Kiffin, Vols not underestimating Tigers

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Kiffin, Vols not underestimating Tigers

Coach to remind players of hard-fought games

By Phil Stukenborg
commercial appeal.com
Nov 7

KNOXVILLE -- For the University of Memphis football program, its 11 trips to east Tennessee since the late 1960s to play the Volunteers have produced a shutout.

The Tigers have been winless in those 11 games -- but recently, they've been competitive. Three of the past four meetings in Knoxville have been decided by an average of 5.3 points.

In 1994, former Memphis coach Chuck Stobart's final season, a strong Tigers defense fought gallantly before succumbing, 24-13.

In 1999, the Vols needed a dramatic comeback in the closing minute to post a 17-16 win. Quarterback Tee Martin hit Memphian Cedrick Wilson with the winning 15-yard touchdown pass with 60 seconds left.

And in the last Vols-Tigers game at Neyland Stadium in 2005, the Vols needed two fourth-quarter field goals from James Wilhoit to escape with a 20-16 victory.

Oddsmakers aren't expecting a similar outcome tonight at 6 CST when the Vols and Tigers play for the 22nd time. Tennessee, which has won 20 of 21 games in the series, has been established as an overwhelming favorite.

Still, first-year Vols coach Lane Kiffin is taking the cautious approach, despite facing a 2-6 Tiger team that is struggling to stop the run and coming off back-to-back losses in which it has been plagued by a variety of turnovers and special-teams breakdowns.

''This is a big game for us,'' Kiffin said. ''We know they are going to come and play. I would imagine this is the biggest game of the season for them.

''We don't have to look any further than the last time they came in here and almost beat Tennessee. Tennessee came out with a four-point win. Then go all the way back to a Peyton Manning-led team that Memphis was able to beat (in 1996 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium), a really good Tennessee team. Our guys will be aware of that.''

And the Tigers will be aware of the challenge they'll be facing. Memphis is allowing 198 yards rushing per game and has yielded 200 or more rushing yards to four of its last five opponents.

Those are not the kind of numbers a defensive coordinator wants to take with him to Knoxville, particularly when the Vols offense is paced by running back Montario Hardesty. Hardesty, a fifth-year senior, is averaging 105 yards rushing per game and 5 yards per carry.

''Tennessee is playing with confidence on both sides of the ball,'' Tigers coach Tommy West said. ''They're outstanding on defense and have been since the start of the season. Now their offense has caught up. Their offense is doing a great job of protecting the ball.''

Memphis' inability to protect the football cost it an opportunity to upend defending Conference USA champion East Carolina on national television. The Tigers committed four turnovers, three of which led to ECU touchdowns.

''We can't make those mistakes,'' West said. ''We've been up there before. We took one team up there (a 49-28 loss in 2001) and made mistakes and the game got out of hand early.

''We took another team up there and had a wideout (Maurice Avery) playing quarterback and we did our stuff and had a chance to win the game at the end. Our guys have got to learn not to make mistakes.''

For a Tigers team whose bowl chances are fading -- a loss today will eliminate the UofM from postseason consideration -- playing Tennessee in Knoxville will likely be a season highlight for most of the Tigers players.

''It's going to be a great experience,'' said Duke Calhoun, the leading receiver in UofM history. ''There's going to be a lot of (NFL) scouts there. They have one of the best safeties (Eric Berry) in the nation. And they're one of the best defenses in the country. It'll be good to play against those guys.''

Tennessee, which has lost two middle linebackers to injuries this season, ranks 13th nationally in total defense. Offensively, the Vols (4-4) are averaging 379 yards, or about 13 more per game than the Tigers.

A crowd approaching 100,000 is expected, or about the total Memphis has played before in three road games (at Middle Tennessee, at Central Florida and at Southern Miss).

''It's a big-time atmosphere,'' Tigers quarterback Will Hudgens said. ''They come out in droves for their football team. It's going to be exciting. And they've got a lot of excitement going around their program right now. They are playing well, picking up wins and getting a whole lot better each week.''

4 things to watch

1. Vols RB Montario Hardesty: The Tigers have played against several of the nation's top 30 running backs this season, but none with the physical, punishing nature of Hardesty. The fifth-year senior is coming off a 121-yard effort in a 31-13 victory over South Carolina. If he averages 125 in the final five games, he'll break the school's season rushing record of 1,464 yards.

2. Duke and Carlos: Tigers senior receivers Duke Calhoun and Carlos Singleton have become more productive as a tandem the past two games. They've combined for 32 catches during the stretch but will be facing the nation's 15th-ranked pass defense, led by All-America safety Eric Berry.

3. Tennessee linebackers: The Vols have lost middle linebackers Nick Reveiz and Savion Frazier to torn knee ligaments this season. Freshmen Herman Lathers and Nigel Mitchell-Thornton will step into Frazier's position. Regardless of who starts, he'll likely get support from Berry, who hits like a linebacker (see YouTube clip of his early season collision with Florida QB Tim Tebow).

4. Tigers special teams: This unit is due for a mistake-free outing. The Tigers yielded a punt return for a touchdown against Southern Miss two games ago and fumbled a punt that led to a TD the following game against East Carolina. A more amazing stat: Memphis has gone 148 games without returning a kickoff for a touchdown. The last time the Tigers scored on a kickoff return: Nov. 9, 1996, against Tennessee.

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I hope not crush em!