KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -Chris Brown thinks some of his Tennessee teammates need to lighten up.
“It’s fun. It’s a game. You need to go out there and have fun,” the senior tight end said. “I think a lot of times people take it for granted what you’re doing and what you could be doing.
“It’s football. It’s not something that’s life or death,” he said.
Brown worries the Volunteers (4-3, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) may be caving into pressure that comes from playing in a balanced SEC where every game is huge. Pressure that comes from a Tennessee football program that’s expected to win games and compete for conference championships.
Don’t accuse Brown of being too soft or having a poor attitude; he knows there are times that call for a serious attitude, but his relaxed attitude serves him well on the field.
He’s already got five touchdowns for the season and he can block anywhere on the field his coaches put him.
He’s also considered among the leaders of the team and has served as a game captain in several times this season.
Brown said Arian Foster, the senior running back, also knows how to have fun on the field. Foster gets excited after a big play or touchdown, pumping his fists in the air or jumping up and down.
Besides his eight touchdowns, Foster leads the team with 625 yards rushing.
That’s no coincidence, said Brown.
“I think we need to relax a lot more. A lot of people are tense. A lot of people aren’t just out there having fun playing football. They’re worried about making mistakes. They’re worried about doing things that don’t help themselves,” Brown said.
Those worries became realities in Tennessee’s 41-17 loss at Alabama. The Tennessee defense committed six penalties which kept alive five Crimson Tide drives worth a combined 27 points. The offense killed two drives with penalties and turned the ball over twice.
Combine the ‘Bama loss with a 59-20 loss to Florida in September, and the Vols have allowed their two top rivals to score 100 points.
Brown said returning to Neyland Stadium to face No. 15 South Carolina on Saturday as part of a four-game homestand will help some of the younger guys whose confidence has suffered after tough road losses.
“Playing in front of 107,000 people, a lot of people don’t have that luxury that we have and I think we take it for granted a lot,” Brown said.
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PALS: Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville and Mississippi’s Ed Orgeron have been friends since they were both members of the defensive staff at Miami.
“We learned a lot of football together, and he is a very good coach,” Orgeron said. “He actually helped me get down to Miami, and we are really good friends. We didn’t have any money. All we basically did was coach football and work our way up. We were like sponges down there.”
Orgeron, whose Rebels hope to turn around a dismal season at Auburn Saturday after losing six of their last seven, began as a graduate assistant under Jimmy Johnson in 1988 at the same time Tuberville was a volunteer assistant.
The next year Tuberville was hired as linebackers coach and Orgeron became the defensive line coach. When Johnson left and Dennis Erickson was hired, Tuberville became defensive coordinator and kept Orgeron as his line coach.
That Tuberville was Ole Miss coach from 1995-98 only strengthens their bond.
“Ed and I have been friends for a long time,” Tuberville said. “We talk about situations quite a bit during the offseason. He knows that it’s winning in this league, as it is in any league. They’ve shown improvement. It hasn’t shown in wins and losses but their players respond each week. That’s normally a sign of a good coaching staff.”
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IMMORAL: LSU has the week off, and the Tigers need it after three tough games in three weeks, the latest of which also put their best defensive player on the sideline with a sprained right knee.
Coach Les Miles said it appears defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey was fortunate not to have any torn ligaments from what he characterized as a chop block that kept Dorsey out of the game for much of the second half.
Miles has already discussed the play with Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, who apologized and said guard Chaz Ramsey never should have rolled up Dorsey’s knee while Dorsey was already fighting off a block by Auburn tackle Lee Ziemba.
SEC commissioner Mike Slive also agreed that a personal foul penalty should have been called.
“It’s important that everybody understand that it’s immoral, that block,” Miles said. “It’s something that should not be tolerated.”
LSU ended up pulling that game out with a last-second touchdown pass from Matt Flynn to Demetrius Byrd, a junior college transfer in his first season at LSU.
The dramatic come-from-behind triumph followed a triple-overtime loss at Kentucky a week earlier and a 28-24 comeback victory over Florida the week before that.
Several other players are trying to get healthier from bumps and bruises that may not have sidelined them but could have affected their play.
Receiver Early Doucet is in the early stages of a comeback from a groin injury, while cornerback Chevis Jackson says his vision remains affected by a hit in the Kentucky game that caused his helmet to smash the bridge of his nose.
“It’s a real advantage to have the opportunity to get some guys healed and fresh,” Miles said. “We’re taking that part of this week very seriously. It was perfect for us, just what we needed.”
After this weekend, it’s another intense game at Alabama against former LSU coach Nick Saban. If that isn’t enough intrigue, the game also could decide who wins the SEC West.
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HONORS: LSU QB Matt Flynn, Vanderbilt cornerback D.J. Moore and Vanderbilt punter Brett Upson were the SEC players of the week.
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AP writers Brett Martel in New Orleans and Chris Talbott in Jackson, Miss., contributed.
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