With the help of a team which lost to San Jose State, the Tennessee
Volunteers moved into second place in the new Bowl Championship Series
standings, released Monday afternoon.
UCLA, partly because of its narrow 28-24 come-from-behind home win over
lowly Stanford, plummeted from the BCS penthouse all the way to No. 3
without losing a game.
Previous No. 2 Ohio State, winners over Indiana on the weekend, assumed the
No. 1 spot. Tennessee, which had been ranked third, moved into the No. 2
spot.
Kansas State remained in fourth place.
What this means is if the season were to end today, Tennessee would face
Ohio State on Jan. 4 in the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship.
UCLA and Kansas State would be left on the outside looking in.
Hall kicks himself into UT record books
Tee Martin wasn’t the only Tennessee player to set a record Saturday
against South Carolina.
Senior placekicker Jeff Hall, with seven successful extra points Saturday,
became Tennessee’s all-time leading scorer with 318 career points, passing
former kicker John Becksvoort (317).
“It feels good, but it feels even better to be 7-0,” said Hall, a
three-time All-SEC selection. “This is a testament to the types of teams
I’ve been so blessed to play with the past three or four years — the guys
who put numbers on the board, put the ball in the end zone.
“Half of these points are on extra points and that’s the way you have to
look at it.”
Interestingly, Hall was 47 of 49 on extra points in each of his first three
seasons at Tennessee. This year he is a perfect 27 for 27 on points after
touchdowns and 8 of 12 on field goals.
Hall’s 318 career points ranks fourth in SEC history. Former Georgia
placekicker Kevin Butler holds the record with 353 points from 1981-84.
Ratliff comes away with block and sore hand
Tennessee defensive lineman Billy Ratliff has fought through his share
of adversity — and then some — during his career.
After suffering severe neck and knee injuries last season, Ratliff has come
back this season to play extremely well in somewhat limited action.
On Saturday, he helped keep South Carolina scoreless in the first half when
he blocked Chet Tucker’s 23-yard field goal attempt.
“I just raised my hands and it was there,” Ratliff said. “It really hurt
when it hit me. It surprised me when I got it. My hand still hurts.”
Vols’ defense surrenders rare air strike
For the first time in 16 quarters of play, the Vol defense gave up a
passing touchdown.
South Carolina quarterback Phil Petty connected with Zola Davis on a
24-yard TD early in the fourth quarter of the Vols’ 49-14 win over the
Gamecocks.
The last time the Vols gave up a throwing touchdown previously was in the
third quarter of their 42-7 win over Houston on Sept. 26.
Priceless Peerless
Wide receiver Peerless Price has had a big hand in the Vols’ success
this season.
The senior from Dayton, Ohio, leads the Vols with seven touchdown
receptions. Against South Carolina, he caught two TD passes in just over a
minute of play.
With :15 remaining in the first half, Price hauled in a 13-yard TD pass
from Martin, sneaking into the front right corner of the end zone.
Then, less than a minute into the second half, Price took a short Martin
pass and split two defenders and ran it all the way for a 71-yard TD and a
28-0 UT lead.
Price, who had 10 receptions for 165 yards Saturday, moved into fifth place
on the Vols’ all-time reception list with 120 career catches, moving past
Larry Seivers (117).
He also moved into seventh place on UT’s career receiving yardage list with
1,798 yards, passing Craig Faulkner (1,705).
