THE BIG STORY

Vols’ athletic director Mike Hamilton has not publicly said Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer’s job is in danger.

Last week, Hamilton said anyone who thought the Georgia game was a do-or-die situation for the UT coaching staff “blows it out of proportion a little bit.” As UT prepares for a road game at Mississippi State, Hamilton reiterated those words and continued his big-picture approach.

“I think the Georgia game (a 35-14 Tennessee win) shows what we’re capable of as a team and as a program,” Hamilton told The Tennessean. “Someone told me one time that when you’re dealing with young guys, you can really get them up to play at their highest level about three games a year. Your job as coaches is to hopefully get them to those three games when you need them to be at the top of their game. Certainly, this past Saturday I thought we played as well as we’ve played this year.”

A look at the league:

ALABAMA

Alabama return specialist Javier Arenas said opponents have been kicking to him differently since his fast start to the season. “I guess you could say I’ve established myself as a pretty decent returner, which is why they’re doing that,” Arenas said. “Now I’ve got to make the adjustment to going and get to the ball, fielding the ball and making something happen.” Arenas ranks third in the SEC at 13.3 yards per punt return. He’s ninth in kickoff returns (22.4 yards per 10 attempts). . .Guard Justin Britt did not return to practice Thursday, meaning it’s unlikely he will play against Ole Miss on Saturday. Britt hasn’t practiced this week to be with his mother Vera, who was hospitalized after sustaining a severe head injury during a fall last weekend. She is still listed in critical condition at the Neuro Intensive Care unit of Birmingham’s Trinity Medical Center. The latest update was positive. Mrs. Britt “made a tremendous amount of progress” on Thursday, according to hospital spokesperson Leisha Harris.

ARKANSAS

Coaches and players from Arkansas and Auburn all agree that Saturday’s Southeastern Conference matchup should be a test of strength, a war of wills. Arkansas will run right at Auburn, unleashing Darren McFadden and Felix Jones on the Tigers. Auburn will run right at Arkansas, pounding the Razorbacks with running backs Brad Lester, Ben Tate and Mario Fannin. And that’s just the way Arkansas offensive line coach Mike Markuson likes his football — smash-mouth style. “You’ve got to prepare yourself mentally and get ready for a dang brawl,” Markuson said. “And that’s what it is. If you’re not ready for a brawl, you’re going to get your butt whipped.”

AUBURN

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said Arkansas’ running back combination of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones is as good as he’s ever seen. “Both of them have their strengths,” he said. “They can both run. They both look the same to me. If someone asked if I’d rather face this one or that one, pick your poison. They like running inside, and they like them on special teams, too.” Are they as good as Auburn’s combo of Carnell Williams and Ronnie Brown in 2004? “I knew more about them, but these guys are pretty special,” Tuberville said.

FLORIDA

Florida coach Urban Meyer said senior receiver Andre Caldwell still isn’t back to full strength after suffering a sprained knee earlier this season. Caldwell, who injured himself Sept. 8 against Troy, returned in limited fashion Sept. 29 against Auburn and was expected to be full strength for the LSU game. Caldwell, though, wasn’t effective against the Tigers. He caught just one pass for 10 yards. “Bubba wasn’t 100 percent,” Meyer said. “Early in the game we tried to throw it to him a couple times. But watching on film, he wasn’t the same Bubba Caldwell. They were playing a lot of two-high deep, so that forces the matchups on the inside. The outside is basically double coverage. Bubba wasn’t 100 percent but there wasn’t single coverage on the outside.”

GEORGIA

Georgia defensive end Marcus Howard is promising the Bulldogs will generate more pressure on the quarterback in Saturday’s game at Vanderbilt. “I can guarantee this week right here it’s not going to be the same,” Howard said. Howard isn’t using Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge’s quick release as a crutch for Georgia failing to generate a sack for the second straight game. “The film speaks for itself - we played sorry” Howard said. “The defensive ends, we played bad. It was probably our worst game of the season.” Georgia has slipped considerably in getting to the quarterback this season. The Bulldogs have nine sacks and are tied for 85th in the nation in that category after tying for 28th last year led by the now-departed Charles Johnson and Quentin Moses, who combined for 15. Vanderbilt will start an offensive line that is made up entirely of senior starters and is fourth in the SEC with seven sacks allowed. “If we don’t get no sacks, we’re going to get a lot more pressure and a lot more knockdowns,” Howard said. “I’m going to have my guys on the defensive end unit ready.” Coach Mark Richt said the Tennessee game wasn’t a good barometer because teams have had trouble getting to Ainge all season, but Georgia’s lack of pressure is an issue. “We’ve got to disrupt quarterbacks’ timing, and we’ve got to disrupt receivers’ routes to force them to hold the ball a little longer to help us get the pressure there,” Richt said. “If we’re in coverage, if we’re pressuring - bringing blitzes and things of that nature - we’ve got to get there.”

