Well, Duh: Manning Is Their Target

Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer brushed it aside, but Northwestern Coach Gary Barnett wasn’t happy to learn that an Orlando TV station had a tape of Northwestern linebacker Pat Fitzgerald saying the Wildcats had put a bounty on Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning.

“If he did, he probably said it in jest,” Barnett said. “If he did say it [and meant it] maybe I have to have a talk with him.”

Fulmer downplayed the suggestion that Northwestern has made Manning a marked man.

“I don’t think there’s a game he’s played since he’s been here that he wasn’t,” Fulmer said. “I’m sure it was all a joke.”

Manning isn’t worried.

“You watch all their games on film and you prepare for everything,” he said. “You have a pressure plan and an all-zone plan and for the blitz. Hopefully, [center Trey] Teague and [tackle Robert] Poole will step up for me.”

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Barnett was critical of his team’s practice Thursday but said it improved Friday as players became accustomed to the oppressive humidity. How bad was it?

“[Thursday] I swear I felt my soul would leave my body two or three times,” defensive tackle Matt Rice said.