UTVols News and Opinions

Welcome to Coach Scooter’s College Football Diary for the last week of the regular season. The Vols ended the year on an up note, beating Kentucky 17-12 to end their season at 9-3. Let’s look at the game, as well as where the Vols might be heading for the bowl season.

Kentucky 12 – Tennessee 17

Tennessee made it 22 straight over Kentucky on Saturday, which was the second longest wining streak over another school in the NCAA.

Erik Ainge was 19-of-33 for 240 yards for Tennessee and completed a 15-yard TD pass to Robert Meachem in the first quarter. Coker finished with 90 yards on 22 rushes.

The narrow win did not hurt Coach Fulmer’s feelings in the least bit.

"It's great to win when you don't play particularly well," he said. "I don't remember a game in this series ever being easy at all, and this is an example of their defense doing a great job of taking the challenge."

"Are we going to screw around and let a team that shouldn't beat us beat us? We couldn't have field goals and score touchdowns. We talked a lot about pride," Fulmer said.

Kentucky coach Rich Brooks saw his Wildcats squander a fourth quarter lead for the second straight time at Neyland Stadium, which left him frustrated.

"We had a chance to win the darn game, and we didn't get it done," Kentucky coach Rich Brooks said. "The good news is we had a chance."

"It hurts to lose," Kentucky tailback Rafael Little said. "The last time we were down here we lost the same way. We can't keep doing that every time we come down here."

The win gave Tennessee second place in the SEC East behind Florida, and kept the Vols hopes for a New Year’s Day bowl bid alive.

Bowl possibilities

Coach Scooter thinks the Vols will end up playing on New Year’s Day, destination…Tampa and the Outback Bowl!

If Florida wins, Arkansas says they want to go to the Cotton Bowl so more of their fans could go to the game. Florida and LSU would get the BCS bids with Florida going to the Sugar, and LSU to the Orange.

If Arkansas wins, the Orange could take Florida. That would bump LSU to the Cotton or Capitol One. Auburn would take the other slot that LSU does not fill, leaving UT next in line, so that is why I think it is going to be the Outback Bowl. The Vols last played in the Outback in 1993, when it was the Hall of Fame Bowl, beating Boston College 38-13. The opponent in the Outback would be Penn State, who has accepted a bid to play a team from the SEC. Stay tuned…

Recruiting

According to Rivals.com, the Vols are still seventh in recruiting. They have one five star recruit, five four star recruits and nine three star recruits. Here is a look at the top ten as of November 28:

1. Texas
2. Georgia
3. Florida
4. Auburn
5. USC
6. LSU
7. Tennessee
8. Michigan
9. Virginia
10. Ole Miss

Did you notice a lot of SEC teams in that list? That’s scary…

Here is a little information furnished to us from Rivals.com about a four star prospect who has committed to Tennessee.

Germantown (Md.) Seneca Valley defensive tackle Donald Langley has enjoyed a meteoric rise up the recruiting rankings. He is also on the radar of more college coaches.

Langley went from a high three-star prospect to a solid four-star player in the Rivals250. He is now being recruited by several top 25 teams. But his journey to the top doesn't end there, because Langley has been selected to play in the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl.

"After I first got the invite, I was really excited," Langley said. "I realized what kind of honor it is. I know that Rivals only invites big-time players to this game, and to be one of the top 80 guys in the country is amazing. To be a kid from Maryland, playing against guys from California, to Texas, to Florida and to Idaho, it's amazing.

"Then to realize that you're one of only four defensive tackles to play on the East squad, that's an even bigger part to this great, great honor. I'm really happy and proud to be selected by Rivals to play in this great game."

Langley, who is now up to 6-foot-2 and 295 pounds, said he's going to give football fans plenty to see in the Jan. 4 game in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The all-star contest will be carried live on ESPNU.

"They're going to see I'm legit and there are no arguments about me being one of the top defensive tackles in the country," Langley said. "They're going to see how we do it in Maryland. They're going to also see that not all defensive tackles are big guys that just stuff and clog the hole. They're going to see how speed kills the opponent 10 out of 10 times. Speed is what my main strength is, and they're going to see me flying to the football and how I can close on it."

Langley recently picked Tennessee as his college choice. He turned down offers from Oklahoma, Penn State, Texas A&M and others. He said the decision to head to Rocky Top was an easy one after he took his Sept. 16 official visit to Knoxville, Tenn.

"Tennessee had the extra something the others didn't have," he said. "Everywhere I went, I just kept comparing it to Tennessee. They have one of the biggest stadiums in the country. They even had more than 100,000 for a game like Marshall. And in Knoxville, football is king. It's also a wonderful climate."

