Mississippi at Tennessee Preview

By Chuck Bednar  |   Friday, September 30, 2005  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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Fresh off of a stunning overtime upset of LSU on Monday, the Tennessee Volunteers now have to return to Knoxville to defend their home turf against the SEC rival Ole Miss Rebels. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30pm.

The star of the twice-delayed LSU game for No. 10 Tennessee was clearly senior QB Rick Clausen, who came off of the bench with the Volunteers down by 21 and managed to ultimately lead them to victory. Clausen, benched in favor of physically gifted but thus-far overrated sophomore QB Erik Ainge to start the game, completed 21 of his 32 pass attempts for nearly 200 yards and a touchdown while adding a second score on the ground. Clausen has completed nearly 66-percent of his passes on the year while Ainge has connected on just over 41-percent of his attempts. With their starting quarterback now firmly entrenched and a capable running attack powered by Gerald Riggs, Jr., who has run for nearly 300 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the season, the Tennessee Volunteers look to finally be in good shape.

This is what makes this such a dangerous game for them. The Vols have a short week after Monday's OT thriller, so they have little time to rest and prepare for Mississippi. And despite their 1-2 record, the Rebels aren't exactly pushovers. Their offense actually averages more yards per game (332.7) than Tennessee's (327), and they have a real game breaker in Mico McSwain, who has 19 carries on the season for 214 yards -- an astounding 11.4 yards per carry -- and two touchdowns. Ole Miss does have problems on defense, though, allowing more than 400 yards and 20 points per game. In addition, they are coming off of their worst home loss since 1983, a 24-14 defeat by Wyoming in which quarterbacks Michael Spurlock and Robert Lane failed to throw for more than 150 combined yards. They will need to play a lot better if they have any hopes of keeping this one close.
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