Jon Cooper said. Im not going to sit here an

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessees defense is receiving plenty of unwanted opportunities to showcase its improved depth.Injuries have sidelined three of Tennessees top defensive players at various points in the season, yet the 11th-ranked Volunteers remain unbeaten thanks to contributions from backups who have stepped in as capable replacements.With all the injuries and stuff that weve seen, the next man thats behind that guy has stepped in and just played tremendous, linebacker Cortez McDowell said.Tennessee (4-0, 1-0 SEC) will need to keep that going Saturday when it visits No. 25 Georgia (3-1, 1-1) without the services of linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. and cornerback Cam Sutton. Kirkland will miss a third straight game with a high ankle sprain and Sutton will sit out his second game since fracturing his right ankle.The Vols are hoping to have linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin back for Georgia after he missed the majority of Tennessees last two games with a shoulder injury. Tennessee coach Butch Jones said Wednesday night on his Vol Calls radio show that Reeves-Maybin had another MRI so were waiting on word from there to see how his health is progressing.Reeves-Maybin and Sutton were selected as team captains before the season along with quarterback Joshua Dobbs and running back Alvin Kamara. Kirkland was Tennessees leading tackler before his injury.A lot of teams cannot recover from that, Jones said. Weve had some individuals step up and play winning football for us. ... Ive been real proud of these individuals for stepping up because those are three great football players that you take out of your lineup. Its hard to replace those three.The reinforcements have included McDowell and Colton Jumper.McDowell has stepped in for Reeves-Maybin and has 21 tackles, one off the team lead. McDowell and Quarte Sapp were both expected to back up Reeves-Maybin at weak-side linebacker, but Sapp tore his anterior cruciate ligament in Tennessees second game, knocking him out for the remainder of the season.Jumper, a former walk-on, had a team-high eight tackles Saturday in a 38-28 victory over No. 23 Florida while filling in for Kirkland at Mike linebacker. Jumper had been Tennessees season-opening starter last year before moving to a reserve role, but he has played much better this year.That (experience) helps really with the nerves, coming into it, Jumper said. Just having starts under my belt and having some game reps, that really helps. ... I think my confidence level has gone up a little bit, and that helps a lot.Suttons injury has represented the biggest loss for Tennessees defense so far, and the four-year starter isnt coming back anytime soon. Jones said Wednesday there is a possibility that he may be able to get back for maybe the last couple of games of the year.Florida exposed Suttons absence last week with a couple of deep passes that set up the Gators first two touchdowns as Tennessee fell behind 21-0. But the defense played much better later as Tennessee rallied.Freshman cornerback Baylen Buchanan, the son of former NFL defensive back Ray Buchanan, is expected to make his first career start Saturday as Tennessee attempts to replace Sutton. Justin Martin had started in Suttons old spot last week but struggled early in the Florida game.While all these injuries have forced backups into bigger roles, Tennessees remaining healthy starters also have picked up the slack. Nobody has contributed more in that regard than defensive end Derek Barnett, who recorded two sacks against Florida to increase his career total to 22.He means as much to this team and this unit as any player on any team on any unit, defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said.Barnett passes the credit around by pointing out the way the rest of the defense has performed.We lost a few guys, but its next man up, Barnett said. It just goes to show we have a lot of young guys in this program who are very talented. Theyve all stepped up and really played well.---Online: The APs college football page: http://collegfootball.ap.org Wholesale Sneakers Supplier . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. Cheap Nike Shoes From China . Andreas Johnson had a goal and two assists while Jacob de la Rose also scored for Sweden (2-0-0). Esa Lindell and Rasmus Ristolainen replied for Finland (1-1-0) Lindell opened the scoring for Finland just 41 seconds into the game, but the hosts quickly regained their composure and tied the score less than four minutes later on Wennbergs first of the game. http://www.cheapsneakersfromchina.com/ . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. Wholesale Sneakers . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. Cheap Sneakers Fast Shipping . Louis Blues teammates who would also be participating in the Olympics, Alex Pietrangelo felt right at home, no different in some ways to the travel experience of any old road trip – save for the length of the journey, that is. ST. LOUIS -- Vladimir Tarasenko was never worried.The right wing simply took the St. Louis Blues early season offensive woes in stride.I heard the words that everyone was saying our offense was not so good, Tarasenko said. But, we believed in each other and we believed in our game.That patience has paid off of late.Tarasenko scored three goals and Kevin Shattenkirk added two to lead the Blues to a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.The Blues have won three in a row and six straight at home.Tampa Bay lost its season-high fourth consecutive game.Jake Allen made 22 saves in improving to 12-3-3.St. Louis has scored three goals or more in each of its last nine games after an earlier string of six successive games with one goal or less.Weve been simplifying things and getting a lot of chances, Shattenkirk said. Everything is just kind of going our way.Tarasenko, who leads the team with 13 goals, recorded his fourth career hat trick. He scored twice in the games opening 9:37 to stake his team to a 2-0 lead.His early game outburst set the tone for the rest of the contest.We shot the puck at the right times, people were in position, St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. It was great to see.Tarasenko, known for his speed and puck-handling skills, scored his second goal on a rare one-timer off a perfect pass from Alexander Steen, who added three assists in his return after missing six games with a shoulder injury.The soft-spoken, Russian-born Tarasenko has nine goals and eight assists in his last 13 games.Its good to see him playing like this, Steen said. Hes been lethal for us. His hat trick goal was big, a timely goal.Shattenkirk, who also had two assists, addded two power-play goals, the second coming just 1:44 into second period for a 4-1 lead.ddddddddddddCedric Paquette scored twice for the Lightning, who have been outscored 19-9 during the four-game skid.Nikita Kucherov and Tyler Johnson also scored for Tampa Bay. Paquettes second goal trimmed the deficit to 5-4 with 8:02 remaining in the third period.I thought we deserved points, Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. Im not going to sit here and say we deserved to win the game. But we definitely deserved points.St. Louis has won its last five at home against the Lightning, who last won in St. Louis on Dec. 18, 2009.The Blues are 9-0-2 in their last 11 home games.Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy gave up four goals on 16 shots and was replaced by St. Louis native Ben Bishop early in the second period.I thought we gave it an honest effort, Paquette said. It was a pretty good game. But (to lose), its disappointing.Game notes The Lightning recalled RW Joel Vermin and LW Michael Bournival from Syracuse of the AHL. ... St. Louis leads the overall series with Tampa Bay 21-11-3. ... Tampa Bay D Anton Stralman returned to the lineup after missing nine games due to an upper body injury. ... Blues LW David Perron had a career-best eight-game point streak snapped. ... Bishop did not start in back-to-back games for the first time this season. ... St. Louis C Paul Stastny played in his 700th NHL game.UP NEXT:Lightning: Return home after three-game trip to host Washington on Saturday.Blues: Host Winnipeg on Saturday in the fourth of five straight games at home. ' ' '