Cody vs. Mt. Cody

KNOXVILLE -- Alabama has Mount Cody.

Tennessee has former walk-on Cody.

Alabama senior noseguard Terrence Cody and UT senior center Cody Sullins are separated by at least four inches, 80 pounds and millions in future NFL earnings.

Sullins, a former walk-on from the Nashville area, is a finance major and future MBA student with one of the Volunteers' highest grade point averages. He's smart enough to see the immense obstacle he must overcome Saturday in Tuscaloosa.

"Who wouldn't see it?" Sullins said with a big grin. "Look at him."

The 6-foot-1, 270-pound Sullins must man up against the 6-5, 350-pound Cody for UT's run-oriented offense to move the ball. And he and his teammates expect it to happen.

"Honestly, I'm looking forward to it," Sullins said. "It's a great challenge, and I like challenges. I'm not one to really back down from challenges, but you know, he's a great player, and he's going to be a tough challenge. He's really big and really talented, and he's a great competitor.

"I'm just going to have to work my tail off this week preparing for him and bring my best to the game on Saturday."

He may get some help, but he'll still bear much of the responsibility.

"We know we're giving up a lot of size up front," Vols coach Lane Kiffin said. "We know we have mismatch issues up there, so we're going to have to find a way around that. You just have to find a way."

Alabama returned eight starters from the unit that finished third nationally last season in total defense, so it was no stretch to suggest that this group would be even better. And it has been.

The Tide allow a mere 226.6 yards per game, nearly 40 yards less than last season. They allow just 11.6 points per game, nearly three fewer than last season. They surrender just 63.3 rushing yards per game, 11 fewer than last season and more than 30 yards fewer than any other Southeastern Conference team.

Much of that carnage has started with Cody. The big man has never recorded more than five tackles in a game, but his commanding presence in the middle of Nick Saban's 3-4 defense allows teammates the freedom to make big plays.

"It's just classic, the 3-4 with the big guy," said Kiffin, a former NFL head coach with the Oakland Raiders. "And that's why those guys get paid so much money at the next level, because they're so hard to deal with. You don't get a great pass rush out of him, but it's so hard to run in the middle, and it's so hard to get your center up to the next level.

"We're going to have our hands full. We're probably giving up about 80 pounds at center."

UT players on both sides of the ball have grown accustomed to watching Sullins and twin brother Cory do more with less, though. The pair enrolled five years ago as walk-ons and earned their shots to start at center and left guard, despite their clear size deficiencies.

"I don't doubt the Sullins brothers at all," Vols senior defensive lineman Wes Brown said. "Those guys will prove you wrong in a heartbeat. That's the best thing you can do is tell them they can't do something, because they'll come out and do it. They're working their tails off, and they're practicing really well and playing really well.

"Terrence Cody's a big, strong guy. But like I said, I don't put any doubt in those guys at all, because I know they'll come out and play well."

UT senior weakside linebacker Rico McCoy laughed at an anonymous teammate's hyperbolic suggestion that the Sullinses would carry knives on the field and stab people if it got the offense a first down.

"That's the truth," McCoy said. "By any means necessary, man. Cody wants to get it done that bad. Both of them Sullins are like that. Cody and Cory, they're both tough like that. When the pads come on, man, you're talking about two of the toughest guys we've got.

"If you were going into a fight, you'd want to take them two instead of being on the other side. Don't let them fool you."

McCoy noted Cody Sullins' daily practice performances against senior defensive tackle Dan Williams -- an NFL prospect -- as proof positive that Cody won't present a total mismatch.

"He's up for the challenge," McCoy said. "He doesn't miss practice, and every day at practice he deals with Dan Williams. He's not as a big, but I think Dan's more disruptive (than Terrence Cody) in the game.

"If he's able to deal with Dan Williams in practice, I think he'll be just fine with the big man."

Sullins said he might lose more battles than he wins Saturday, but he'd confidently enter Bryant-Denny Stadium with a clean sheet.

"That's one of the best things about this game, is that we'll put on the pads, go out there and see what happens," said Sullins, a lifelong UT fan who has never started against Alabama. "I'm excited for the opportunity. Hopefully I'll make the most of it."

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