UT LBs set Fulmer says TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer says he expects his linebackers to perform well in the Outback Bowl despite the absence of a key player at that position.
Starting linebacker Rico McCoy is among six scholarship players whose fall semester grades didn’t meet NCAA and Southeastern Conference requirements to play in the bowl. Huntingdon’s Chris Donald, who is redshirted, is also ineligible.
No. 16 Tennessee (9-4) faces No. 18 Wisconsin (9-3) on Jan. 1.
“When you take a really good player like Rico out of the mix, that’s the concern,” Fulmer said Wednesday. “I don’t know that we can fully, 100 percent replace what he’s been able to accomplish, but I think those guys are very capable and gives us our best group at that position.”
Fulmer said he plans to have Jerod Mayo on the outside, Ellix Wilson in the middle and expects Ryan Karl — who’s nursing an elbow injury — to be able to play.
“We have enough guys who have played in enough places that depth is not really that big of a concern,” he said. None | 
