Vols ease by Rutgers

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Posted 8:02AM on Sunday, September 29, 2002

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - Rutgers kept Kelley Washington from making any plays the first half. When the Scarlet Knights left Tennessee's star receiver alone after halftime, that's when the Volunteers started rolling. Washington had seven catches for 197 yards and a touchdown, all in the second half, as the 11th-ranked Volunteers stumbled badly early on but rallied to beat Rutgers 35-14 Saturday. ``Basically, I was smothered,'' Washington said of his first half shutout. ``I was one-on-one in the second half. I took that as a disgrace, and took it upon myself to get it done.'' Amazingly, the Vols (3-1) needed Washington to bail them out against the lowly Scarlet Knights (1-4). Nathan Jones returned the opening kickoff 100 yards, and Rutgers had a 14-17 halftime lead. After missing his first two games with a sore right knee and barely being a factor in last week's loss to Florida, Washington caught his first pass 23 seconds into the third quarter. He had three straight catches, including one he turned into a 52-yard gain down the sideline, before Jason Witten capped the series with a 13-yard touchdown reception to tie it at 14. Washington's 48-yard catch on the next possession set up Troy Fleming's 16-yard touchdown run with 10:07 left in the third quarter. Washington finally scored when he caught a pass from Casey Clausen, ran past Jones and ran 58 yards untouched to the orange-and-white checkerboard to put Tennessee ahead for good. Despite his injury, Washington was criticized by fans and some of his teammates for running out of bounds and dropping to the ground to avoid tackles in the 30-13 loss to the Gators. On Saturday, coach Phillip Fulmer praised and defended him again. ``Kelley is a fine football player and good for our football team,'' Fulmer said. ``I said that last week, too.'' Jabari Davis added the Vols' final score on a 4-yard touchdown run with 1:41 remaining. Clausen rebounded from the Florida game in which the Vols fumbled five snaps by completing 15 of 28 passes for three touchdowns and 284 yards. ``I think we got the Florida business out of our system,'' Fulmer said. Fulmer suspended two starters for the game defensive end Karlton Neal and offensive guard Anthony Herrera as well as backup receiver Montrell Jones. Fulmer said the players broke team rules but did not elaborate. The coach said he didn't know when the players would return, but he expected it to be soon. Until the Vols could get the ball to Washington in this game, Rutgers controlled the game. From the moment they opted to receive on the coin toss, the Scarlet Knights didn't look anything like the 40.5-point underdogs they were supposed to be. Jones' opening return prompted loud boos from the crowd of 103,925. Rutgers went for broke after the return, recovering an onside kick at the Tennessee 48. The drive stalled there, but the Vols had been issued a serious challenge. ``It's no secret that Tennessee is more talented than we are. If we play things close to the vest, we can't win,'' Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. ``There were a few things we saw that we took advantage of.'' At first, the Vols didn't respond, looking as unprepared and disorganized as the week before. The Scarlet Knights had 221 total offensive yards to Tennessee's 63, had 14 first downs to only 7 for the Vols, and had the ball nearly 21 minutes in the half. Tennessee drove to the Rutgers 14 on its first drive, but Alex Walls missed a 40-yard field goal attempt wide left. The Vols finally got something to go their way when Keyon Whiteside intercepted Ryan Cubit's pass and returned it 26 yards to the Rutgers 10. Tennessee tied it three plays later on Clausen's 14-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Tinsley with 6:32 left in the first quarter. Not to be outdone, Rutgers drove 80 yards on its next possession, ending with an 11-yard touchdown reception by Chris Loomis at the beginning of the second quarter. Tennessee couldn't sustain a drive, giving Rutgers another chance to score before halftime. Cubit completed a 15-yard pass to T.J. Smith and then ran 4 yards to the Tennessee 1 as time was running out. Cubit, who started in place of injured Ted Trump, spiked the ball to stop the clock, but the officials ruled that time had run out. For the second straight week, the Vols had trouble running the ball. They finished with 94 yards on 23 attempts. Rutgers got plenty of blocking from its offensive line, and Clarence Pittman ran for 104 yards on 31 carries. NOTES: Tennessee had not allowed a kickoff to be returned for a touchdown since Kevin Cobb of Memphis ran one back 95 yards in 1996. Rutgers had not scored on a kickoff return since 1997 against Miami. ...Rutgers had not scored a point against Tennessee since 1979. The Scarlet Knights beat the Vols 13-7 that year but lost 7-0 in 1983 and 40-0 in 1985, the last time the teams met. ...Tennessee's Alex Walls missed two field goals, one for 40 yards and the other for 41. ...A second interception returned by Keyon Whiteside for a touchdown was called back after Tennessee was penalized for roughing the passer. Freshman linebacker Parys Haralson tackled Cubit on the play. ...Rutgers defensive back and captain Shawn Seabrooks, who transferred to his home state's school from Tennessee in 1999, was hugged by Tennessee's captains when they met at midfield for the coin toss.