Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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December 24, 2009

Volunteers prepping for Hokies

By LARRY EDENS

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Next Thursday’s Chick-fil-A Bowl is not part of the Bowl Championship Series, but for Tennessee head football coach Lane Kiffin, it might as well be.

The Volunteers did not play in a bowl game last season — their second losing campaign (5-7) in four years was responsible for that — but that has changed this season under the first-year coach.

Tennessee is 7-5 and, as a result, has been rewarded with a prestigious bowl game against a quality opponent in Virginia Tech (9-3).

“For our team, this is a BCS bowl from the standpoint that we’re going into a great venue, there’s a lot of excitement, the game is sold out, and we’re playing a team ranked 11th in the country,” he said. “(Virginia Tech) has been to two straight BCS bowls and won the Orange Bowl last year.

“They will be a challenge for us, but we’re excited about the match-up.”

Tennessee enters the bowl game with five wins in their last seven games, including head-to-head victories over Georgia, South Carolina, and Kentucky, SEC teams that were also considered by the bowl selection committee.

Labeled as the best SEC team available outside the BCS by Chick-fil-A Bowl President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Stokan, Tennessee will bring a team to Atlanta that is much improved since its 1-2 start, particularly the play of the offensive line.

Unfairly or not, the skills of an o-line are sometimes measured by the number of sacks that it gives up. Of course, factors like how well a quarterback moves or the disproportionate number of times a team may pass the ball over running it can skew the numbers.

Still, if the sack-graph shows a steady decline, then it’s probably a good indication that the offensive line is playing better. That seems to be the case for Tennessee. There were six sacks recorded in their first four games; in their final eight games, they gave up only six more.

In fact, they gave up the fewest (6) in SEC games this year. Senior offensive guard Jacques McClendon was firsthand witness to the growth and maturity of the new players beside him that contributed to that improvement.

“It’s a very different offensive line than what we had last year. Cody and Cory Sullins are walk-ons and have done a tremendous job; Aaron Douglas is a freshman All-American and freshman All-SEC who had not played offensive line until six months ago,” said McClendon, who along with senior offensive tackle and three-year starter Chris Scott were the returning veterans.

“It took a while to mesh, but once we hit our stride, our rushing and passing numbers were solid. We’re a very capable offensive line and it’s been a great maturing and growing year. I’m glad to have been a part of it.”

Virginia Tech had the second-most sacks in the ACC this season with 26. Senior Jason Worilds, a second-team All-ACC defensive end, will command most of McClendon and Co.’s attention.

Although he was double-teamed for most of the season, Worilds still tied junior Nekos Brown for the team lead in sacks with 4.5. When he didn’t put the quarterback on the ground, he was causing him to throw earlier than he wanted to with a team high 32 quarterback hurries.

He also tied senior Cody Grimm, a third-team All-American linebacker, with 9.5 tackles-for-loss.

“The first thing we check out is the (opponent’s) defensive line, and their defensive line is very talented and deep. They have second-team players who could be starting at a lot of other places in the country,” McClendon said. “If we’re not on top of our game, they can cause some major problems.

“We’ve noticed (Worilds) a lot. He’s explosive off the ball, probably better than anyone we’ve seen all year. He’s quick and has great pass-rushing ability, but don’t sell him short on stopping the run either. He’s a very great defensive end, one of the best, if not the best, we’ve seen all year.”

Many pundits believe Virginia Tech will win the football game if they get pressure on Crompton and stop the Volunteers’ talented senior tailback, Montario Hardesty. Those same pundits believe Tennessee will win if Crompton is comfortable in the pocket and Hardesty rushes for 100 yards or more.

For the season, Hardesty has 1306 yards on 264 carries and 12 touchdowns and, in each of his last two games, eclipsed the 170-yard mark.

Whatever the outcome, it is likely McClendon or Worilds had a great deal to do with it.

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