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Thursday, October 8
Updated: October 9, 12:50 PM ET
 
Vols will play Tee-ball

By Mike Gottfried
Special to ESPN.com

I think Tennessee has two really good backup tailbacks in Travis Stephens and Travis Henry. The Vols coaches feel confident that they can replace the injured Jamal Lewis. Maybe not one guy, but they can by alternating the two sophomore tailbacks.

 Tee Martin
Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin has only completed 44 percent of his passes this season.
But now the offensive game plan falls on Tee Martin. The Vols have been playing very conservatively the last few games. In fact, the junior quarterback only completed five passes last weekend against Auburn.

The Vols are going to open it up against Georgia. They will run a lot more formations, more two tight end and two-flanker sets, and using three wide receivers on certain downs. The offense will be opened up starting with the first time they get the ball.

They'll try to put some pressure on Martin to produce. With Lewis, they could put everything on his shoulders. Now they have to put it on Martin's shoulders. He hasn't been able to carry the team yet.

On the other side of the ball, the Vols have to pressure Quincy Carter. In games the Vols coaches have seen so far, Carter hasn't faced much pressure, which has allowed him to make plays. The Vols are going to have a linebacker shadow Carter on dropback passes and when he's in the shotgun. The Vols don't want to see a repeat of what happened to LSU last week, when he completed 27 of 34 passes.

One of the questions for Georgia is whether the center, Miles Luckie, plays. When he left the game in the third quarter against LSU with a bruised knee, the Tigers' nose guard Anthony McFarland got really active. They need Luckie back. He dressed for practice Wednesday, but he didn't do much, so I think he's probably doubtful. If Luckie is not in there, the Bulldogs have to move a right guard Jonas Jennings to center, changing the positions for two players.

That will help Tennessee come after Carter with a lot of pressure. The Tigers played coverage in the first half, allowing Carter to really get into a groove. Then in the second half the Tigers came after Carter and only gave up one score. So that's what Tennessee's going to do.

Al Wilson, who sat out last week's game against Auburn with a shoulder injury, will return for this game. He's their best linebacker; he's really active against the run, an excellent blitzer and good man-to-man coverage guy. The speed of the Tennessee defense will be the fastest the Bulldogs have faced.

A freshman like Carter is liable to have ups and downs. So with a little pressure the Vols believe they can get him to create some turnovers. If Luckie doesn't play, they will bring their pressure from the inside. They'll blitz linebackers, the strong safety and the weakside corner when the ball's on the hash.

A big concern for the Tennessee defense is receiver Champ Bailey. The Vols will use double coverage on him. They're not going to let Bailey beat them.




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