Handily winning a Southeastern Conference football game returned some swagger to the University of Tennessee football program.
The Volunteers returned to practice Sunday night, and they were clearly a more confident bunch.
Here’s a humbling dose of reality, though.
UT’s defense made a 34-3 victory over Mississippi State seem easier than it was, and the Vols’ offensive statistics weren’t that special.
And it gets much tougher this week, on several levels.
The Vols (3-4, 1-3 SEC) host second-ranked Alabama (7-0, 4-0) Saturday night in Neyland Stadium, and they might play without two of their most prominent offensive players.
UT coach Phillip Fulmer said senior guard Anthony Parker and sophomore Gerald Jones are “questionable”
for this week after suffering high ankle sprains against Mississippi State.
Both players will be evaluated throughout the week, and final decisions might not be made until pregame warm-ups.
“I would say they would be questionable for the ball game,”
Fulmer said. “We’ll see as the week goes along how well they can overcome.”
Parker has started 34 of his 39 career games for UT, and he was named a third-team All-American last season by the Associated Press and Rivals.com.
Jones has three of the Vols’ five touchdown receptions this season, and he’s second on the team with 19 receptions for 251 yards. He also plays quarterback in the team’s “G-Gun”
package, and he practices under center much more frequently than the team’s other two options, sophomore safety Eric Berry and leading receiver Lucas Taylor.
Berry — a former high school quarterback star from the Atlanta area — is admittedly a tempting choice, and Fulmer has said that several times the past two seasons. But Berry is also invaluable to UT’s defense and plays on several special teams units, Fulmer added.
“We would very much like to (get Berry some touches) a little bit on offense, and we’re certainly looking at him as a punt returner, as well,”
said Fulmer.
Ability isn’t the question.
Berry has 10 interceptions in 21 career games, and he’s already broken the SEC’s career record with 397 interception return yardage.
“I’ve never seen anything like Eric Berry,”
Fulmer said.
Added junior safety Demetrice Morley: “I’ve never played with anybody of his caliber.”
Fulmer said he was prepared to run some of Berry’s quarterback plays against Mississippi State, if needed.
“That’s up to the offensive guys,”
Berry said. “Right now, I’m just focusing on this defense and what I can add to the team on defense.”
Parker might not be impossible to replace, but his absence would leave coaches with five proven offensive linemen. Sophomore tackle Ramone Johnson returns this week, but he didn’t practice during a two-week suspension for what Fulmer called “lack of academic effort and a violation of team rules.”
Sophomore guard Jarrod Shaw and junior walk-on twins Cody and Cory Sullins are interior options, but Fulmer stuck with his five proven players until Saturday’s final few minutes.
“No rotation,”
Fulmer said moments after the game. “Mississippi State held Vanderbilt to 107 total yards last week, and our guys took a challenge.”
“We went back to a lot more base-type football in the run game, and our guys must have done a good job.”
Alabama’s defense has serious injury concerns, as well. Mammoth defensive tackle Terrence Cody — one of Berry’s stiffest competitors for SEC defensive player of the year — injured his knee in the Crimson Tide’s 24-20 victory over Ole Miss.
Tide coach Nick Saban doesn’t address the media on Sundays, but he said moments after the Ole Miss game that Cody would undergo an MRI and likely miss at least two weeks.
“I heard that he got injured,”
Fulmer said of Cody. “I don’t know how much it would change them, if at all. They’ve got good players backing him up.”
“He’s certainly a guy you have to worry about if he’s out there, but they’ve got a bunch of those guys.”
Cody’s absence would be a break for the Vols.
It certainly wouldn’t dampen the offense’s newfound confidence.
UT had just 275 yards of total offense against Mississippi State, but that was nearly three times the output previously unbeaten Vanderbilt had against the Bulldogs, who also held Auburn to three points.
“We made up our mind to take over the game, and it showed,”
Vols senior tailback Arian Foster said.
