JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – On behalf of the Tennessee football program, Vice Chancellor and Athletics Director Phillip Fulmer attended the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl coaches meeting to receive the Vols official invitation to play Indiana on Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. ET, from bowl committee members and city representatives, Wednesday evening.

To open the ceremony Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry gifted each team with a key to the city before Indiana head coach Tom Allen gave media an opening statement, followed by Fulmer. Tennessee was designated the home team for the bowl game, which will mark the 75th anniversary of the Gator Bowl.

“We’re very excited to have this opportunity and play here in the Gator Bowl and all of the committee have historically done a great job of making this one of the best destinations of all the bowl games,” Fulmer said before congratulating Coach Allen, who Fulmer knew from his recruiting days. “Being a part of this historical event in its 75th year is something we’ll take great pride in, having had a history here a number of times.”

The Tennessee football team finished 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the SEC during the 2019 regular season, tying for its best mark in conference play since 2007. Led by head coach Jeremy Pruitt and a 13-member senior class, the Vols rebounded from a 1-4 start to win six of their final seven games and will take a five-game win streak into the bowl game. Tennessee is undoubtedly one of the hottest teams in the nation and collected nine SEC weekly honors during the season, the most since 2004.

The Vols have also tabbed five Coaches All-SEC honors, two AP All-SEC first team and 247Sports True Freshman All-America selections.

UT’s surge in the second half of the season was largely due to a strong showing from its upperclassmen. The Vols became bowl eligible after a historical performance in Columbia, Mo., against the Missouri Tigers where three different receivers – Marquez Callaway (110), Jauan Jennings (115) and Josh Palmer (124) – surpassed the century mark, to become the first trio in Tennessee history to do so. Callaway recently picked up All-SEC honors as voted on by coaches as a consistent threat on special teams. Callaway also leads the league in yards per catch (21.24), which ranks fourth nationally. Jennings leads the Vols wideouts with 57 receptions, 942 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.

Touted offensive lineman Trey Smith has picked up first team honors on both the AP and Coaches All-SEC Teams and a pair of SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week nods during the regular season as the starting left guard for the Vols. He led the team with 46 knockdowns.

Seniors Daniel Bituli, Nigel Warrior and Darrell Taylor have spearheaded an astounding turnaround by the UT defense. Bituli led the team for the third straight season in tackles (82) putting him in the top 50 in the nation. Taylor added 7.0 sacks and ranks third in the SEC among active players with 18 career sacks, while Warrior co-led the conference with four interceptions in the regular season and picked up AP and Coaches All-SEC honors as well.

Newcomers Henry To’o To’o and Wanya Morris had impressive starts in their freshman campaigns both starting 11 games for the Vols, picking up All-America nods from 247Sports.

Indiana, coached by Tom Allen, finished 8-4 overall in the regular season and 5-3 in the Big Ten. Led by quarterback Peyton Ramsey (2,227 yards and 13 touchdowns) and wide receiver Whop Philyor (69 receptions for 1,001 yards and five touchdowns), Indiana averaged 32.6 points per game and had the nation’s 13th-ranked passing offense (308.7 yards per game).

The high-powered Indiana passing attack will match up against a Vols’ pass defense that ranks No. 16 in the nation (191.3 pass yards allowed per game) and has been even better over the last month, allowing only 137.3 passing yards per game in November – the third-best mark in the nation over that span.

Running back Stevie Scott finished fifth in the Big Ten in rushing (845 yards) and third in touchdowns (11), while Philyor finished fourth in the conference in receiving yards and second in receptions per game (6.3).

The 2020 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl will mark the 53rd bowl appearance all-time for the Vols, which ranks tied for fifth in the nation. The Vols will play in the Gator Bowl for the seventh-time, tying with the Sugar Bowl for the most appearances in a bowl for Tennessee.

Fulmer will actually be a part of his fourth TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, becoming one of the only people to play, coach and be an administrator in the tradition-rich bowl game. Fulmer played on the 1969 SEC Championship team that fell to Florida, 14-13, in Doug Dickey’s last game as the Vols’ head coach and was a student coach in 1973 in a loss to Texas Tech. As head coach, he guided Tennessee to a 45-23 win over Virginia Tech in a Gator Bowl that was moved to Gainesville due to stadium renovations. The 1994 victory served as Peyton Manning’s first bowl game and a featured an MVP performance from running back James Stewart, who rushed for 85 yards and three touchdowns and also tossed a touchdown pass.

