University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Continue Bowl Preparations and Activities
December 28, 2003 | Football
Dec. 28, 2003
FULMER ON SENIOR QB CLAUSEN
LB SIMON ON CLEMSON OFFENSE
SNELLVILLE, Ga. - Tennessee broke into its actual game-week practice routine Sunday with the second of three scheduled workouts at Brookwood High School. The Vols meet Clemson in the 36th annual Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Friday afternoon at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Head coach Phillip Fulmer paced the Vols through a nearly two-hour session under the lights in a rare evening docket, although temperatures remained in the 50s.
"I thought the kids got after it and it was good to have full-speed work," Fulmer said. "We haven't played in a month and you're always concerned about ball security, and we've had as much good work with that as we could have.
"We've had a live scrimmage and been tackled now (Monday) we'll try to have about eight plays of open-field scrimmage and we'll see. We've pretty much had more contact this season than we've had most seasons. We're a young football team, still, in a lot of places."
Prior to practice, Tennessee players and coaches were treated by the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl to a couple of hours of entertainment at Atlanta's ESPN Zone where they had refreshments and played countless video and sport games.
The Vols, 10-2 this season, turned things around on defense during their current six-game winning streak. UT cut its touchdown passes allowed from seven in the first half of the season to three over the last half, and also flipped their turnover margin from minus-5 to plus-8 during those same periods.
"This game will be huge in the legacy of this senior class and this Tennessee defense because they have done some really good things, especially the last five or six games," Fulmer said. "We were our own worst enemies the first half of the season, but Clemson will be a big, big challenge for us."
Tennessee is 99-25 in the last 10 years for the third-best winning percentage (.798) nationally during that span behind only Nebraska (.836) and Florida State (.835). In addition, the Vols are bidding for their ninth 11-win season all-time and fifth under Fulmer.
UT's Sports Medicine Staff once again held out linebacker Marvin Mitchell (knee) and defensive end Turk McBride (thumb) from practice. Their status for Friday's game has not been determined.
Monday, the Vols are slated for a players' morning visit to Scottish Rite Hospital in Atlanta before concluding their outdoor work here at Brookwood. Practice time Monday is set for 2:45 p.m.
