Tennessee Stat Book
Eventually Prentiss Waggner figured to settle at one position.
But it won't be this week, and the Tennessee junior doesn't seem to mind if it never happens.
The flexibility of Waggner continues to be invaluable for the Vols as they tweak and shuffle around defensive backs, a process that might not be so easy without one piece they can seemingly move anywhere on the board in the secondary. And UT is putting him to the test again as it readies for No. 2 Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday (TV: ESPN2, 7:15 p.m.), sliding Waggner to cornerback from safety one more time — though even within the game it reserves the right to change its mind.
"Certain packages and in the base group I'm going to the corner," Waggner said after practice on Tuesday. "When we're in a certain run defense, I'm going back to the safety.
"It's up to the coaches, whatever they want is what we'll give them. I guess there's not one guy who has stood out back there in the secondary, so that's probably what that is."
Even Waggner has had a bit of a tough time standing out for the Vols defensively recently, at least compared to the high standard he set a year ago as a turnover-creating, touchdown-scoring machine.
Through six games, the junior has been a steady, reliable performer and two weeks ago turned in the best tackling effort of his career with 11 in a loss to Georgia. But other than a sack and a forced fumble, the big plays are missing from his resume this season, though perhaps a change of scenery and the emergence of Brian Randolph that is enabling it could light a spark for the Vols (3-3, 0-3 SEC).
"I wouldn't necessarily say that one or the other suits me best," Waggner said. "We knew that I had a lot of cover skills, better than I do in run defense, so the coverage part of corner or safety suits me best, you know.
"(Randolph) has progressed a lot. He's coming in, he's making all the checks without all the coaches having to be on him as much, he's out here making plays. (At practice) he got his hands on a couple balls, so that was nice to see. I don't think it's much of a drop-off with Brian at the safety position. He's sort of an old-school type of player. He can cover, and he can come down and make plays on the ball also."
The Vols clearly prize that kind of versatility, with Waggner perhaps the perfect example of the options it can provide.
UT appears to need it more at cornerback now thanks to some recent breakdowns in coverage, with Waggner likely to bump Marsalis Teague or Izauea Lanier into a smaller role against the Crimson Tide (7-0, 4-0) and try to jumpstart a defense that intercepted just one pass over the first half of the season.
"We may not have a choice but to do that," UT coach Derek Dooley said. "We need to play better at the corner position.
"We need to play better — so we're going to keep moving it around."
Like usual, that starts with another move for Waggner.
Keep it Cool: Matt Simms had been in the position before, though it had obviously been a while since he was playing quarterback in a meaningful setting.
The UT senior admitted that might have been a factor in a poor start against LSU last weekend, though he still wasn't looking to make it an excuse.
"It had been a while, and I tried to play it cool like they were just another team," Simms said. "But, hey, I was pumped to go out there and play against them. There were a lot of NFL players out there on the field, and I was kind of stressing not making a mistake and it ended up causing me to make mistakes.
"But the bright side is that there are corrections that I can easily fix. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to fix them."
Grind Time: The physical effects of the season are beginning to show up at the midway point for the Vols, though they escaped the loss to No. 1 LSU last Saturday without any new injuries for Dooley to report.
But for a young roster, the ability to respond to the wear and tear is starting to get tested.
"This is about the time of year where the physical nature of the game starts, you start feeling it a little bit in your body," Dooley said. "It's so important to accept that it's not going to be easy and accept that this is part of football and your body will adjust to the amount of stress you put on it.
"We keep hitting and we keep practicing with the same structure, and what we believe is it builds strength."
Austin Ward covers Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274. Follow him at http://twitter.com/Vols_Beat and http://blogs.knoxnews.com/ward.
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Comments » 33
mdvol writes:
This will put Prentiss in position to finally gets some INT's for the VOLS. With Randolph at safety, we now start 3 true freshman on defense.
My hope is we get these changes worked out(Simms, Bullard, Stone, Waggner and Randolph)and really set our sights on the South Carolina game. Great chance for a SEC win.
Never count out the VOLS.
ProwlinAndGrowlinSmokeyDog writes:
Agree mdvol, PW will be much more productive at the cornerback position..Have a feeling you will be seeing more INT's, maybe not as many as last year obviously,but it's a distinct possibility that we will FINALLY start seeing them.
Smokey says let the INT's roll,Prentiss..
txsvol#372416 writes:
He's a better corner than safety, anyway. Hope that he gets to play there. Go Vols! Beat Bama! SAVol
lomas98 writes:
More int's will be great. Any fumble recoveries would be great as well. I can't believe the difficulty it has been to create turnovers. They need to happen to keep us in these games where we are heavy underdogs. I think the lack of turnovers is due to our lack of pass rush and unsuccessful blitzes. They always force a qb into making a mistake or getting stripped.
vols2#227315 writes:
Bench simms and UT will be alright.
TommyJack writes:
dumb
Orange_Nation_23 writes:
So anytime the opposing QB sees PW in the safety position, he knows to check into a pass play…
RunningWithTheVols writes:
Going to be a beatdown on Sat but agree we have a chance against S Car. Love this team's toughness but we are just outmanned.
I knew we were in trouble with the off line when Maggitt was eating us up our off line practice, but has not been a pass rushing force in even the easy games...
CrankE writes:
Similar to the arcitle on Bullard moving to center and Lane's coat of armor, this is great news in March. In October, it sounds like closing the barn door.
I've heard others say that Waggner is much better at the corner though, so this could be a good move for UT. I guess it depends on how well the kids can play safety when Waggner goes to corner.
VolCrazie5 writes:
Its about time... I was tired of seeing Teague get beat...
