Tennessee has fielded at least one first-time starter in eight of nine football games this year. Today would have been another such occasion if Prentiss Waggner hadn't already gotten his feet wet last week.
Waggner is expected to start at free safety in place of Janzen Jackson at Ole Miss, just as he did last week against Memphis when Jackson was serving a one-game suspension.
Jackson's status with the program is in doubt after he, Mike Edwards and Nu'Keese Richardson were arrested early Thursday for attempted armed robbery.
Waggner, a redshirt freshman, made one tackle, the first of his career, against Memphis. Darren Myles is the other safety who should see playing time against Ole Miss due to Jackson's absence.
Myles, a true freshman, has played in seven games and has seven total tackles.
"They did a good job,'' defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said. "They haven't played a whole lot, you know, but they're getting better.
"We're just young, really young. We're young in the system, but we're also young because we've got a lot of guys who haven't played a whole lot.''
The Streak: Tennessee's 12-game winning streak against Ole Miss is its second-longest against an SEC foe. The Vols' 24-game winning streak over Kentucky is the longest in any series nationally.
Ole Miss last beat UT, 13-10, in 1983.
Of Tennessee's 12 wins, only two were by eight or fewer points and those were the only two games played in Oxford on the Ole Miss campus.
UT won 20-12 in 1988 and 21-17 in 2004.
Today is the first meeting with the Rebels since a 27-10 win in Knoxville in 2005.
Tennessee has two other SEC win streaks: six against Mississippi State and three against Vanderbilt.
The Vols have lost five in a row to both Auburn and Florida, three to Alabama and two to LSU.
Snapper Rivalry: Both teams have senior long-snappers from Collierville, Tenn., a suburb of Memphis.
UT's Morgan Cox played at Evangelical Christian. Ole Miss' Preston Powers played at Briarcrest Christian, where he was a teammate of UT holder Bram Cannon.
Former Teammates: Dan Williams of UT and Ole Miss defensive Cassius Vaughn were teammates at Memphis East. UT middle linebacker Herman Lathers and Ole Miss tailback Brandon Bolden played at Scotlandville High School in Baton Rouge, La.
Return Ace: Ole Miss freshman Jesse Grandy is one of three SEC players with multiple kickoff-return touchdowns this season.
Warren Norman of Vanderbilt has three. Grandy and Brandon Boykin of Georgia have two each. One of Boykin's was against Tennessee.
Rebel Connection: Ed Orgeron isn't the only current UT coach who used to work at Ole Miss.
When Orgeron was head coach of the Rebels from 2005-07, Aaron Ausmus was his strength coach and Frank Wilson his receivers coach. They hold the same title at Tennessee. Kyle Strongin, UT's operations coordinator, was also on Orgeron's staff.
Berry Focused: Monte Kiffin praised junior All-American Eric Berry's dedication and focus this week.
"Eric,'' Kiffin said, "could very well be distracted. 'Am I going to be a first-round draft pick? Am I going to break the record?'
"But all he cares about is winning. He's an awesome guy.''
Berry still needs eight yards to break the NCAA career record for interception-return yards. He has two interceptions this year.
"I hope he gets the record,'' Kiffin said. "I know one thing, if there's an opportunity, he's not going to miss it very often.''
© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Comments » 15
EZVOL writes:
Prentis played well last week and got rave reviews in the spring so I think he'll be fine. Myles was a big time recruit also. If UT wants to play with the big dogs they will have to put adversity behind them and just play ball. All the best programs just plug another guy in and get the job done. On another note, the Miami paper had a big article today about how Kiffen "failed these young men". How it is his responsibility to watch after them. I don't know how any reporter in the state of Florida could throw rocks like that at another school. What a load.
steamboatticket#484773 writes:
I don't know that Jackson is guilty of anything besides going out on a late night lark with a hot chic and some team buds.
DannyVol writes:
I bet Jackson had no idea he was riding in a car past curfew with drugs, two hoodies and a gun. Maybe he was so consumed with his upcoming biology test that he rode along for a study break. Maybe he had his earphones on listening to gospel music and didn't hear the plan.
Give it up, folks. Some people deserve a second chance, but not this time. Anyway, this would not be a second chance for any of these kids. They have all been problems since the day they arrived. Therefore, it should not be painful for any of us to see them depart; they make the team, the city, the state and the university less than what they should be.
