``We've got a little more confidence knowing how the guys around us are going to perform,'' senior tailback Arian Foster said at the team's media day on Saturday. ``There's a little swagger we have. We've done this before.''
The Vols' experience from 2007 ran the gamut. They won close games against South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. They suffered embarrassing blowouts at the hands of Florida and Alabama and narrowly lost to eventual national champion LSU in the Southeastern Conference championship.
Tennessee has appeared in four SEC championships in the past decade but won only one of those games: the 1998 game in advance of winning the national championship.
To coach Phillip Fulmer, the Vols' next level of play is obvious: ``We have to win the SEC.''
Preparation for the season began in earnest on Saturday with the team's first practice. Fulmer has scheduled 19 practices and three full scrimmages for fall camp, which lasts through Aug. 23. The Vols open Sept. 1 at UCLA.
Sixteen positions feature players with regular starting experience, including 10 of the offense's 11 spots. Most other positions involve players who saw regular playing time in 2007 as backups.
``You always look at the number of guys returning, and we do have some guys on both sides of the ball because we try to play a lot of people during the course of the season,'' Fulmer said. ``Even though we've got some places that starters don't necessarily return, we've got guys that have played.''
The most obvious position that doesn't include a returning starter is quarterback, with Jonathan Crompton taking over for Erik Ainge, who finished last season with 3,819 yards passing.
Crompton has had just enough experience on the field filling in for nearly two games when Ainge injured his ankle that he's got the confidence of his teammates.
Wide receiver Josh Briscoe pointed to Crompton's play in the 2006 matchup with LSU.
Crompton, then a redshirt freshman, hit two long touchdown passes to Robert Meachem. The second gave the Vols the lead late in the fourth quarter which held until LSU scored with seconds left to win the game.
``Meachem and Crompton basically embarrassed (the LSU safety) on those two post routes,'' Briscoe said. ``Crompton just dropped it perfectly over the top of his head. That shows that he has the talent to lead us where we want to go.''
Foster acknowledged that when you have players with a lot of confidence there's a danger of them becoming arrogant something that likely attributed to the Vols' abysmal 5-6 season in 2005 despite having loads of talent and experience.
``There's a fine line between confidence and arrogance, but you can tell a difference,'' Foster said. ``We're not the team that's getting all the media love and kisses from the fans. We're the team that's just waiting in the shadows that nobody really knows about.''
The Vols' offensive line and defensive secondary are poised to be among the best in the nation. Foster finished last season with 1,193 yards rushing and Lucas Taylor returns after finishing with 1,000 yards receiving last season.
But despite the clear talent, Tennessee has been picked to finish third in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division behind Florida and Georgia this season by many preseason analysts.
``I think it's funny, but it's neither here nor there,'' Foster said. ``If we had (more preseason attention) we'd have the target on our chest. It's always fun to play the underdog role.''
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/8/212054