Fulmer says open date a “blessing” for Vols

After a week of rest and healing, the Tennessee Volunteers will arrive at The Swamp a healthy football team with sights on taking a huge step toward defending their Southeastern Conference Eastern Division Championship. With the pivotal Tennessee-Florida match-up annually occurring in mid-September, an open-date in the week before the Vols-Gators showdown sometimes weakens momentum that might have gathered during games against directional schools that typically fall during the first month of Tennessee’s schedule. That’s not the case this year according to head coach Phillip Fulmer. Fourth-ranked Tennessee struggled at times on both offense and defense in a 17-10 season-opening win over Alabama-Birmingham. Fulmer said a reason for the team’s slow start against the Blazers was lingering injuries, and last week’s open date helped take care of that problem. “Obviously the open week came at a very good time for us,” the coach said during Tuesday’s media day. “Coming out of (preseason) camp we were a little banged up. And then in the UAB game we had two or three things going on (in terms of injuries), so kids who might not have been able to play (the weekend after the UAB game) are back and ready to play. So the open date happened at a very good time for us.” Besides allowing some players to mend their injuries, the open-date was also a fine opportunity for Fulmer and his staff to install a game-plan for an old rival with a new look. “We got an excellent start on Florida (preparations) as well as getting healthy,” Fulmer commented. “We got an excellent start on Florida and their styles on offense and defense. “But this year you count your blessings that you have an open date. In some years your playing well and don’t want to see that open date come up. But this year was really good.” Fulmer added that the sixth-ranked Gators are even more challenging than usual to prepare for because of their new look under first-year coach Urban Meyer. The new Florida coach has installed a spread offense putting quarterback Chris Leak in the shotgun formation. From there, Leak, a precision passer, can change from an option attack running game to a wide open, field stretching, passing game. “As they’ve shown already, they’re very capable of the big play and very capable of running the football,” he said. “They’ve been effective in their drives and there are a lot of big-play people on the field. Chris Leak does a great job as their quarterback of running the offense, and in particular, throwing the football. They have as good a group of receivers as we’ve seen at Tennessee in a long time. As a whole I’ve been impressed with them. “And last week they got their running game going. They’re really a complete offensive team. They do a good job of spreading you out all over the field and running the option on reverses or the shovel pass or the screen, and it really makes you have to play hard and play well. They put athletes in space and anytime you’ve got athletes in space, you’ve got concerns about making the tackle. So we have to do that.” Fulmer said he feels that the key to winning the game is likely to depend on how the Volunteers’ defense responds to the versatile Florida offense and playing in such a hostile environment. “On the defensive side, I mentioned preventing the big plays and trying to get Florida’s (offense) off the field,” Fulmer added. “Those are things that are going to be real important in this ballgame. “It never changes when you play teams like this—with the intensity and the degree of the rivalry—that we keep our emotions in check to the point that we don’t get out of character in any way and that we stay focused on why we’re going down there. And that’s to play well and win the game.” September 24th LSU game on as scheduled Questions about the September 24th game with LSU have dominated the sports radio airwaves this week, as fans are inquiring about available hotel space, and if there is a chance the contest will be moved to another sight or postponed to earlier in the day or even later in the season. It was announced Wednesday that the game will be held in Baton Rouge at Tiger Stadium with a 7:45 ESPN kickoff. Fulmer said that travel plans are a concern, but helping the area stricken by Hurricane Katrina get back to normal should be everyone’s main concern. “I’ve been asked several times about the LSU game time and travel plans to LSU, and things certainly aren’t finalized at this point at all,” Fulmer stated. “But to be honest with you, any inconvenience that we might have to face or any changes that we might have to make are really nothing compared to the tragedy that has gone on in Louisiana—with all the displaced people—and we’ll do what we need to do to get ourselves ready to play and to travel.”