Back is better

KNOXVILLE -- One of top-ranked Alabama's few recent bugaboos has been pass protection.

Tennessee's best pass rusher will face the Tide this Saturday in Tuscaloosa following a week off that helped his lower back injury.

Junior defensive end Chris Walker said Tuesday afternoon that his back is far from 100 percent but noticeably better than the past three weeks.

"It felt great in practice," Walker said. "Hopefully it will stay good till Saturday."

That's the good news.

The worrisome news is that Walker said he'll probably have to play through pain all season, and surgical options haven't been completely dismissed.

"Our training staff has done a really good job keeping me out there in practice, so I can get those looks," Walker said. "It's just going to be something that once the season is over I'll have a chance to rest. I don't think surgery is the main thing we're looking at. Obviously we've talked about it, but they've said that's not the thing that's going to help it.

"A lot of rest and just relaxing will help."

Walker said the pain was much more manageable against Georgia than it was against Auburn, when he "really couldn't get out and run and do things I'm normally used to."

The Volunteers' undersized but speedy end hasn't specified the problem with his back but said it was tight and sore.

"My muscles get sore from me trying to compensate and not getting hit and getting in an awkward position," he said. "It's just little sharp pains that kind of bring me down a little bit."

Walker's back slowed his scorching start this season -- his first as a starter -- but he leads the Vols with four sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss and two interceptions. He's tied for third on the team with three defended passes.

Alabama has allowed just four sacks in the past three games and only eight this season, but players admitted that quarterback Greg McElroy has faced more pressure the past few weeks.

"I think there are breakdowns probably with everyone on offense," Alabama senior tight end Colin Peek said. "You can't just finger one person on offense as having a bad night, because maybe we as receivers weren't running the best of routes, maybe the O-line wasn't blocking.

"You can't put the blame on one person for the fact that we see ourselves as a unit and a family. If there's one breakdown, it's a breakdown as a unit. If I have a bad block or if I have a bad catch, they're in the huddle saying, 'It's not your fault. I've got to do a better (job). I've got to put a better ball on you.'"

Peek said he expects sharper pass protection against the Vols.

"I think we're going to take this on our shoulders, almost as a chip on our shoulders, to be able to say, 'Hey, we've got to step our offensive game up because our defense is playing phenomenal football.'

"The only way I feel we will lose a game or have some trouble is if us as an offense doesn't produce the way we need to. That's something we'll put on our shoulders and sort of have a bitter taste in our mouth that we're trying to work out."

All the trimmings

Vols coach Lane Kiffin said he didn't anticipate any problem trimming Saturday's dress roster.

The SEC allows visiting teams to dress 65 players for road conference games, and programs have as many as 85 scholarships. Kiffin trimmed his roster only when UT traveled to then-top-ranked Florida in September.

"We have to look at a number of things this week," Kiffin said. "We're looking at guys in different spots, and that will have to do with playing time and travel roster as well. But it's not that hard for us to make the travel roster as it will be a few years from now. As we get more depth and more quality players, that will be hard.

"On Friday, you've got to make those decisions, but it (seems) pretty easy now."

Kiffin said he's still considering using a travel spot for junior Nick Reveiz, who tore his ACL earlier this season but remains an encouraging presence for his teammates.

"We're still looking at that," Kiffin said. "Unfortunately he would count if we brought him. We have to look at that and see where we're at and see how important it is to have one less person."

Is Bama better?

UT senior weakside linebacker Rico McCoy joked that he didn't know whether Alabama was better than Florida, but he hoped not.

"I haven't played Alabama yet. All I've seen is film," McCoy said. "Teams play different from week to week. Teams play different per team. Teams might play us a little bit harder than they might play another team. I can't say, but I'm hoping they're not as good as Florida. We did lose that game.

"I'm hoping that they're not as good as Florida, to be honest with you."

Other contacts for Wes Rucker are www.twitter.com/wesrucker and www.facebook.com/tfpvolsbeat.