SEC Round-Up: Pressure mounts for Pruitt as Tennessee piles up losses

As each week passes it appears more and more obvious that Tennessee Coach Jeremy Pruitt won’t win a Southeastern Conference championship. However, he has a great chance to capture the ‘Fulmer’ Cup.

For the unknowing, the ‘Fulmer Cup’ is a mythical trophy established in the ’90s to recognize the college football team with the most players arrested, suspended or just falling into trouble in general. The Cup was named for then-Tennessee coach Philip Fulmer because … well, because his Vols dominated the Fulmer Cup like Oklahoma dominates the Big 12.

Ironically — or perhaps not — Fulmer hired Pruitt, who is struggling on and off the field. It’s bad enough Tennessee is 1-3 has lost to Georgia State and most recently was blown out by Florida. Somehow Pruitt found a way to lose in the bye week.

Last week video and audio surfaced of the arrest of Tennessee linebacker Jeremy Banks, who was stopped at 3:45 a.m. on Sept. 15 for making an illegal U-turn. Police found Banks was had a suspended driver’s license and an outstanding warrant for “failure to appear.”

Police video showed Banks insulting police. He even told a police intern: “where I’m from we shoot at cops.”

Banks was allowed to phone Pruitt, who then chided police for making the arrest.

“Why do you have to arrest him?” Pruitt said over the telephone. “Just because he has a warrant?”

Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Jeremy Pruitt spent several of his nine lives when the Vols dropped a stadium-clearing home opener to Georgia State.

When the officer explained he had to make the arrest because of the warrant, Pruitt said: “This is the silliest (…) I’ve ever seen in my life. Go ahead. Do your civic duty, man.”

Surely Pruitt wasn’t suggesting Volunteers players should be above the law, right? Even though the incident occurred prior to the game against Florida, Banks was not suspended and played against the Gators.

The day after the story broke, Pruitt went into damage control. He blamed his reaction on being awakened in the middle of the night. He praised the officer for doing his job. He said he and his staff had to monitor players better.

Maybe Tennessee administration will give Pruitt a pass. However, Georgia is next on the schedule. Alabama comes two weeks later. The Volunteers also have games against Mississippi State and South Carolina this month.

Tennessee could be eliminated from bowl eligibility before November. Two passes might be too much for Pruitt to ask.

Around the SEC

This week’s games: Auburn at Florida; Georgia at Tennessee; Utah State at LSU; Vanderbilt at Ole Miss; Troy at Missouri

Who’s hot: In the last two games Vanderbilt running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn has rushed for 130 yards against LSU and 138 yards against Northern Illinois. He’s now second in the SEC with 398 rushing yards.

Who’s not: Lost in all the excitement over LSU’s newly-explosive offense is the fact that the defense is not playing up to its usual standards. The Tigers allowed 38 points to Vanderbilt and Texas. Those teams both accumulated more than 370 yards of offense. LSU is currently fifth in the SEC in total defense and seventh in scoring defense. Therefore …

Keep an eye on: LSU’s secondary faces its greatest test since allowing Texas’ Sam Ehlinger to pass for 401 yards and 4 touchdowns in Week Two. Utah State quarterback Jordan Love is a big guy with a big arm. He’s thrown for at least 293 yards in each of the last three games. Last week he passed for 416 yards and 3 TDs in a 38-35 loss to Wake Forest. The Tigers will defeat Utah State, but it could be closer than expected if the LSU secondary doesn’t play well.

The pressure is on: Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason and Ole Miss coach Matt Luke will be in similar situations when their teams clash in Oxford. Both are under athletic directors that did not hire them and neither have yet managed a winning season. A loss for either would substantially damage their hopes for bowl eligibility. That might lead the administration to make a change.

Best matchup: Auburn’s senior-laded offensive line is playing well. The Tigers are second in the SEC in rushing and in sacks allowed. That offensive line will face its greatest challenge against Florida’s stellar defensive front led by end Jabari Zuniga. The Gators are ranked second in the SEC in rushing defense and first in sacks with 24.