They embarrassed and betrayed everyone and everything with any connection to them. So,it is disgusting that their athletic talent is swaying a good deal of public opinion about what measure of justice should be taken. Had it been a scout team walk-on, there would be little question.
Any fan who knowingly looks the other way, and is willing to win games at all costs, likely misses the point on many other important topics as well. They are gone, people. For the sake of everyone around them you should be glad. The only thing left to do is to say: Go Vols, Beat Ole Miss.
we3vols#281863 writes:
Everyone of these players heard that "Little Voice". You know, the one that says to your mind "I should not do this. I should not leave the dorm. If I get caught, I'll be in trouble". There comes a time time in life when we all learn to listen to that little voice. By the time we are 17-18-19 years old....We will be held accountable for ignoring that "Little Voice". With that in mind, all 3 of these young adults knew they were breaking TEAM rules. Forget about the "Pilot" foolishness, they were not conducting themselves in a responsible manner even before that ignorant action. BEST CASE SCENARIO: All charges are dropped.....Coach Kiffin releases ALL 3 from their scholorship responsibilities....Wishes them the best in their future....This will maintain credibility for Our Staff visiting potential recruits and their families. It is one thing to concentrate on the present (allowing any of these players to remain on this team) vs. building for the future (releasing these 3 from all scholorship responsibilities). At least with their departure Coach Kiffin can state "This is not the character or responsibility that IS expected at Tennessee. We will protect your son from any and all hazards. The only thing we can not protect him from is HIMSELF. I know what you and your family are expecting from him and we will provide all support for him to achieve his goals. He will not suffer through being around bad influences. As you already know, we have proven that in the past". That will defang all "Thug U" thoughts. Coach Kif is doing things perfectly. Standing behind his players unil everything plays out. Then (even if all charges are droped) these players are dismissed for not accepting their scholorship responsibilities. I pray coach receives this opportunity instead all these guys being charged and tried. This takes the opportunity for Coach Kif to administer his responsibility as Head Coach. Sorry for this lengthy analysis. Only thing remaining to say: GO VOLS! BEAT OLE' MISS!!
logansdad writes:
That is ,right afetr I say Ol' Danny boy, what a self-righteous piece of phooey you are.
licknpromise777#651578 writes:
This is trouble; Waggner was average at best against a bad memphis team; always trailing the play after somebodyelse made the tackle;He's not even in Jackson's league and most times 3rd on the depth chart..Hope he shows up and proves me wrong
Liberal_Vol writes:
Waggner and Myles - my hero's.
licknpromise777#651578 writes:
I live in miami and Joe Rose in his AM sports radio show on 560am was blasting Kiffin and UT saying we recruited anybody regardless of character; He even went as far as saying kicker Palardy should decommit because of it and no So. Fla. player should even talk to Kiffin
Psychovol writes:
Hot chick? I though they were slumming and just another example of bad judgement.
atlvolunteer writes:
woah. that chick was not hot.
bosscat writes:
All of us (Vol fans) feel like we have been hit below the belt with a sucker punch. The pain is unbearable. Our team has truly taken a huge hit. But we are not judge or jury. We are given special instructions not to judge. Let's leave it to the judge and jury. Unfortunately for the AD and the coach, they will be obligated to also make a judgement as to the 3 players' football future at UT. It will be a difficult decision. Regardless of the outcome there will be those, such as us and sports writers/commentators, that will be critical of the decisions made. We--you and I--will never know what exactly came down that night. We will never know what was going through their minds. I, for one, will simply hope that good will come from bad, firstly for these young persons and secondly for my university. Always a Vol.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Uh-oh! Kiss of death! Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, and Desmond Howard all picked UT over Ole Miss on ESPN's GameDay show! I hope they all for once got it right! GO VOLS!!! BEAT OLE MISS!!!
johnlg00#206211 writes:
The average 18-year-old's standard for what is hot and what is not is not that high(;-P)! In other words, guys that age look at all women through the proverbial "beer goggles", or "hormone goggles", as it were.
mm29680#645909 writes:
He used a word that has been grossly insinuated into our language: "disrespected". That is not a word. Disrespect is a NOUN - not a verb, even if you do add "ed" at the end. That idiot calls himslef a journalist. He should take a grammar couse in English.
mm29680#645909 writes:
By the way, I'm a UT grad. He's obviously a Miami grad. GO VOLS!
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