Tennessee is hoping for a win against Florida this weekend to get a head start on play in the SEC.

The Vols, 2-0 this season after defeating North Carolina State and Georgia State, are confident as they prepare for the Gators. And Tennessee’s coaching staff plans to have several highly-touted recruits in attendance Saturday to see the Vols beat Florida for the first time since 2004.

Here are some notable visitors expected to visit Tennessee this weekend:

S Vonn Bell – Rossville, Ga.
DL Jason Carr – Memphis, Tenn. (Tennessee commitment)
RB Derrick Green – Richmond, Va.
RB Derrick Henry – Yulee, Fla.
S Kameron Miles – Mesquite, Texas (Tennessee commitment)
WR Marquez North – Charlotte, N.C.
ATH Jalen Reeves-Maybin – Clarksville, Tenn. (Tennessee commitment)
OL DeVondre Seymour – Suwanee, Ga.
RB A.J. Turman – Orlando, Fla.
LB Corey Vereen – Winter Garden, Fla. (Tennessee commitment)
CB Brian Walker – Charlotte, N.C.

Last Friday against North Carolina State, Tennessee unleashed a new, faster-tempo offense that helped the Vols roll up 22 first-quarter points, more than 500 yards of offense in the game, and a 35-21 opening day victory.  Not too shabby.  Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney spoke about UT’s new attack yesterday, describing how it can potentially impact an opposing defense:

“The argument is that you can simplify the defense’s calls.  You can’t do a multiplicity of calls.  I would consider that if I’m on their side I can’t do a bunch of shifting and motioning.

The game of football still gets down to when it says, ‘Set, hut!’ can we block them, can they tackle us, can we throw and can we catch?  What happens when you’re going fast-paced is it distorts some of those values of the game a little bit.  You see that once in a while: They get a little fatigued, and they miss a tackle where they routinely might make that play.”

In building a halftime lead last week, Tennessee went almost exclusively with one- or no-back sets during the first stanza.  In the second half — with the lead — the Vols slowed things down considerably, using more two-back and two-tight end formations.

The idea of speeding up on offense to limit a defense’s calls and to wear said unit down is not new, obviously.  Many teams have been using the hurry-up for years.  But this year’s tempo in Knoxville is new.  Mainly because after years of instability and turnover, the Volunteers now have second- and third-year players who have learned one playbook taught by one offensive coordinator.  And that makes a difference in what a team can do and in how fast they can do it.

Sunday SEC Final: Louisville 32 – Kentucky 14
Saturday SEC Scores: Georgia 45 – Buffalo 23
Florida 27 – Bowling Green 14
Missouri 62- Southeastern Louisiana 10
Mississippi State 56 – Jackson State 9
Clemson 26 – Auburn 19
Arkansas 49 – Jacksonville State 24
Ole Miss 49 – Central Arkansas 27
LSU 41 – North Texas 14
Alabama 41- Michigan 14
Friday: Tennessee 35 – North Carolina State 21
Thursday: South Carolina 17 – Vanderbilt 13
For SEC news, opinion and analysis, go to MrSEC.com and follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/MrSEC

Saturday Finals: Georgia 45 – Buffalo 23
Florida 27 – Bowling Green 14
Missouri 62- Southeastern Louisiana 10
Mississippi State 56 – Jackson State 9
Clemson 26 – Auburn 19
Arkansas 49 – Jacksonville State 24
Ole Miss 49 – Central Arkansas 27
LSU 41 – North Texas 14
Alabama 41- Michigan 14
Tennessee wins in Georgia Dome for the first time since 1998
Friday Final: Tennessee 35 – North Carolina State 21
Thursday Final: South Carolina 17 – Vanderbilt 13
For game previews, news and analysis, go to MrSEC.com

Final: Tennessee 35 – North Carolina State 21
Georgia WR/CB Malcolm Mitchell will miss the opener against Buffalo because of a sprained ankle
Saturday SEC afternoon games: Buffalo at Georgia (Noon ET), Bowling Green at Florida (3:30 ET)
Saturday SEC evening games: Southeastern Louisiana at Missouri (7:00 ET), Central Arkansas at Ole Miss (7:00 ET), Jackson State at Mississippi State (7:00 ET), Auburn vs. Clemson (7:00 ET), Jacksonville State at Arkansas (7:00 ET), North Texas at LSU (7:00 ET), Alabama vs. Michigan (8:00 ET)
For game previews, news and analysis, go to MrSEC.com

Defensive end Landon Stokes from Lake Highland High School in Orlando, Fla., committed to Vanderbilt on Tuesday.

Stokes gave his commitment to the Commodores during a visit to Vanderbilt’s campus on Tuesday.

