After a resounding 35-14 win over No. 25 Georgia last week, No. 23 Tennessee will try to avoid a let down as they travel to Mississippi State (4-2, 1-2 SEC).

After a shaky 2-2 start for the Vols, Tennessee was able to take advantage of the open date before Georgia and play what head coach Phil Fulmer described as their most complete game of the year.

"We solved some of the problems that we were having, giving up big plays to good teams and helping (the other) teams," he said. "The result was an outstanding win for us."

Fulmer cites his team's tremendous effort on the practice field as one of the main factors for the Vols turnaround, but is still looking to help his team improve.

"We played well in the last game, now how much better can we get?"Coach Fulmer"You watch the tape and you see that we can be better in a lot of places," he said. "I think our team will respond well to that."

The win over Georgia combined with Florida's 28-24 loss to LSU puts Tennessee (3-2, 1-1 SEC) in control of its own destiny in the SEC East.

Still, the Vols are keenly aware that if they take an opponent lightly, they might be on the outside looking in again.

"Mississippi State is a good football team at 4-2. They beat a good Auburn team at Auburn. They're dangerous, physical, tough guys up front," Fulmer said.

"Defensively, they are a very multiple, talented group of guys. Titus Brown might be the best defensive lineman we've played against to this point."

Tennessee's offensive line appears ready for the challenge as they lead the nation in sacks allowed with just two given up in five games, an average of less than a half-sack per contest.

On the other side of the ball, Mississippi State's passing game has struggled with 11 interceptions against just three touchdowns on the season. 

Starting quarterback Michael Hennig has thrown nine of those interceptions while struggling to recover from a broken throwing hand, and was lifted at halftime of last week's game in favor of freshman Wes Carroll.

Carroll led the Bulldogs on three fourth-quarter touchdown drives to lead the team to the win.

The Mississippi State running attack is led by sophomore Anthony Dixon, who scored all three Bulldog touchdowns in the fourth quarter last week and finished the game with 152 games on the ground.

On the year Dixon has 586 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. Fulmer has particular reason to respect him and the rest of the Bulldog running backs.

"The running backs and tight ends have my good friend Woodrow McCorvey's fingerprints all over them," Fulmer said. "He is a tough guy."

McCorvey and Pat Washington, another coach on the Mississippi State staff, are very familiar with Fulmer and the Vols from their time as assistants at Tennessee, a fact that could help the Bulldogs prepare for this game.

Tennessee leads the all-time series 26-15-1 with a 4-4 record in Starkville.

The game is set for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff on Video Seat pay-per-view.