ATLANTA -- Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said the plan is to cut loose on offense tonight.

"We can't be conservative,'' Fulmer said. "We may need to score 30 to have a chance to win. Nobody else has slowed (Auburn) down much.''

Fulmer has built a career win percentage of .803 with a conventional approach, using a balanced, high-percentage offense while relying on his special teams and defense to help win the game.

Beating the 11-0 Tigers in tonight's SEC championship game at the Georgia Dome will obviously call for a more drastic plan.

"We've got to throw the football,'' Fulmer said. "We just have to take care of the ball better.''

The Vols had more first downs than Auburn (22-17) in the teams' Oct. 3 meeting, a 34-10 Tigers' win, but they turned the ball over six times.

Additionally, Auburn completed five passes of more than 30 yards in the first half, racing out to a 31-3 lead.

"What we can't do is allow big plays, huge plays, chunks of yards and scores,'' Fulmer said. "That will be our biggest challenge, defensively, to hang in there with them. I'm sure (Auburn) will want to set the tempo.''

In the teams' earlier meeting, Fulmer said the Vols' defense "limited the run and made their quarterback make plays, and he made plays.''

Tonight, the onus will be on UT quarterback Rick Clausen to make plays.

"We're not going into the game to try to play it close and keep it close,'' Fulmer said. "We're going into the game to try to win the game.''

Munoz Done: The career of offensive tackle Michael Munoz at UT ended on an operating table Friday morning when he underwent surgery to repair a torn right rotator cuff.

"Michael underwent season-ending surgery,'' Fulmer said. "They did an MRI on it (shoulder) and then took it to some specialists. After we got the MRI back, (surgery) was the only thing we could do.''

Munoz, named this week to the AFCA All-American team, battled numerous injuries throughout his career, most notably a career-threatening knee injury that forced him to miss the entire 2001 season.

Munoz enjoyed a strong first half of the 2004 season after going through the first healthy offseason of his career. But he suffered a bruised knee in the fifth game of the season against Georgia and missed the second half of that game. Munoz played the next week against Ole Miss, but he was knocked out of the Alabama game with a concussion and missed the South Carolina game.

Munoz returned against Notre Dame, but in the next game against Vanderbilt he suffered what was then thought to be a shoulder sprain.

Munoz won't recover in time to play in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., where outgoing players show their talents to hundreds of assembled NFL coaches and scouts.

Burnett, Munoz Honored: Linebacker Kevin Burnett joined Munoz on the AFCA All-American team. Burnett, along with Dustin Colquitt and Cedric Houston has been invited to the Senior Bowl.

For Kicks: Fulmer said Gerald Riggs and Cedric Houston will return kickoffs tonight.

"We've tweaked our personnel on the return teams a bit,'' Fulmer said, referring to a punt return team that ranks 100th in the nation and a kick team that's 103rd. "Some good returns would be big for us.''

Playing Hurt: Fulmer said offensive guard Cody Douglas (foot), defensive tackle Justin Harrell (ankle) and defensive back Antwan Stewart (knee) will be available to play. Cornerback Roshaun Fellows (foot) is expected to start.

Douglas and Harrell are expected to see action on the offensive line, the amount of which will be determined by their effectiveness. Stewart, who has missed the entire season, will only play in a "desperate situation'' according to Fulmer.

Starting Line: Albert Toeaina will start at right tackle, Richie Gandy will be at right guard, Jason Respert is the center, Rob Smith is at left guard and Arron Sears will start at left tackle.

On defense, Turk McBride will start in place of Harrell alongside Jesse Mahelona. Parys Haralson and Karlton Neal are expected to start at end.

Funny Fulmer: The Vols' head coach has never been known as a comedian, but Friday he revealed that he had considered playing a practical joke on the assembled media from around the SEC who gathered at the Georgia Dome for his press conference.

"I should have put a speakerphone here on the table, and then gone behind the curtain and talked through it,'' Fulmer said, referring to the mode of communication he used for the SEC Media Days in Birmingham after his attorney advised him not to travel to Alabama on account of a pending lawsuit that was subsequently dismissed. "I was going to open up by saying, 'I haven't seen you guys since Birmingham.' ''