Alabama running back Ingram getting bulk of UT's attention

Tennessee has its hands full with Mark Ingram.

But at least the Vols are used to having them on a running back like the Alabama star.

There might not be any perfect way to prepare for the elusiveness Ingram has with the football or the pounding he might dish out at the end of runs on Saturday (TV: WVLT, 3:30 p.m.) in Tuscaloosa. But UT has one method that might be close, and its defense has been practicing with it for quite some time.

"It's really good to see the running back that we're facing because he reminds me a lot of Montario (Hardesty)," UT junior safety Eric Berry said Wednesday. "The good thing about it is, we've been facing Montario - well, this will be my third year of going against him every day in practice. We know what kind of physical back Montario is, and Ingram's running style is just the same.

"So, I mean, we've just got to make sure that we realize that we've faced good backs too, and they're both great backs in my eyes."

The Vols (3-3, 1-2 SEC) will obviously have their sights set on Ingram this weekend, much like the rest of the nation.

The sophomore has bullied and burst his way into the conference lead in rushing and the Heisman Trophy race, and shutting Ingram down is clearly UT's top priority against the No. 1 Crimson Tide (7-0, 4-0). Nobody has really had much success actually doing it yet, but after going up against Hardesty so much and seeing just as many defenses struggle to bring him down, the Vols know what they're in for.

"Well, I hope so because that's what we try to build our program on," Kiffin said. "Ones playing against ones, no matter how late we are in the season we always end with speed and with our guys having to block really fast rushers and our guys have to face really good backs.

"That's always worked for us carrying over, and I anticipate that being the case. I would say the one thing about them is they're both extremely physical.

"I don't really see them looking like the same runners, but I see them running with the same mentality and the same attitude."

Though they might not exactly be carbon-copies, that doesn't diminish the value of working out against a tailback every bit as tireless as Ingram throughout the week.

Both backs seek out contact more than the sideline. Both can deliver hits as well as shrug them off. And they're equally violent and valuable in the backfield.

They clearly aren't all that similar physically and Alabama doesn't always use Ingram in the same way UT does Hardesty, but the difference between practice and the game should be less for the Vols than most teams.

"Their running attack, they try to get corners to make a lot of plays," Berry said. "They kind of seal off everyone else and get the running back one-on-one with the corners, and that's the one thing I've noticed on film.

"We've got to make sure we're in the right places at the right time, everyone's got to be fitting their gaps and when the corner does have a chance to tackle the running back, we've got to make sure we're rallying to the ball to help there along with everybody else.

"I feel like we've had a lot of practice of that with Montario."

That doesn't mean the Vols will be perfect against Ingram.

But they have a head start.

"Mark is good, he's one of the better backs in the SEC," UT freshman safety Janzen Jackson said. "A lot of times people make the mistake of going up high because he's small, but he's really strong. You've got to take him out at his legs like he was a big guy.

"Mark Ingram, he's going to be hard. I don't really know his stats, but (he and Hardesty) look pretty much like they're in the same race."

Ingram is leading it so far. But Hardesty has given the Vols some idea what it will take to balance it out.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
Want to use this article? Click here for options!