McCluster a handful

KNOXVILLE — Ole Miss senior Dexter McCluster is part-time wide receiver, part-time tailback and full-time problem for opposing defenses.

This week, he's Tennessee's problem.

"The problem with Dexter is he lines up everywhere," Volunteers coach Lane Kiffin said of the 5-foot-8, 165-pound speedster.

McCluster has amassed more than 1,000 rushing and receiving yards in three-plus seasons at Ole Miss, and two of the senior's best games have come in the past three weeks.

He caught seven passes for 137 yards and ran 22 times for 123 yards in the Rebels' win over Arkansas, and he added 186 rushing yards and 17 receiving yards in their loss at Auburn.

McCluster didn't do much in Ole Miss's easy Saturday win over Northern Arizona, leaving him rejuvenated for the Rebels' tough closing regular-season stretch of UT, LSU and archrival Mississippi State.

"He should be ready to go," Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said.

McCluster isn't merely a tailback who motions out to wide receiver and runs a few routes, like Kiffin did with Reggie Bush at Southern Cal and the Vols did with Arian Foster the past few seasons. McCluster is listed as a wide receiver in the media guide, and he's capable of running precise timing routes like a full-time wideout.

"I don't know that I've seen a guy that can play running back and then go out and run all the receiver routes like he's been out there forever," Kiffin said. "Sometimes people will take running backs and put them out there and run a couple of things with them -- a couple of easy routes -- but this guy runs a ton of routes that take a long time to develop, so he presents all kinds of matchup issues.

"And if you give him any space, he's so fast that he can just outrun anybody."

UT junior defensive end Chris Walker said diminutive backs like McCluster often present more problems than bigger runners, and not just because of their speed.

"He's probably going to be one of the best backs that we've faced all year, just because of the way he moves and the ability that he has to take it the distance any time he gets his hand on the ball," Walker said. "That's going to be something that will be a really big challenge for us.

"He reminds me of some of the Florida guys, just how quick he is and how fast he is. I've been watching them play on TV when we've had some time, and when he gets his hands on the ball, it's electric. He's kind of a smaller guy, so he can fit through little holes and he can really get going."

But, as Walker added, there are disadvantages to being a 165-pound back in the SEC.

"We're going to try to get ahold of him and get 11 to the football and see how he can hold up against our pressure," Walker said. "That's definitely our philosophy on defense."

Vols redshirt freshman middle linebacker Herman Lathers said he's been poring over video this week while preparing for a tough task -- spotting the versatile McCluster and aligning the defense for an appropriate response.

Asked if he expected things to come easier for his second career start, Lathers said he expected Ole Miss to pose many more problems than Memphis.

"It's going to be a little tougher, Lathers said. "They're a physical team, and (McCluster) is a really good playmaker. He's fast, so we'll just have to prepare for him like we did everybody else.

"I don't think they do as many calls as Auburn did. I wouldn't say it will be simpler, but it will be just as hard as it was to prepare for Auburn."

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