Joel Buchsbaum's key college games

Tennessee’s secondary the key for an upset in the Swamp

By Joel Buchsbaum, Contributing editor
As published in print Nov. 26, 2001

Gators WR Jabar Gaffney

Thanks to the brilliant recruiting efforts of Phillip Fulmer and his staff, the Volunteers may have even more talent than Florida. However, the Gators have the home-field edge — and playing in "the Swamp" is a huge advantage — and they have pretty much had their way with the Volunteers during the Steve Spurrier era. In last year’s game, Tennessee outplayed Florida, but luck played a key role in the Gators’ win.

Quarterbacks — Tennessee’s Casey Clausen has developed into one of the best sophomore quarterbacks in the country and no longer is a player for whom the Vols have to limit their offense. While he may not be another Peyton Manning, Clausen can be better than Tee Martin, and Tennessee won a national title with Martin. Florida’s Rex Grossman may be the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy and the best quarterback Steve Spurrier has ever coached. Grossman can read coverages as well as any sophomore you will ever see, and he is a very accurate passer with a much stronger arm than Danny Wuerffel had. But Grossman will get a little greedy at times and try to thread passes into some very tight spots.

Running backs — Tennessee’s Travis Stephens is not very big or fast, but he is very quick, quick-footed, tough and instinctive. He runs with excellent balance, is fearless running inside and will finish off his runs. FB Will Bartholomew is a much-improved blocker and receiver who can lead Stephens through the hole, but he does not adjust very well as a pass blocker when he’s forced to deal with speed and finesse. Florida’s heavy-duty inside runner is Earnest Graham, and he is good but not special. When he is out, the Gators really suffer. Robert Gillespie is a smaller, finesse type of runner who lacks special qualities and is more of an outside, change-of-pace runner and not the guy you want starting.

Receivers — Right now, Florida’s Jabar Gaffney and Reche Caldwell are probably the best set of starting wide receivers in the country. But even if both come back for another season, Tennessee’s Donte’ Stallworth and Kelley Washington may move ahead of them by next year. Gaffney is a very fluid, athletic player with natural receiving and ball skills and the ability to make the great, acrobatic catches. He looks a step faster and is getting much better separation this year. Caldwell may have even a little more speed and is also well-trained and skillful. Taylor Jacobs is an exceptional third receiver who could start for 98 percent of the teams in the country. Over the past two weeks, Stallworth has looked like the best football player in America. He’s made great catches, great runs after the catch and excellent returns. Stallworth has above-average size and is very quick, fast and sudden. He runs good routes, does an excellent job of getting separation and catches the ball really well. Washington is a former pro baseball player with rare size and ability. He has dominated as a freshman and has a huge upside. He could be an All-American next year. Former starter Eric Parker has been hampered by a bad shoulder, but he may have the softest hands on the team and is a quicker-than-fast player who has returned punts and has held for placements. Former DL Jason Witten is just a sophomore, but he already is looking like a future All-American and the best tight end Tennessee has ever had.

Offensive linemen — Florida’s line seems to have jelled since the Gators moved C Zac Zedalis to guard, replaced him with David Jorgensen and benched the overweight Thomas Moody. But it still is not an elite unit and could be exploited by the Vols, especially inside. Tennessee has a terrific guard in Fred Weary, who is a tough, power blocker but not that explosive. He can really muscle and maul and is a great leader on the line. OLT Reggie Coleman has gotten a lot better and tougher, but he still needs to get a little tougher and more dedicated and work hard to bend his knees and finish his blocks. It will be very interesting to see how well he does against Florida’s Alex Brown.

Defensive linemen — Alex Brown is an exceptional speed-type rusher, but if you block him early, he can get frustrated and lose some of his focus and intensity. However, if he gets going, he can dominate the game. DT Tron LaFavor really stood out in the South Carolina game and could be on the verge of greatness, but the Gators are not that big and tall on the line. Tennessee has two great, huge tackles in John Henderson and Albert Haynesworth. Henderson has been slowed by a high-ankle sprain since the opener, but he is a huge, powerful man who runs well and can dominate. Haynesworth is not as tall, but he is wider, thicker and quicker and has great power. The key for both Tennessee tackles is to play with their pads down and with good leverage, because when they do, nobody can handle them one-on-one. Nobody works or plays harder than Vols DE Will Overstreet, but back and knee problems have slowed him this year. Bernard Jackson probably will start at the other DE spot, but he must do a better job of defeating blockers.