“I remember my first experience as a sophomore in high school,” Fulmer said. “I was watching the Syracuse-Tennessee game. Since I was a kid this bowl game has meant a lot to me and we’re glad to bring our team here. Obviously a very passionate fanbase will be here to support Coach Pruitt and his Volunteers. As we look toward the future, this is one of the next opportunities to show our wares and our team is taking that approach.

“We’re thrilled to be here. Each time that I’ve been here as a player, as an assistant coach and head coach and now as an athletics director, its been one of the best experiences we’ve had.”

UT Athletics

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. —  The No. 23/24 Lady Vols (7-1) play host to Colorado State (5-5) at Thompson-Boling Arena in a 7:02 p.m. ET contest on Wednesday. This match-up between SEC and Mountain West Conference Schools will be the first between these programs.

The Lady Vols close out a six-game home stand before hitting the road for a West Coast swing next week at Stanford and Portland State.

Tennessee suffered its first loss of the season on Sunday afternoon, as unranked Texas ended a two-game skid in the series with a 66-60 victory at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville.

Colorado State, meanwhile, comes to town on the heels of back-to-back MWC losses to San Diego State (59-49) and Boise State (72-69).

BROADCAST INFORMATION

• Wednesday night’s game will be streamed live by SECN+ with Bob Kesling (PxP) and Madison Blevins (Analyst) on the call.
• The contest also can be heard on Lady Vol Network radio stations and by audio stream, with Mickey Dearstone calling the action for the 21st season.
• A link to the live audio stream can be found on each game’s Hoops Central page or the Lady Vol schedule on UTSports.com.
• For a list of Lady Vol Network affiliates, please click on the Fans tab at the top of UTSports.com, select Vol Network and then click on Vol Network Affiliates in the black bar at the top of the page.
• Air time for games on the Lady Vol Radio Network generally occurs 30 minutes prior to tip-off.
• SECN+ games are online broadcasts and are available only on WatchESPN via computers, smartphones and tablets.
• All of the games included in the ESPN package (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU) and the SEC Network will be available through WatchESPN, accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app, and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 or Xbox One to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.

PROMOS

• It’s “Winsday” at Thompson-Boling Arena, where there will be four quarters of winnings.
• Fans in attendance will have the opportunity to enter to win:     – 2020-21 Lady Vol basketball season tickets  – A sunset riverboat cruise on the Tennessee River – Knoxville Zoo tickets – Tickets to the Shadrack Christmas Wonderland, and a meal at Huck Finn Catfish – Two guest coaching spots at an upcoming Lady Vol basketball game – Courtside seats at an upcoming Lady Vol game and a meal in Ray Mears Room.
• Tickets are available to the general public at AllVols.com. Spark the Summitt with tickets starting at $5. Gates open at 6 p.m.
• Get your picture taken with Santa Smokey at the Fan HQ table located on the concourse behind section 129. We want to see that Big Orange smile, so don’t miss it.
• Participate in “High-5 the Lady Vols.” Kids 12 & younger can pick up a wristband at the Fan HQ table on the concourse to participate in the pregame High-5 tunnel. Wristbands are limited. To purchase discounted group tickets and reserve wristbands for your team, please call 865-946-7000.
• Free parking & shuttle service is available from UT’s Ag Campus. Shuttles begin two hours prior to tip.

RECAPPING OUR LAST GAME

• The No. 17/19 Lady Vols suffered their first loss of the season on Sunday, falling to Texas in Thompson-Boling Arena, 66-60.
• Tennessee (7-1) was led by junior Rennia Davis who finished the day with 15 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Jazmine Massengill was also in double figures for the Lady Vols with 10. Junior Kasiyahna Kushkituah led the team in rebounding with nine.
• Overall, Tennessee won the rebounding battle, 54-42, but was outshot, 36.2 to 30.6, from the field and committed 14 turnovers to Texas’ eight.
• Seniors Sug Sutton and Lashann Higgs were the leading scorers for the Longhorns (5-4), posting 19 each.

