The eighth in a series previewing SEC football teams
FAYETTEVILLE — Derek Dooley’s rhetoric at SEC media days was nearly as hot as the seat he sits on as he enters his third season as Tennessee’s football coach.
Dooley admitted, “It’s been a tough four years at Tennessee,” and that other league schools have taken advantage of the Volunteers’ tough times. But he also issued a warning.
“There’s a nice mood on our team right now that you’re not going to have Tennessee to kick around anymore,” he said.
Tennessee players have tried to deflect some of the pressure off Dooley, who is 4-12 in conference play with two of the victories coming against Vanderbilt.
“I don’t know about our coach being on the hot seat, but our team is on the hot seat,” quarterback Tyler Bray said. “We haven’t played like we should have.”
Indeed, Tennessee scored fewer than 10 points in a game five times while ranking 106th nationally in scoring offense last season, including a 10-7 loss to Kentucky that broke a 26-year winning streak against the Wildcats.
Still, the Volunteers enter 2012 with optimism.
Their veteran offensive line, led by two-year starting tackles Ja’Wuan James and Dallas Thomas, has a combined 106 starts under its belt. The quarterbacks, led by Bray, have played 20 games. Receivers Justin Hunter and Da’Rick Rogers might even be the best tandem in the conference.
There is a veteran presence, led by linebacker Herman Lathers, in all areas of the defense, which is now under the watch of first-year coordinator Sal Sunseri, who had been at Alabama.
“I feel better today about where we are as a program than at any point since I’ve been in Knoxville,” said Dooley, pointing out the Volunteers have a settled roster of 85 scholarship players for the first time under his watch.
Injuries crippled the Volunteers a year ago, with Bray missing five games because of a broken thumb, Hunter missing 10 games because of a torn knee ligament and Lathers sitting out the entire season with a badly fractured ankle.
Dooley, asked about his team’s reaction to those setbacks, was typically candid.
“I think the cumulative effect — those were three of our most, I guess, talented, publicized players — had a bad impact on us,” he said. “Our spirit was broken.”
The Volunteers, a kingpin in the SEC East for most of their 16 seasons under Phillip Fulmer (1993-2008), are expected to have one of the conference’s most dangerous offenses if they can provide a running balance with a topflight passing game.
“We haven’t had the seasons Tennessee’s had in the past, but we’re going to try to change that,” Bray said. “We have great leadership this year and a good offense and a good defense.”
Bray, whose six 300-yard passing games are tops among SEC quarterbacks, was on pace to lead the league in passing yardage before breaking his thumb against Georgia in the fifth game of the season. Hunter was leading the SEC in receiving yardage when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the third week against Florida, and Rogers wound up leading the conference with 67 receptions a year ago.
But the Vols’ running game lagged badly, amassing just 90 yards a game to rank 116th of 120 FBS teams. With sophomore Marlin Lane and junior Raijon Neal operating behind a veteran line, Tennessee has a chance to be stronger on the ground this fall.
Bray, who was hailed as a more mature leader in Tennessee circles after the spring, was accused this week of throwing beer bottles off an apartment balcony and breaking the windshield of a parked car. The Knoxville News-Sentinel reported Wednesday that Bray would pay restitution and would not have charges filed against him.
The back seven on defense figure to be stout, with starting linebackers Curt Maggitt, Lathers and A.J. Johnson supplemented by veteran Willie Bohannon, and the secondary returning three starters, including cornerback Prentiss Waggner and the safety combination of Brent Brewer and Brian Randolph.
“Our new defensive coordinator, Sal Sunseri, he brings a lot to the table, coming from a program that just won the national championship and a top-ranked defense,” Lathers said. “The guy knows how to win, and his scheme is proven and it’s going to work for us if we just buy in.”
The schedule looks difficult, with Tennessee having to travel to projected SEC East contenders Georgia, South Carolina and Vanderbilt, and defending national champion Alabama coming to Knoxville. The Volunteers open against North Carolina State at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
“It’s going to be a good early measure for our football team to see how much improvement we made in the last seven months,” Dooley said.
About the Volunteers
LAST YEAR 5-7, 1-7 (sixth) in SEC East
RETURNING STARTERS Offense 10, Defense 7, Specialists 2
SURE THINGS Offensive line, receivers
UNSURE THING Running back
OFFENSIVE MVP Quarterback Tyler Bray
DEFENSIVE MVP Defensive back Prentiss Waggner
SEC TITLE SCENARIO It’s not unthinkable for a Tennessee team that won just one league game a year ago to contend in the balanced SEC East. Bray, who is 6-6 with a big right arm, could be prolific with top targets Justin Hunter and Da’Rick Rogers in tow behind a veteran offensive front. The Volunteers must be better all around on defense and show a semblance of a running game to contend.
NEXT PREVIEW: Auburn
Sports, Pages 19 on 07/26/2012