HOOVER, Ala. — Tennessee senior tailback Arian Foster said he’ll wear David Holbert’s No. 30 in the season opener against UCLA to honor the fallen fullback. Holbert suffered a gruesome knee injury during spring practice, and it might end his career.

Foster, who normally wears No. 27, said he got Holbert’s permission to wear the uniform number.

“I go out there every day and he’s in the back of my mind,” Foster said. “I’m wearing his number to represent him against UCLA. That’s a big deal to me. Every day I work, it’s tough because you see guys that can’t. So I don’t want to take anything for granted.”

Defensive end Robert Ayers finds similar inspiration in his roommate, injured defensive back Inky Johnson.

“Seeing him go through what he’s going through and being positive about it, I don’t think I could have handled it the way he did,” Ayers said. “I don’t know if I would still be living my life the way he is right now if that happened to me. Seeing a guy who can overcome things like he’s going through, I feel like I can overcome things just by being strong and being around him. I play for him.”

High regard

Here’s how much Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer thinks of Adam Myers-White: Fulmer initially decided to bring the reserve linebacker to SEC Media Days. The event is normally reserved for stars, and Myers-White has only 24 career tackles. Foster and Ayers made the trip.

“There was some kind of unwritten rule down here that you need to bring a starter, I guess,” Fulmer said. “Adam kind of represents the academic side and the football side, we hope. Robert was excited and it was good to see him come.”

Better chemistry

Foster said the seniors on this year’s team are attempting to bond with the younger players and eliminate the social order within the group.

“I remember when I was a young guy, I wasn’t real close with the seniors. There’s kind of this void there, an invisible gap that we could never get to,” Foster said. “It was kind of unspoken. It was there. We could socialize with him, but it wasn’t the same.

“I feel like, as seniors now, we kind of try to say, ‘This is our team. This isn’t the seniors’ team.’ It’s freshmen and up. Everybody can contribute no matter what, because if a senior goes down, a junior’s got to step up or a freshman. We’re all in this together, and we try to bring that to the table. It’s not us and you. It’s us.”

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