NOTES FROM THE LAST GAME

• Big-Time Post Play: The Texas duo of Charli Collier and Joyner Holmes had been combining for an average of 33.6 points per game. The Lady Vols held the pair to just eight total points and 15 rebounds. Meanwhile, Tamari Key and Kasiyahna Kushkituah combined for 16 points and 16 rebounds for Tennessee.
• Winning The Board Battle: The Lady Vols out-rebounded the Longhorns, 54-42, marking the seventh time this season they’ve bested an opponent on the boards. Tennessee is averaging 51.4 rpg. while holding opposing teams to 36.3 rpg.

HARPER HISTORY IN THE MAKING

• Kellie Harper coached the 500th game of her head coaching career on Dec. 1, as the Lady Vols defeated Air Force, 81-54, in Knoxville.
• Harper opened the 2019-20 season at 7-0, the best beginning to a year in her head coaching career. She twice opened 4-0 at NC State in 2011-12 and 2012-13 before topping that at UT this season.
• On Nov. 18, 2019, Kellie Harper became the 40th person to play for and coach an AP-ranked women’s basketball team when UT debuted at No. 23.
• She became the 13th person to accomplish that feat at the school where she also played. According to Hoops Guru Mel Greenberg, UT and USC are the only schools with two alums to accomplish that feat. Harper and Holly Warlick did so at Tennessee, while Cheryl Miller and Cynthia Cooper-Dyke did so at Southern Cal.
• Harper is one of only 11 coaches to lead three different women’s teams to NCAA Tournament appearances (Western Carolina, NC State, Missouri State).
• She will attempt to join Jim Foster (St. Joseph’s, Vanderbilt, Ohio State, Chattanooga) in becoming the only coaches to take four different women’s teams to the NCAA tourney.

TENNESSEE TOPICS

• Tennessee has outworked seven of eight opponents on the glass this season and has a +15.1 rebound margin.
• The Lady Vols average 16.1 second chance points per game and have won that category in every contest but one (Central Arkansas). UT is outscoring opponents 40.5 to 21.5 in points in the paint, and has won that battle in six games and tied in two others.
• The Lady Vols’ bench has been a strength this season, with the Big Orange holding a 29.6 to 13.8 advantage in points from reserves. Texas (21-20) is the only team to top Tennessee in that category in 2019-20.
• UT has been at its best offensively in the first quarter this season, averaging 20.4 during that period. On the defensive end, the Lady Vols are their stingiest in the second frame, allowing only 12.1 points over that 10-minute stretch.
• Tennessee has shot for a higher percentage from the field in every game except the Texas match-up, in which the Longhorns knocked down 36.2 to UT’s 30.6 percent.
• The Lady Vols are allowing opponents only 29.5 percent shooting from the field and have  allowed no one to shoot better than 36% this season.
• Tennessee has had 16 or more assists in each game this season and a season-best 25 vs. UAPB.
• The Big Orange women have won the opening tip in all eight games.
• A season-best 9,371 fans attended the game vs. Texas on Dec. 8.

ABOUT COLORADO STATE

• Colorado State returned three starters and five overall letterwinners from a year ago, when the Rams were 8-22 overall and 2-16 (11th place) in the Mountain West Conference.
• CSU welcomed four newcomers and five other players who redshirted last season due to injury or after transferring in.
• Last year’s results aside, Colorado State has typically been a contender for the MWC title in recent years. The Rams claimed four straight league crowns from 2013-14 to 2016-17.
• Colorado State is led by eighth-year head coach Ryun Williams, who is 149-85 during his time in Fort Collins. He is 461-276 in his 22-year career as an NCAA coach.
• The most famous alum of CSU women’s basketball has to be Becky Hammon, a six-time WNBA All-Star as a player who is currently an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA. She was the first woman to become a full-time coach in one of North America’s major professional sports leagues.

RECAPPING THE RAM’S LAST GAME

• Redshirt senior forward Andrea Brady led all scorers with 23 points, but it wasn’t enough as Boise State held off Colorado State, 72-69, in Fort Collins on Sunday.
• Megan Jacobs, a 6-1 redshirt junior guard/forward,  aided the CSU cause with an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double, while 6-2 senior forward Makenzie Ellis chipped in 14 and 6-0 redshirt junior guard/forward Jamie Bonnarens added 12, all via three-pointers.
• The Rams hit 49.1 percent from the field, but 17 turnovers helped limit them to 55 shots for the game.
• CSU trailed by seven at the half, 40-33, but outscored BSU 36-32 over the final 20 minutes to make a push toward earning a victory.
• Plagued by injuries, Colorado State played only eight players and received no bench points vs. BSU.