KENTUCKY

Think this won’t be bulletin board material for LSU? UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart sent a letter to fans Thursday asking them not to rush the field at Commonwealth Stadium if the Cats knock off top-ranked LSU on Saturday. The SEC fined the school $25,000 after fans stormed the field following UK’s 40-34 win over Louisville on Sept. 15. “When fans rush the field, it compromises the integrity of that surface and risks the health and safety of the same players that fans are intending to celebrate,” Barnhart said in the letter. “Please continue to enjoy the wins from your seat.”

LSU

LSU running back Jacob Hester said he wasn’t going to be denied on all of his fourth down and third down runs in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 28-24 win over Florida. His best play may have been on fourth-and-1 from the Florida 7 when Florida outside linebacker Ryan Stamper broke through and hit Hester from behind. “There was a guy who came off the edge,” Hester said. “We had a missed assignment. He wasn’t blocked. I saw him coming. As soon as he hit me, I just dove for it.” He got it. Hester scored three plays later on third down. “We go down to the goal line, we give him the ball,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “One of them, he got tackled from behind — very difficult to see that one coming.” Blocking or no blocking, Hester expects to get it. “It was a yard,” he said. “If you can’t get a yard in the SEC, you don’t deserve to be in the SEC as a running back. It was a yard.” Considering all the encircled this game — the No. 1 ranking, the record crowd, USC losing, Florida, his wife Katie of two months — there was no way he wasn’t getting it a yard. Despite the fatigue and a stable of backs, there was no way he was coming out “I definitely wanted the ball,” Hester said. “If I would have come out, I think my wife would’ve given me a hard time. You play a team like Florida, you know it’s going to be a battle. And with the way the program is here, you expect to win. You want to win. There’s so many expectations you don’t want to let these people down. That crowd, the way they cheered for us all night, especially when we found out USC lost.”

OLE MISS

Even with quarterback Seth Adams misfiring last Saturday, Ole Miss beat Tech 24-0 for its first victory since the opening week of the season. But Alabama figures to be much less forgiving this Saturday. “All you can do is forget it,” Adams told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. “Even when I play well, I try to forget it. … This is Alabama. Louisiana Tech or Florida or any other game is gone.” Midway through the season, Adams is fourth in the SEC with 226.2 passing yards per game, ranking ahead of veteran conference quarterbacks John Parker Wilson (Alabama), Matthew Stafford (Georgia) and Brandon Cox (Auburn).

MISS. STATE

Weak-side linebacker Dominic Douglas, the team’s second-leading tackler, returned to MSU’s practice Thursday at full speed. Douglas sprained his right foot during the second half of last week’s 30-13 win over UAB. . .MSU coach Sylvester Croom said he would “play it by ear” when it comes to whether to insert junior Michael Henig in for some time under center Saturday vs. Tennessee. Wesley Carroll, the freshman who went 9-for-12 for 93 yards in last week’s win, will get his second straight start.

SOUTH CAROLINA

The Gamecocks have yet to start the same 11 players on defense for more than one game, a trend that will continue when freshman cornerback Addison Williams replaces the injured Carlos Thomas (neck) at North Carolina on Saturday. “I guess we’re still trying to find the best 11 and giving those guys an opportunity to go out and prove that they deserve to be in the starting lineup,” defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix said. Nix said he is looking forward to seeing how Williams (5-8, 176 pounds) performs after getting the nod over upperclassmen Brandon Isaac and Stoney Woodson for his first career start.“Sometimes I don’t know how much difference it makes whether you’re a senior or freshman,” Nix said. “It’s about production and who goes out there and does the right thing. Hopefully, he’ll go out there and do it.”

TENNESSEE

In the Vols’ three wins, they have scored touchdowns on their opening drives. In UT’s two losses, the team was forced to punt on opening drives. “You like to start any game off well,” Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said. “Our strength at this point has been our offensive football team, when we’ve played consistent. More than likely, if we win the toss, most of the time we’ll take the ball right now and try to get them on the field.”. . .Left offensive guard Anthony Parker suffered a head injury last weekend against Georgia, but practiced on Wednesday and Thursday. Fulmer said he expects the starter to be ready for Saturday’s game at Mississippi State. “We are going into the game healthy, which is a real plus,” Fulmer said.

VANDERBILT

Vanderbilt Coach Bobby Johnson was still not ready at the end of Thursday’s practice to declare a starting quarterback for Saturday’s Southeastern Conference matchup with visiting Georgia. “It’ll probably be a game-time decision,” Johnson said, regarding the week-long battle between Chris Nickson — who has started the past 17 games for the Commodores — and backup Mackenzi Adams. “We’ll evaluate everything from practice this week, to pregame warmups. If one of them is throwing it in the stands or in the dirt or behind people, or has a sore arm or a sore knee, …”Johnson said that Adams has responded well to the increased work he got this week, as the staff needed to see more repetitions from the redshirt sophomore to have a better idea of his capabilities.