Tennessee (3-2, 0-2 SEC) enters off a 20-12 loss to Georgia in which the Vols lost starting quarterback Tyler Bray. He suffered a broken thumb against the Dawgs and will miss anywhere from 4-6 weeks. Bray had been one of the SEC’s top quarterbacks, throwing for 1,328 yards and 14 touchdowns before his injury (UT already is without top WR Justin Hunter for the season). , is out for an extended period of time.

Matt Simms is now the Vols’ starter again. The senior played in 11 games last year, starting the first eight. He passed for 1,460 yards, eight touchdowns and five interceptions in 2010. After Tennessee began the season 2-6, Simms was benched for Bray, who won Tennessee's last four regular season games.

It’s not exactly a great week to have your first start, as LSU might have the nation’s top defense and made Florida backup QB Jacoby Brissett look silly last week (in fairness, that was Brissett’s first start). The Tigers held the Gators to just nine first downs and 213 total yards last week and already have shut down high-powered teams like West Virginia and Oregon. LSU led Florida 17-0 after its first three possessions in what became the sixth double-digit victory in as many games for the Tigers, who have trailed for only 6:33 all season. CB Tyrann Mathieu forced a turnover in his third straight game (and 4th time in 6 games this year) with an interception against Florida. He’s Heisman-worthy.

A win over the Vols will give the Tigers their second straight 3-0 mark against the SEC East – which will be the first time in school history that LSU has swept teams from the other half of the league in back-to-back years. LSU has won three straight and four of the last five against the Vols, including a 16-14 win last year in Baton Rouge.

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