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COACH FULMER'S COMMENTS ON OLE MISS GAME
Vols And Rebels Kickoff Saturday At 12:30 p.m. EDT On JP
Sept. 28, 2005
"Well obviously we are just extremely excited about the effort and the win at LSU. It's very important for us now to take that maturity and mental toughness that we showed in that football game and put that one behind us and get our minds and our preparations started towards Mississippi. I think the leadership on this staff and this football team - from the captains and the seniors - will certainly get that done. (We'll) move on to Ole Miss and enjoy this win by taking care of our business and using what it's meant to us - and that's showing that we're a team that can compete with anybody in the country.
"Our coaches have worked really hard to get ready for this game. We actually spent Saturday morning and Sunday morning working on Ole Miss and getting breakdowns and our cut-ups and our computer business done. We had that behind us, and we're not behind from that standpoint. What we're actually losing is one day of preparation and one day of practice. I think we're going to be fine. Our kids, fortunately, a lot of them have played a lot and they'll adjust nicely to what we're doing here.
"Defensively I am really happy about the way that we're playing. Basically they said last Monday before the LSU game, `Coach, put the team on our backs, and we'll carry it if that's the way it needs to be.' And they had been (carrying the team) up until the second half of the LSU game. Now I'm hopeful that they'll continue to play like they're capable of playing and have played in the past; and offensively, that we've got all this bad karma that's going on around us out of the way and that we're ready to go be an offensive team that we all thought that we could be.
"Special teams took a step forward against LSU. There's a lot of room for improvement, but I was really happy with the step that we took. We played (two) bad games, and if you're not careful - something like what James Wilhoit did there in the second half by kicking those balls in the end zone - that hidden yardage gets lost. Certainly from a coach's perspective, those were two of the biggest plays in the ballgame, in my opinion ... along with the field goal at the end of the game to put it into overtime. Nobody talks about those things, but certainly we have great appreciation for those.
"About Mississippi, (former) coach (David) Cutcliffe has recruited well there for them. Obviously he left them a good number of talented football players. It's always tough when you play against Mississippi since my time as a player and as an assistant and a head coach here.
"Their quarterback (Micheal Spurlock) is very, very athletic. He's a guy that can just make you miserable if you don't contain him, and you're going to have to work really, really hard to contain him. He's fast. He can throw on the run. He can run the football and keep the chains moving, and we've got to do a super job of managing him. Same thing at tailback. They've got a tailback (Jamal Pittman) that might be as fast as anybody on our football team - or faster. He can run away from you. So we've got to get after those two guys, certainly. (They've got) a couple of receivers that are just fast as can be, again, and we've got to do a good job of just keeping all that in front of us and containing it the very best that we can.
"They're offensive line is a big, athletic group of guys. We've got to do a good job with them.
"Defensively, they have one of the best defensive fronts that we'll play against this year defensive-front-wise. We've got to do a heck of a job of making sure we're setting right and stepping right and putting our hats in the right places and finishing blocks, because they can be very, very disruptive if we're not careful. So they're really good - athletic in the secondary; athletic at linebacker. They're a good-looking defensive team.
"In the kicking game, they've struggled a little bit in their kicks, with their kicker and their punter. But their return game is very good with Mike Espy - a guy that we recruited and tried to sign here. He's a guy that certainly has our attention.
"It's a very important game for us to build on the LSU win. The LSU win becomes much more important if we continue to do what we're capable of doing as a football team. That's my hope, that we'll be mature enough - and I believe we are - to handle this short week, to handle the preparation, to put the LSU game behind us and play a great football game against Ole Miss. And take the next step for us. It's an early game. We need our fans out early to welcome us back after being away for a couple of weeks."
UTSports.com Football
Vols And Rebels Kickoff Saturday At 12:30 p.m. EDT On JP
Sept. 28, 2005
"Well obviously we are just extremely excited about the effort and the win at LSU. It's very important for us now to take that maturity and mental toughness that we showed in that football game and put that one behind us and get our minds and our preparations started towards Mississippi. I think the leadership on this staff and this football team - from the captains and the seniors - will certainly get that done. (We'll) move on to Ole Miss and enjoy this win by taking care of our business and using what it's meant to us - and that's showing that we're a team that can compete with anybody in the country.
"Our coaches have worked really hard to get ready for this game. We actually spent Saturday morning and Sunday morning working on Ole Miss and getting breakdowns and our cut-ups and our computer business done. We had that behind us, and we're not behind from that standpoint. What we're actually losing is one day of preparation and one day of practice. I think we're going to be fine. Our kids, fortunately, a lot of them have played a lot and they'll adjust nicely to what we're doing here.
"Defensively I am really happy about the way that we're playing. Basically they said last Monday before the LSU game, `Coach, put the team on our backs, and we'll carry it if that's the way it needs to be.' And they had been (carrying the team) up until the second half of the LSU game. Now I'm hopeful that they'll continue to play like they're capable of playing and have played in the past; and offensively, that we've got all this bad karma that's going on around us out of the way and that we're ready to go be an offensive team that we all thought that we could be.
"Special teams took a step forward against LSU. There's a lot of room for improvement, but I was really happy with the step that we took. We played (two) bad games, and if you're not careful - something like what James Wilhoit did there in the second half by kicking those balls in the end zone - that hidden yardage gets lost. Certainly from a coach's perspective, those were two of the biggest plays in the ballgame, in my opinion ... along with the field goal at the end of the game to put it into overtime. Nobody talks about those things, but certainly we have great appreciation for those.
"About Mississippi, (former) coach (David) Cutcliffe has recruited well there for them. Obviously he left them a good number of talented football players. It's always tough when you play against Mississippi since my time as a player and as an assistant and a head coach here.
"Their quarterback (Micheal Spurlock) is very, very athletic. He's a guy that can just make you miserable if you don't contain him, and you're going to have to work really, really hard to contain him. He's fast. He can throw on the run. He can run the football and keep the chains moving, and we've got to do a super job of managing him. Same thing at tailback. They've got a tailback (Jamal Pittman) that might be as fast as anybody on our football team - or faster. He can run away from you. So we've got to get after those two guys, certainly. (They've got) a couple of receivers that are just fast as can be, again, and we've got to do a good job of just keeping all that in front of us and containing it the very best that we can.
"They're offensive line is a big, athletic group of guys. We've got to do a good job with them.
"Defensively, they have one of the best defensive fronts that we'll play against this year defensive-front-wise. We've got to do a heck of a job of making sure we're setting right and stepping right and putting our hats in the right places and finishing blocks, because they can be very, very disruptive if we're not careful. So they're really good - athletic in the secondary; athletic at linebacker. They're a good-looking defensive team.
"In the kicking game, they've struggled a little bit in their kicks, with their kicker and their punter. But their return game is very good with Mike Espy - a guy that we recruited and tried to sign here. He's a guy that certainly has our attention.
"It's a very important game for us to build on the LSU win. The LSU win becomes much more important if we continue to do what we're capable of doing as a football team. That's my hope, that we'll be mature enough - and I believe we are - to handle this short week, to handle the preparation, to put the LSU game behind us and play a great football game against Ole Miss. And take the next step for us. It's an early game. We need our fans out early to welcome us back after being away for a couple of weeks."
UTSports.com Football