RockyToptoNeyland writes:
teague is awful, lanier is undeveloped, we need all the help we can get at corner, teague shouldnt be on the field, has he ever gotten a pick? has he ever gotten a pass deflection?
mdvol writes:
Surprised we haven't heard the names Rod Wilks and Byron Moore. What happened to those guys??? Highly rated busts?
brokendownoldvol writes:
Finally. They should move Anderson back and put Rogers in the secondary too.
mdvol writes:
Great point.
brokendownoldvol writes:
Who knows? Look what Bray was able to do compared to Simms. Simms is very limited. In college talent wins over everytime.
Ayres_Hall writes:
Many of you complained when Fulmer played favorites: never playing the best person, never moving anyone around, and never trying new players in new positons.
Now, you complain when Dooley does the opposite.
Geez.
Coach Dooley is trying to find the right combinations/best players going forward. We have half a season to go so we need to try lots of new things to find what works best.
We all knew the season was going to be rough. Let's be patient.
cooper65#432178 writes:
Me too. Both CBs have taken a beating. I think the bottom line is we need a couple more quality DBs--one CB and one safety.
Volunatic writes:
That's EXACTLY what we WANT the opposing QB to think-- we'll have 'em where we want them if they fall for it. Austin Ward is helping the Vol defense immensely by going along with the ruse.
DavidB writes:
couldnt have said it better.
I have noticed this trend as well.
hikerdude writes:
We are stuck with Simms as the qb. He cannot throw the ball, at least to his team mates. So, it seems to me that we have to dial down the pass atempts. Maybe three or four runs to every pass. And, please, no throws across the middle. Hard for a receiver to catch it if the ball is thrown two yards behind him.
Navaloranges writes:
I hope randolph can make a difference. It's hard to find the right combination with young guys that aren't consistant. We have enough DB's to try several different looks, problem is, they're mostly new guys that need more time to develop. That's good for the future, but it's a nightmare for the coaches right now. Our secondary has cost us a lot of points this year, but it will get better.
I remember the difference between Berry's first half as a freshman, and the second half of his freshman year. If there was such a noticable learning curve for him, then there has to be one for every freshman DB. Coleman and Randolph will "get it" in time, and will probably be very good.
martinvol34 writes:
Hell you have to be near the ball to get turnovers and we haven't been close. I do believe we will get better.
VolGrad writes:
Marsalis Teague: 8 tackles, 9 assists, 1 fumble recovery, and 2 pass break-ups.
GBO!
cooper65#432178 writes:
No, but Simms is not going to make it right, either now or in the future. At least, there is a possibility that Worley has a future. If you think Simms is going to play well against Bamer, now that's unbelievable.
johnlg00 writes:
I'm looking forward to seeing what Worley can do as much as any other Vol fan--EVENTUALLY. As I understand it, he played in some version of a spread offense in HS, a system that was basically built around his particular skills. I can easily imagine that he is still in the process of learning how to run a pro-style system such as UT's. I'm glad we have him, but I DON'T want to burn his redshirt half-way through a season that still has time to get better without him. He has plenty of time yet.
snakeplissken writes:
Waggner is better at corner and should have been there the whole time! Like you said, our staff is pretty dense and they have to be beaten into oblivion several times before they get it.
Thank God for the 4 cupcake games and the weak SEC competition in November guaranteeing us 6 wins.
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
May have a shot at SC,IF we don't have several major injuries in this weeks game. I think it will be a little closer, but still a butt kicking.
Bama 34
UT 6
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
Anyone who thinks Worley should be taken off his redshirt has no idea about college football. He will get his experience next year when we get big leads against the cupcakes. Thats one reason the schedule has cupcakes - to get some experience for the 2nd and 3rd teamers!!
Simms has enough talent to beat MTSU, KY, and probably Vandy. Worley can not help beat SC and ARK. He does not have enough experience reading defenses and will not be able to get that kind of experience against ALA !!
rabbidhound writes:
Why not put Teague on offense! He played Wide Receiver for awhile, and was decent. I say make the move.
Fall_Creek_Vols writes:
The stat you didn't include: the number of times Teague has been beaten on pass routes. Seems to me every time I rewind the tape to see who it is that just got smoked, it's #10.
Maybe the other post had it right...wide receiver.
WereComing writes:
Im just gonna say this... If we don't have a better corner than Teague. This team is alot worse than I thought. He cannot keep up on go routes, can't tackle in space very good. Im seriously not picking on the kid but everytime a WR for the other team makes a big play its on Teague. I say put Waggner an Lanier at CB's with Gordon as the nickel, Randolph an Brewer at Safety. If they want to move Teague to WR go ahead cause he couldn't be any worse there...
GBO!!!!
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
Agree with the Teague assessment. Seems whenever a big play by the other team is made, it is because Teague has been burned. He doesn't seem to have the speed to cover or the intelligence (db IQ) to play effectively against the speedier receivers in the league.
Navaloranges writes:
More proof of your "vast" football knowledge. NOT. In MODERN football the safety position carries more responsibilities and there is a lot more to know. In other words, when JJ left, PWagg was moved to safety because of his KNOWLEDGE of the defense, his versatility, and his experience. But mainly because our young LB's needed some extra help early on. He IS a better corner, but with the LB's farther along, and the development of some young DB's, they're able to make the switch.
You never miss a chance to DISRESPECT and DEFAME coach Dooley, even when it proves your football IQ shortcomings. Which is 9 times out of 10 when you TRY to sound intelligent.
The day you know HALF as much as these coaches about the game and how to coach it will NEVER come. That's why you're whining on the internet and they're coaching D1 football.
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