According to Scout.com, Jamie Newberg tells us these prospects have the Vols high on their short list:

The #1 ranked WR in the nation is Terrance Toliver of Hempstead, TX
His list includes: Florida, LSU, Miami (Fl), Oklahoma, Tennessee, USC

The #1 ranked center is Kristofer O'Dowd of Tucson, AZ
His final choices are: Arizona, Tennessee, UCLA, USC, Miami (Fl), Ohio State

The #1 ranked defensive tackle ion the nation is Marvin Austin of Washington, DC
He has narrowed it down to: Florida State, Illinois, Maryland, Tennessee, USC, Miami (Fl), Virginia

The #1 ranked strong side linebacker in the nation is Chris Donald of Huntingdon, TN
His final choices are: Notre Dame, Tennessee, Clemson, Florida State, Miami (Fl), Mississippi

The #1 ranked cornerback in the nation is: Eric Berry of Fairburn, GA
He has narrowed his choices to: Auburn, Georgia, Ohio State, Tennessee, USC, Florida, Miami (Fl)

The #2 ranked cornerback in the nation is: Ronald Johnson of Muskegon, MI
His short list includes: Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee, UCLA, USC

The #4 ranked wide receiver in the nation is: Ahmad Paige of Sterlington, LA
His final choices are: Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Tennessee, USC

The #4 ranked defensive tackle in the nation is: Lee Ziemba of Rogers, AR
He likes: Arkansas, Auburn, Michigan, Mississippi, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Tennessee

Mailbag

Coach Scooter,

Lifetime VOLS fan, first time writer here. While I am a diehard fan, I know when talent is being under-utilized, under-developed, under-conditioned or just plain-old over sold. By that I mean the following; Instead of looking at the recruiting 4 and 5 star prospects, and arbitrarily sending out love letters....wht not actually send out REAL scouts and watch some football at triple, quad and 5-A schools? Tennessee's RB's are either (a) mediocre at best or (b) not getting the blocks/holes they need. In my opinion neither Foster or Coker have the potential to make it to the NFL, or at least they haven't shown it. Would you pick them in a draft? We haven't established the run in a single game this season, this has to be fixed. I'm tired of dodging bullets and winning by luck. With a couple of bad breaks we could (very easily) have lost to lowly Air-Force, Alabama, South Carolina, and Kentucky for heavens sake! We were an injury or two away from being 5-7 this year. I guess the argument could be made that we were an injury or two away from being 11-1, but I call'em like I see them. We have to become a triple-threat team to compete in the SEC, the competetion is just too GOOD. Even UK, VANDY, AND SC are on the upswing, we either evolve or remain 3rd in the SEC east perpetually. I can't stomach the Gators winning the east. GO VOLS!!! ( A true fan doesn't always tell you what you want to hear).

Mark

Thanks for the email, Mark. You must have read my last column where I asked for more mail because I was getting tired of all the crap from Africa in my in box. Great post, and I loved the passion you put into it. I both agree and disagree with parts of your message and I will tell you why.

I really like what I am seeing out of LaMarcus Coker and think he is the next superstar of the SEC. Foster is a good back, but Coker has breakaway speed and a toughness that I love seeing out of the running back position. Keep him healthy for a season, as well as Ainge and the WR's, and they will flat tear up defenses next fall.

I agree that we have to become a triple threat team to compete in the SEC. Look at out own division where every team has the weapons to beat you on any given Saturday, and let's not even talk about the West where Arkansas, Auburn and LSU are loaded, and Ole Miss is having a great recruiting season so far. While the offense is important, I am old school, so I think it all starts with defense. If you have a top notch defense, it can take you a long way. Do the names Little, Wilson, Henderson and Grant bring back beautiful memories?

As far as recruiting goes, I know Coach Fulmer and his staff are off to a good start due to the fact they are recruiting a lot of different players from all over. I know they go to games all over the country to see about filling all of their needs so let's wait until February because I have a hunch we are going to be all right, especially if we have a winning end to the season in the bowl game.

I also agree that I hate losing out to the Gators and their crybaby coach Urban Meyer. I think they rode a wave of good luck this year, but we'll see next season because they are probably the worse 11-1 team out there. The offense is sputtering, the defense has lost some key people and their kicking game is horrible.

I appreciate you writing your mind and would enjoy hearing more form you when you have time. You are right, a true fan doesn't always tell you what you want to hear, and I like that! Keep those emails coming, Mark!

Well that’s it for another week in Big Orange Country. See you on Friday with more recruiting information, and more news about where the Vols are heading for the post season. Go Vols!!!