Arclight
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 23, 2005
- Messages
- 4,259
- Likes
- 858
Teammates Excited To Have Clausen As Starter
KNOXVILLE Now that Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer has made Rick Clausen his guy at quarterback, nobody seems to be more pleased than Clausen's teammates.
"Everybody's got the ultimate confidence in Rick and knows he's going to do his job," receiver Jayson Swain said. "He's out there having fun. When we were down 21 points, he came into the huddle and said a joke. I almost cracked up laughing a little bit."
Clausen came off the bench to spark the Vols' rally from a 21-0 deficit against LSU on Monday. The Vols won 30-27 in overtime.
"He said, 'Why the long faces? We're about to go down here and score,'" Swain said.
Rock the bus: LSU Athletics Director Skip Bertman sent a letter of apology to Tennessee Athletics Director Mike Hamilton yesterday for problems encountered by the UT buses Monday night as they approached Tiger Stadium.
Included in Bertman's letter was the following excerpt: "The offenders you encountered on Monday night are not representative of the many great fans we have at LSU. They are the unfortunate few who do not understand that their embarrassing and insulting behavior reflects poorly on LSU's athletics program and does nothing to lend support to our team. We are working hard to address the problem."
No sleep: Fulmer said the Vols got into Knoxville around 4 a.m. following the win over LSU, and he couldn't sleep once he got back. He slept about an hour on his office couch, and the first time he went home was Tuesday night.
Gandy update: Senior offensive lineman Richie Gandy said the swelling was down in his knee, and he hopes to play against Ole Miss on Saturday. Redshirt freshman Anthony Parker started in Gandy's place against LSU.
Go for it: Fulmer said the Vols would have gone for it on fourth down in overtime if Riggs had not scored the winning touchdown on third down. Riggs' 1-yard run gave the Vols a 30-27 victory.
In jeopardy: Sanders was about as unhappy as anyone with the Vols' first-half offensive performance against LSU. In fact, when he was asked which offensive linemen were in question because of injuries, Sanders was more than a little candid.
"After the first half, I'm in question," he said.
Iron-linemen: Offensive tackle Albert Toeaina played 89 snaps against LSU, while Arron Sears, who played four different positions on the offensive line, played 85 snaps.
"I don't know that we've ever had linemen do that around here," Sanders said.
"You take 89 or 85 plays on a guy that weighs 320 pounds, he may have lost 15 pounds in the game easily."
TIM VACEK
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KNOXVILLE Now that Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer has made Rick Clausen his guy at quarterback, nobody seems to be more pleased than Clausen's teammates.
"Everybody's got the ultimate confidence in Rick and knows he's going to do his job," receiver Jayson Swain said. "He's out there having fun. When we were down 21 points, he came into the huddle and said a joke. I almost cracked up laughing a little bit."
Clausen came off the bench to spark the Vols' rally from a 21-0 deficit against LSU on Monday. The Vols won 30-27 in overtime.
"He said, 'Why the long faces? We're about to go down here and score,'" Swain said.
Rock the bus: LSU Athletics Director Skip Bertman sent a letter of apology to Tennessee Athletics Director Mike Hamilton yesterday for problems encountered by the UT buses Monday night as they approached Tiger Stadium.
Included in Bertman's letter was the following excerpt: "The offenders you encountered on Monday night are not representative of the many great fans we have at LSU. They are the unfortunate few who do not understand that their embarrassing and insulting behavior reflects poorly on LSU's athletics program and does nothing to lend support to our team. We are working hard to address the problem."
No sleep: Fulmer said the Vols got into Knoxville around 4 a.m. following the win over LSU, and he couldn't sleep once he got back. He slept about an hour on his office couch, and the first time he went home was Tuesday night.
Gandy update: Senior offensive lineman Richie Gandy said the swelling was down in his knee, and he hopes to play against Ole Miss on Saturday. Redshirt freshman Anthony Parker started in Gandy's place against LSU.
Go for it: Fulmer said the Vols would have gone for it on fourth down in overtime if Riggs had not scored the winning touchdown on third down. Riggs' 1-yard run gave the Vols a 30-27 victory.
In jeopardy: Sanders was about as unhappy as anyone with the Vols' first-half offensive performance against LSU. In fact, when he was asked which offensive linemen were in question because of injuries, Sanders was more than a little candid.
"After the first half, I'm in question," he said.
Iron-linemen: Offensive tackle Albert Toeaina played 89 snaps against LSU, while Arron Sears, who played four different positions on the offensive line, played 85 snaps.
"I don't know that we've ever had linemen do that around here," Sanders said.
"You take 89 or 85 plays on a guy that weighs 320 pounds, he may have lost 15 pounds in the game easily."
TIM VACEK
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