Linebackers — Andra Davis really has come on in the middle for Florida, and the the Gators need him to play like he played against Mississippi State, when he was dominating, now that his bad hand and thumb are in better shape. Tennessee MLB Dominique Stevenson is an undersized, run-hustle-and-hit type of player who lacks size and is a little slow to diagnose the play at times. Once he sees the ball, he goes like hell to get to it, but he does not anticipate well and must be protected by his tackles because he cannot take on and shed big linemen.

Defensive backs — The key to the game will be how well Tennessee’s secondary plays. Andre Lott can look like a terrific corner on one play and then a bad one on the next. He must really focus and pay attention to detail. Jabari Greer beat out Teddy Gaines at the other CB spot, and Gaines could be playing in the NFL this time next year. He is the fastest of the Vols’ corners and will play a lot since Florida uses so many three-WR sets. However, he is on the thin and frail side and gets muscled and pushed around. Tennessee’s Julian Battle and Rashad Baker are young safeties, and their lack of experience can be used against them at times. The Gators have a shut-down, All-America type of corner in Lito Sheppard, but teams can throw on the rest of their secondary.

Special teams — After a slow start, Florida’s Jeff Chandler has kicked like an all-star. However, Tennessee’s Alex Walls has been a little off, and P Dustin Colquitt has been erratic. Florida has a big-time punt returner in Sheppard.

Prediction: Florida 27, Tennessee 23

After a weekend of surprises, we’re going to see the rematch of the Texas-Colorado game, which Texas won handily earlier this season.

The two keys to this game are going to be Colorado’s ability to put pressure on Longhorns QB Chris Simms and Texas’ ability to stop the mauling Colorado running game. In the first game, the Buffaloes broke tendency and spread out their offense and offensive line, tricking Texas at first, but once the Longhorns adjusted, Colorado was ineffective on offense. In that game, Colorado also turned the ball over five times and did not force any turnovers.

In the first game, Simms played very well. He has a great receiving corps, led by WR Roy Williams. The Longhorns’ receivers match up very well against the Colorado secondary, which is not especially strong at cornerback. Texas also can run the ball effectively with its huge offensive line. Mike Williams is probably as good a right tackle as there is in the country. He’s more than 360 pounds, yet he looks agile and quick. Simms has played brilliantly most of the time this year, but against the two best defensive teams and secondaries he faced, he was not on. Against Oklahoma, he really struggled, and he was not overly impressive last week against Texas A&M.

Defensively, the Longhorns are playing as well as they ever have under Mack Brown. Quentin Jammer really stands out and has developed into a shut-down cornerback. The young defensive linemen, Marcus Tubbs and Cory Redding, have really come on.

As for the Buffaloes, no one could believe how they were able to dominate Nebraska’s defensive line. Colorado’s offensive line was awesome, and the Buffaloes had a great blocking scheme that had Nebraska totally befuddled. They created huge gaps and saw exactly how to cut back against the Cornhuskers’ linebackers. OG Andre Gurode practically assured himself of being named to many All-America teams with his stellar performance in the game. Victor Rogers, the offensive tackle who lines up next to Gurode, also had a strong game, perhaps his best and most physical game of the year.

Daniel Graham may be the best all-around tight end in college football and is an outstanding receiver who can run with the ball. Ever since Bobby Pesavento replaced the injured Craig Ochs at quarterback, Colorado’s offense seems to have taken off. The Buffaloes are loaded at running back, but they really don’t have one great back they rely on. In the win over Nebraska, Chris Brown, a transfer who originally went to play with head coach Gary Barnett at Northwestern, had a great game, rushing for six touchdowns. At wide receiver, the Buffaloes don’t have the one guy who scares teams to death.

On defense, quite frankly, the Buffaloes are a middle-of-the-pack team. Their best player is SS Michael Lewis, but they are vulnerable at the CB position, and they don’t have a great pass-rushing line. They are going to need a great game inside from DT Justin Bates, who, while not a pass rusher, can still be disruptive if he gets penetration.

If the outcome comes down to the kicking game, Colorado could have some problems. The Buffaloes’ punting game, especially, has been troublesome, and their overall kicking game is not what you would expect from a championship-caliber team.

For the Longhorns to play in the national championship, it’s almost essential that they win this game impressively and Tennessee beats Florida.

Prediction: Texas 27, Colorado 17

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