UT Athletics

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Tennessee had five players named to the All-SEC postseason teams as voted on by the league’s 14 coaches, the conference announced on Tuesday.

Trey Smith earned a spot on the first team while the foursome of Nigel Warrior, Daniel Bituli, Marquez Callaway and Brent Cimaglia were all named to the second team.

The five players honored are the most for the Vols since they also had five on the 2012 All-SEC teams.

A two-time SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week, Smith started the last 11 games at left guard and is Tennessee’s highest-graded player on the offensive line with 46 knockdowns. The Jackson, Tenn., native made way for one of the best passing performances in recent history as Jarrett Guarantano recorded 415 passing yards against Missouri’s sixth-ranked pass defense on Nov. 23 to help the Vols gain bowl eligibility.

Smith is also a Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year semifinalist and an Orange Bowl Courage Award nominee. The junior was a first-team All-SEC selection by the Associated Press earlier this week, as well. This marks the second season that Smith has earned All-SEC recognition after garnering All-Freshman team and second team honors in 2017.

Tied for the SEC lead with four interceptions, Warrior has commanded UT’s secondary this season. The senior safety is second on the team with 68 tackles and also leads the Vols with seven pass breakups.

The College Park, Ga., native was named to the PFF College SEC Defensive Team of the Week on three occasions and was also a PFF College National Team of the Week honoree for his performance in a 45-0 win over Chattanooga on Sept. 14.

Warrior, who was a Preseason All-SEC third-team selection by the coaches, was also named first team All-SEC by the Associated Press earlier this week. This is Warrior’s second time garnering SEC postseason honors after earning a spot on the All-Freshman team back in 2016.
The quarterback of Tennessee’s defense from his middle linebacker position, Bituli led the Big Orange in tackles for the third consecutive season with 82, making him just the second player in program history to lead the team in tackles for three years in a row. The senior was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week twice and was a PFF College National Team of the Week selection two times, as well.

Bituli had three games with double-digit tackles, including an incredible 19-tackle effort in a road win at Kentucky on Nov. 9, which was the most tackles by an SEC player in a conference game this season. His 8.2 tackles per game ranks fourth in the conference.

The Nashville native had 4.5 tackles for loss and set a career high with three sacks. He also blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown in UT’s win over South Carolina on Oct. 26. This is the first time Bituli has earned SEC postseason honors in his career.
A dynamic playmaker at receiver and in the return game, Callaway earned All-SEC honors for the first time in his career. The Georgia native earned a spot on the second team as a return specialist after ranking fifth in the league with 150 punt return yards and averaging 15.0 yards per return. Callaway had a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown in the Vols’ win over South Carolina, the third of his career, and currently ranks fifth among active players in the FBS in career punt return average (13.8 avg).

The senior wideout also had his best season offensively, setting career highs with 616 receiving yards, six touchdown catches and four 100-yard receiving games. Callaway also leads the SEC in yards per catch at 21.2.

Cimaglia posted one of the best seasons by a Tennessee kicker in program history, going 20-of-24 on field goal attempts while connecting on all 33 of his extra points. He led the conference in field goal percentage (83.3 percent) and ranked second in field goals made per game (1.67).

The Nashville native was an incredible 8-of-10 on kicks of 40-plus yards, including 2-for-2 on attempts of 50 yards or more. Cimaglia drilled a career-long 53-yarder in the Vols’ victory over UAB, which was the longest made field goal by a UT kicker since Jeff Hall hit a 53-yarder against Oklahoma State back in 1995.

The full All-SEC teams can be found HERE.

The Tennessee football team finished 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the SEC during the 2019 regular season, tying for its best mark in conference play since 2007. Led by head coach Jeremy Pruitt and a 13-member senior class, the Vols rebounded from a 1-4 start to win six of their final seven games and will take a five-game win streak into the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl on Jan. 2 against Indiana. Tennessee is undoubtedly one of the hottest teams in the nation and collected nine SEC weekly honors during the season, the most since 2004.

UT Athletics