The Tennessee Volunteers got back to their usual winning ways with a 35-14 victory over the Georgia Bulldogs Saturday, and one of the strong points for the team was the play of a pair of ultra-talented linebackers.

Junior Jerod Mayo and sophomore Rico McCoy each accounted for 11 tackles and played a key role in shutting down an explosive Georgia running attack, making the duo the Vol Athletes of the Week.

"The linebackers allowed the safeties to be safeties and the corners to be corners," said head coach Phil Fulmer. "We did not have to get (the secondary) that involved in the run game."

Overall the defense held the Bulldogs to just 243 total yards, only 69 of which came on the ground.

Entering the game the tandem of Knowshon Moreno and Thomas Brown had combined for 825 rushing yards, an average of 165 per game.

The performance marked a huge improvement upon the Vols' other games against ranked teams, as they had given up 471 yards to No. 2 California and 554 yards to No. 11 Florida.

With McCoy and Mayo making it near impossible for Georgia to run the ball, Bulldog quarterback Matthew Stafford had trouble getting anything going through the air until after the game was pushed out of reach.

"When you end up with a defensive front playing as well as they did and the inside linebackers having 11 tackles apiece, that's a good day for the secondary."

On the season Mayo and McCoy are the only two Vol defenders to register over 30 tackles with 36 and 33, respectively.

Because of their strong play in leading the Tennessee defense, Rico McCoy and Jerod Mayo are TNJN's Vol Athlete's of the Week.