Tiger Woods wears red on Sunday’s and Vol punter Dustin Colquitt wears yellow on Saturdays. Yellow socks that is.

“I have had the same pair of socks for like three years now,” Colquitt said. “One of them is longer than the other one. One of them is really bright white and one of them is yellow from three years of use. I have a rubber band that I wear on my wrist and I listen to pretty much the same music.”

The music is the mellow variety of guys like Jack Johnson and Led Zepplin.

You see for Colquitt, who is first in the SEC and third nationally with an average of 47.9 yard a punt, the routine is everything.

“I have not really changed things. I have just been more consistent in keeping my routine and been automatic with my preparation. I am doing the same exact thing everyday. Every Friday I wear the same mesh shorts and just do those little things to where I am not thinking about the game. I have just made sure that I stuck to it whether you are listening to music. You are just lost in your routine and are not thinking about the game and all the pressures that come with it.”

It is those game pressures that Colquitt struggled with as a freshman. He admitted he was nervous kicking in front of large crowds and he got the ire of head coach Phillip Fulmer often. Fulmer kept telling everyone that Colquitt had a big league leg if he could ever get consistent. Colquitt said things changed for him as a freshman as he watched the first half from the bench and was not allowed to punt.

“I sat the first half on the bench in the Notre Dame game,” Colquitt recalled. “They were not real happy with me because I was not getting any better. After that game, I sat down and I was having three or four punts then a shank. I just started working hard to try and get away from that.”

At that point, Colquitt said he had no plan for dealing with anything on the football field.

“I did not have any routine,” Colquitt said. “I was scared to death when I walked out there. I did not know really what I was doing. I was not aiming to one side or the other. I was just kicking it down there. So this way, I am thinking about what I am going to do before I go out there and having a plan has really helped me out.”

Today, Colquitt begins preparing to punt on first down and dials in on third down to the point that he visualizes the punt based of what hash the ball is on. But that visualization is nothing new because he has done it all week. As a part of his routine, Colquitt works on every scenario each day and has it to the point on Saturday that he does not have to think about it. He is in his words at that point, lost in his routine.

“Once I get out there it seems like I see that kick that week in practice. It seems like once I get to the game I have hit every punt possible that week.”

And right now, he is hitting every possible punt well. Each week it has been a new career day for Colquitt and Saturday in the Swamp was no different as he hit punts of 57 and 67 yards.

“So far I can’t really complain about things,” Colquitt offered. “There are a couple of pooches I would like to take back this year, but like I said I can’t complain so far.”

And the head coach is no longer complaining, thanks to a yellow sock, rubber band, mesh shorts and a routine that has Colquitt completely dialed in.