“I talked to coach (James) Franklin for a while and had some one on one time,” Stokes told 247Sports. “After that I told him I wanted to commit to Vanderbilt. We were both really excited.”

Stokes chose the Commodores over Clemson, along with offers from such schools as Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri, North Carolina State and West Virginia.

Stokes, who’s Vanderbilt’s 14th commitment for the class of 2013, said he believes the Commodores will continue to recruit at a high level.

“They told me I was a really big piece,” Stokes said. “This class is really starting to turn some heads. People are really starting to see what Vandy has to offer.”

Franklin offered his appreciation to Stokes via twitter after he committed to Vanderbilt on Tuesday afternoon. Franklin made it clear that finding defensive linemen is a priority in Nashville.

Huge believer that the game is played up front, especially on the DL, guys that can attack the decision maker change the game!! #AnchorDown

— James Franklin (@jamesfranklinvu) June 26, 2012

New South Carolina basketball coach Frank Martin won’t be happy to see former Gamecock Damontre Harris on the floor for Florida in the years ahead, but the coach said yesterday that letting the player go was the right thing to do:

“If that young man does not want to be at this school, then you shouldn’t hold him hostage.  Now we’ve got to compete against Damontre and I don’t like that.  But why should I block him from going to the school he wants to play at, as long as things were handled the right way?  I don’t believe in this whole thing that you should be able to recruit guys (at other schools) that’s crazy.  But as long as things are handled the proper way, as long as we all handle things like adults and educators and those kids and those families are up front and communicate with all the appropriate people, it’s no different than me getting out of my contract, if I handle things the right way.’’

Martin — who refused to let Harris transfer to North Carolina State (perhaps because he felt things hadn’t been handled in the proper way) — also said of his own program: ”Our challenge, our duty, is to elevate our program to the levels where Kentucky and Florida have been.  I know if we can compete with those two schools, we can compete with anybody in the country.”

The University of Tennessee athletic department has had its share of bungles in recent years.  Mistakes, missteps, mismanagment… name a plague and the Volunteers have managed to find a way to contract it.

But here’s a move by the school that actually looks pretty darn smart.  With a new football complex still under construction on the school’s Knoxville campus, Derek Dooley will take his team to Milligan College in Elizabethton, Tennessee for an NFL-style, away-from-home week of preseason work.

Athletic director Dave Hart’s explanation of the move makes it sound quite wise:

“The decision to train off-campus this year is not only driven by the factor of our move into our new Football Training Center, but also by the opportunity to maximize the ability of our coaching staff to become further acclimated to one another and the team in a very controlled environment.  I support Derek’s decision and feel strongly that we need to make this investment in our football program as we prepare to open our season in Atlanta (against North Carolina State on Aug. 31).

This is a one-time situation, and there are no plans to train off-site at any time in the future.”

Dooley’s team suffered from serious chemistry issues and a lack of leadership in 2012.  On top of cleaning up that mess, he’s having to break in seven new assistants out of a possible nine.  A little bonding session away from the comforts of home might do the coaches and the players some good.

As for why more schools don’t do this type of thing and why Tennessee doesn’t plan to do it in the future — money.  It won’t be cheap to house and feed an entire football team for a full week away from campus.

Still, facing the challenge he’s up against in 2012, Dooley seems to have made a good call on this one… even if it was in part forced by construction work on UT’s campus.

Defensive lineman Kenderius Whitehead from ML King High School in Atlanta has committed to North Carolina State.

Whitehead chose the Wolfpack over Georgia and Clemson.

“I was looking for the best school for me, as far as playing time and my education,” Whitehead told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I want to do computer science and N.C. State is a great school for that degree.”

Michael Carvell of the AJC described Whitehead’s decision as a “shocker for Georgia,” which had sent recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner to ML King on Wednesday.

Georgia received a commitment from highly-touted defensive end Jordan Jenkins last week. Whitehead insisted Jenkins had no effect on his decision.

“No, not at all,” Whitehead said.

Tennessee has received a commitment from cornerback Kenny Crawley from Howard D. Woodson High School in Washington, D.C.

Crawley, who’s ranked the nation’s 18th-best cornerback by ESPN.com, is UT’s 14th commitment for the class of 2012. He’s the first cornerback to commitment to the Vols for this year’s class.

Crawley’s decision to commit comes after a visit to UT’s camp last month.

“I had to get a feel for their coaching staff and how they coach,” Crawley told GVX247.com at the time. “When they were coaching me, I actually felt like I was a (Tennessee) player. They taught me so much stuff in just two days of workouts.”

Crawley received scholarship offers from close to 30 schools, including Georgia, Ole Miss, Clemson, North Carolina and North Carolina State.