Tide’s fast start a worry for Tennessee Vols

KNOXVILLE — It’s not how you start but how you finish, right?

Not necessarily.

The University of Tennessee football team has outscored its opponents 50-23 in fourth quarters this season, and Alabama has been outscored 47-23 in the final periods.

But the Volunteers are 3-4 — and 1-3 in the Southeastern Conference — while the unblemished Crimson Tide (7-0, 4-0) are ranked second in both major polls.

Much of the reason for that lies with two statistics.

Alabama is absurdly good in the first quarter, and UT has been undeniably atrocious.

The Tide have outscored opponents 95-3 in the first periods, while the Vols have been waxed, 44-14.

“They’ve come out and jumped on people,” UT coach Phillip Fulmer said Tuesday. “They jumped on Georgia. They jumped on Ole Miss. They jumped on Clemson. It’s just one of those things; some teams have it at times. We’ve done the same thing at different times. I’d like to get back to that.

“We’re going to have to do a great job early, no question.”

Alabama has trailed for exactly 1 minute, 15 seconds this season. Seventy-five seconds after Ole Miss took a 3-0 lead in Tuscaloosa last Saturday, John Parker Wilson restored order with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Marquis Maze.

The Tide scored 24 consecutive points — before halftime — after Ole Miss’s early field goal, and they’ve been even better away from Bryant-Denny Stadium. They had a 31-0 halftime lead at Georgia, a 35-7 halftime lead at Arkansas and a 23-3 halftime lead over Clemson at the Georgia Dome.

UT, meanwhile, never led in SEC losses to Florida, Auburn and Georgia.

“Alabama’s done a great job creating early turnovers, and then their offense has been very opportunistic taking that good field position and scoring touchdowns,” Vols offensive coordinator Dave Clawson said. “This is not a team you want to get behind two or three scores to.”

It’s no wonder the Tide are seventh nationally in time of possession at a whopping 32:44 per game, while the Vols are 110th out of 119 major NCAA Division I programs at 27:28.

“This is a game that, when the game’s over, you don’t know how many possessions you’re going to have,” Clawson said. “You have to take advantage of every possession, and you certainly want to keep their offense off the field.”

Wilson barely throws for more than 150 yards per game, but UT junior defensive end Wes Brown said there was a good reason for that.

“He usually just has to hand the ball off in the second half,” Brown said.

Alabama junior tailback Glen Coffee averages 108.6 yards per game and 7 yards per carry. Freshman Mark Ingram adds 59.9 yards per game and 5.4 yards per carry, and junior Roy Upchurch had squeezed in 31.1 yards per game on 5.9 yards per carry.

That trio has combined for 13 touchdowns, and former starter Terry Grant has added one in a diminished role.

“You look at time of possession ... and I don’t think that’s by mistake,” Vols defensive coordinator John Chavis said. “I think it’s their commitment to run the football, their ability to run the football, and they do it quite well.”

Not only does Alabama’s offensive production decrease each quarter (95-76-32-23), but its defense allows more points (3-20-31-47).

UT has beaten opponents by a combined 124-68 score after the first quarter.

But the Vols, unlike the Tide, have put themselves in positions to need those points.

“The clock becomes your friend when you’re ahead that way,” Fulmer said. “You’re able to run the football and play a little bit more conservatively on defense and let the clock run out.

“It’s part of the strategy, I suppose — well, I don’t suppose, I’ve been there. The clock becomes your friend, particularly now with the 40-second (play) clock.”

UT led early in the second quarter of last season’s 41-17 loss at Alabama, but the Tide scored first that afternoon.

That’s been a big stat for the Vols. They’re 11-1 the past two seasons after scoring first, and 2-7 when they don’t.

Not that they needed extra motivation to avoid another early deficit.

“They’ve done a terrific job of starting fast, and they’ve finished them all off,” Chavis said of the Tide. “That’s why they’re coming in here undefeated.”