Head coach Phillip Fulmer said Chavis came downstairs to "challenge his
guys," but the coordinator offered another explanation. After seeing
Tennessee surrender 24 points in the final 4:55 of the first half, he feared
a disaster was in the making.
"I've been around situations where things come unraveled," he explained,
"and I wanted to make sure I was able to look our guys in the eye in the
second half every time they came off that field.
"I think they responded. We gave up some plays the second half we shouldn't
have but I think we played with great effort. I don't think anybody threw
the towel in."
The move may have been a reaction to the 1995 game in Gainesville, when Vol
defenders appeared to quit in the midst of a stretch which saw the Gators
score touchdowns on seven consecutive possessions en route to a 62-37 romp.
Don't blame overconfidence
Looking for an easy answer, many fans are saying the Vols were overconfident
heading into Saturday's 30-13 loss to Florida. UT defensive end Karlton Neal
says that's ridiculous.
"Every team has their confidence," he said. "Florida has their confidence,
Miami has their confidence. You've got to have that in order to face another
team that has good football players."
Vols win ground game, lose war
Tennessee outgained Florida 99 yards to 94 in Saturday's 30-13 upset,
bucking a recent trend. The team which gained the most rushing yards had
prevailed on the scoreboard in 11 of the previous 12 meetings.
Ran Carthon led Florida with 51 yards on nine carries. Earnest Graham added
42 yards on 15 carries. Troy Fleming (nine for 42) and Jabari Davis (eight
for 32) were tops for Tennessee. Cedric Houston, who was averaging 7.8 yards
per carry through UT's first two games, suffered a thigh bruise in the
opening minutes and carried just one time for five yards.
The Boo point of view
Defensive tackle Rashad "Boo" Moore showed why he is one of the most
quotable Vols when a TV reporter asked if he was "satisfied with the
pressure" Tennessee applied to Florida quarterback Rex Grossman in
Saturday's game at Neyland Stadium.
"You can't be satisfied when you lose 30-13," Moore said. "I don't care if
we sacked him 25 times. When you've lost 30-13, you still can't be
satisfied."