they should be called VUT- Very Unspecial Teams.
Or maybe WIP - Works In Progress.
Either way they have cost us dearly along with the kicking game.
Now let's roll up the Tiggers.
Razzle writes:
Oh No! The village idiot got out again.
licknpromise777#651578 writes:
Ole Miss defense isn't as dominate as everyone thought it would be...Monte will be in Sneads face the whole game; forcing bad throws and turnovers..That game on the road will say a lot about what kind of team we really have..A big win over them would finally say once and for all that Big Orange football is BACK..Much more than what we accomplished at Bama.
CrankE writes:
Y'all, DaMan is just proving the old adage that 4 out of 3 weed smokers have TOTALLY NO side effects from pot usage......
I sure was upset with the regression against Auburn. I'm convinced Tennessee absolutely could win out. Now to get regrounded; At the start of this season I said that this is one where the focus has to be on the process, not the product. If they do lose another one, I'll keep my head. Rock bottom is in the rear view mirror. The rest of the conference knows this too (as evidenced by the number of Gatrolls and Bamalopers on this site.) They know what's coming.
rockytop#413695 writes:
Daman, I won't bash you personally, since my fellow Vols have done a pretty good job of that! I don't want your little feelings to be hurt too much. I would like to ask you one small question. If this team is underachieving and has 8 draft picks, and since all those eight draft picks would have been on last year's team coached by Fulmer, whom I assume you would consider "professinal", then how much more did last year's team underachieve?
Come on! I don't care who you pull for anyone in their right mind that saw this team last year compared to this year will say this has been a great turn around. Kiffin and staff have coached these guys up more in less than a year than the previous staff has done the last four. If you don't believe me, ask the players. Listen to what they say.
Will you come back on here after we win out and apologize and admit you are a total idiot
ArealVolFan writes:
Well, you are slowly coming around...this was a team that was only going to get 4 wins...but now you have upgrades us to a six win team! Good to know you boosted us up 2 whole wins! So if you originally thought this team would be 4-8, but now you think it will be 6-6 how is it underachieving given your original prediction it would be over achieving. Anywho, you are an idiot so 8-4 or 7-5 at worse and no that loss is not to KY, I mean seriously? You will be ran off here as a laughingstock, well you already are!
johnlg00#206211 writes:
DaMan will never apologize for being wrong. After all, he has yet to do so, yet he has blown his ridiculous predictions week after week after.... In fact, he never answers anyone at all, he just mumbles to himself in his mirror and then stumbles over to his computer and spews nonsense. He may not even be aware he is doing it.
josharelli writes:
No Shave November!
chazz25 writes:
with focus very attainable....should still get to a decent bowl game, but all depends on focus..and focus should be no prob for this team or coaching staff
volguy1 writes:
Even if we loose out (impossible) I still think the overall team discipline and moral is 10 fold better than last year or the previous 5. This in itself is achieving more than any 1st year win loss record, The players respect and verbally like this staff. As much as I appreciated what Fulmer did for our program, he let it slip in the last few years. We are back and will continue to come back more with our support of this team and coaching staff. Call Coach Kiff what you will, but he "WILL" bring The Big Orange back to SEC and National prominence......Go Vols!
bobbytodd writes:
Ummm. Scratch my previous post. They rolled.
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