By Ben Brake

Coach Phillip Fulmer will have his team ready for the Cotton Bowl on January 1, 2001. The Tennessee Volunteers will be short 3 players for
the game. One starter and 2 others were declared academically ineligible for the New Years Day game.

Even with the loss of three players Tennessee will be more than ready to play in the Cotton Bowl.

The Volunteers have a very good mix between pass and rush with their offense. Tennessee Quarterback Casey Clausen has completed 62
percent of his passes for almost 1500 yards with 15 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions.

They also have a high-powered runner Travis Henry who has over 1300 yards rushing and averages 5.2 yards a carry with 11 touchdowns to
his name.

They have a good defense that doesn’t allow teams to have much success. They will play Kansas State pretty tough and make the Wildcats
earn every yard they get.

Tennessee is ranked 21 in both major polls and K-State is ranked 9th in the Coaches poll, 11th in the AP, and 9th in the BCS.

Kansas State will need to put a lot of pressure on Tennessee’s quarterback to be successful in the Cotton Bowl. If Quarterback Clausen is
given time in the pocket he will be able to pick apart the defense. He is not a scrambling quarterback and has trouble against a lot of pressure.
K-State should scrap the Zone defense during this game and go at them with everything they have. The Wildcats showed during the Big
Twelve Championship game that the blitz package is awesome. K-State was burned twice in the zone defense inside the 20 during that game
which accounted for 14 points. If K-State puts the constant pressure on Tennessee it will be an offensive nightmare for the Volunteers.

K-State Quarterback Jonathan Beasley should have a good game against the Volunteers. WR Lockett and Morgan should be able to get
open and have some good numbers. Tennessee has a good secondary but I believe K-State has better receivers.

The Volunteers have one of the best punters in the country, but don’t expect him to kick to Lockett or Allen. You can expect them to kick
away from the return and give up some field position.

Expect the Wildcats to go after some punts blocks during the game since one of the players declared ineligible for the game was their punt
snapper.

My prediction K-State 35 Tennessee 21

Cathy’s prediction K-State 38 Tennessee 42