ND to face 12th best defense in nation

QB Quinn says watching Tennessee defensive line film fun.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn describes watching film of the Tennessee defensive line as almost being fun.
"They bring a ton of athleticism, a ton of speed. It's almost like those guys could play almost any other position on the field as fast as they are," he said. "By far this is the best defensive line and the best defense we play all year."
It might not be quite as fun for Quinn to watch in person today when No. 8 Notre Dame faces its stiffest defensive opponent of the season. The Volunteers (3-4) have the nation's 12th-best defense, allowing 294 yards a game.
Then again, Tennessee's defense hasn't seen an offense as good as Notre Dame's. The Irish (5-2) have the nation's ninth-rated offense at 493 yards per game and Quinn is rated eighth in the country in passing efficiency.
So it's strength vs. strength. But it's also weakness vs. weakness.
The game also pits one of the nation's worst offenses against one of the nation's worst defenses.
Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis has been telling his players all week not to be fooled by Tennessee's record.
3-4 Volunteers are scarie
"This is the scariest 3-4 team that you're ever going to go against because they're capable of beating everybody every week, and they know it," Weis said.
Although Tennessee's national championship and Southeastern Conference title hopes are long gone, linebacker Kevin Simon believes some goals are still within reach. Simon said the Vols want to finish the season rated as one of the nation's top five defenses.
Tennessee has at least one another goal today.
"We know that Brady Quinn is in the Heisman race. We want to take him out of the hunt," Simon said. "He's not going to have a big day on us."
Quinn's had some big days this season, passing for more than 400 yards against Michigan State, Purdue and Brigham Young. He was 18-of-27 for 227 yards against Pittsburgh, which has the nation's fifth-best pass defense. But the Irish were able to loosen up the Panthers with their running game.
No one has had much success running against the Vols. The only team to run for more than 100 yards against Tennessee was Georgia, which had 198.
"You have to do a little bit of everything in this game," Weis said. "You've got to run the ball, because if not you've just put the quarterback up for grabs. You can't just go back and sling it on every down. You're going to have to do a little bit of everything and then see how it goes."
The Vols have shaken things up this week on offense with Randy Sanders resigning as offensive coordinator and Erik Ainge taking over as quarterback in an effort to revive the offense.
"The bottom line of it is, we've got to make some plays," Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said. "We've got to make some plays that help us win the ball game."
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