TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Tennessee Deja Vu: James Returns Punt For Score

ADVERTISEMENT

By KARL HYPPOLITE

Tribune correspondent

Published: September 21, 2008

KNOXVILLE - Watching that blur with the No. 25 on his back streak up and down the field is something Tennessee has become quite familiar with the past few seasons.

For the Volunteers' special-teams unit, return man Brandon James has been something between an uncatchable force or an unreachable object.

James returned a punt 83 yards for a touchdown in last season's 59-20 drubbing of the Volunteers. Saturday, James had Tennessee experiencing dejÀ vu all over again in the Gators' 30-6 win.

With the Gators nursing a healthy 10-point lead in the first quarter, the diminutive junior return man juked right, went right and zipped away with a couple of fallen defenders left in his wake as he pranced into the end zone for a 78-yard touchdown.

"Usually, on most of my returns, guys do a great job blocking and I don't have to go and make people miss," James said. "On this one I felt like I was doing a little too much juking and jiving, but it worked out in the end and I took it in."

And with that, it was game, set, match for Florida.

It was the fourth punt James has returned for a touchdown during his tenure as a Gator, which ties him with Jacquez Green for the school record.

Florida added a new wrinkle to its punt return formation by placing WR/RB Percy Harvin deep as a returner in case Tennessee decided to kick away from James.

The Volunteers decided to just kick it down the middle, and the rest was history.

"That's a scheme we've been working on the whole week," James said. "I loved it, and it's a good scheme because if they're going to try to kick away from me we'll still have some type of return, and it's just another weapon and another time we can make a big play."

Coincidentally, it was two years ago against the Volunteers that Coach Urban Meyer decided that James, then a freshman, was the return man for him.

"I jogged out of the tunnel at Neyland Stadium behind him and it is unbelievable the things people are saying," Meyer said. "I look at him and he starts doing the Gator chomp. That kid is not intimidated by anything, so I grabbed him and I said, 'You're the punt returner today.' That's how the decision was made. He's a guy that enjoys game day."

And with that, a Volunteer-killer was born.

"I don't know what it is," James said. "I think I just get up for the rivalry and just try to bring my best game each week."

But he seems to save his best for Tennessee. And according to Meyer, he has set a new bar for himself.

"I thought the one against Hawaii was the best one I've seen, and then he topped it," Meyer said. "He even said to me that this might be my best one yet. Guys are blocking well for him."

And the Vols are still waiting to touch that untouchable object.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT