UT's foes scheme as freshman quarterbacks try to solve defenses

As if Tennessee's freshman quarterbacks didn't have enough to absorb, the Vols' early schedule hasn't made it any easier.

When the 11th-ranked Vols (2-0) meet Louisiana Tech (2-1) Saturday night at Neyland Stadium, it will be the third different defensive scheme in three games to decipher for Erik Ainge and Brent Schaeffer.

"In some ways,'' offensive coordinator Randy Sanders said Tuesday, "this is a great learning process for these young quarterbacks and in some ways it's really hard.

"After this week there won't be a whole lot thrown at them they haven't seen.''

When Ainge and Schaeffer arrived on campus they practiced through August against UT's 4-3 defensive front - four down linemen and three linebackers.

In the opener, Sanders said Nevada-Las Vegas played a 3-3-5 - three down linemen, three linebackers and five defensive backs. Last week, Florida mostly played a 4-3 scheme.

Now comes Louisiana Tech and its 3-4 alignment - three down linemen and four linebackers.

"Right here in their first three weeks of college, they've seen three completely different schemes,'' Sanders said. "It's been a tremendous challenge to get them to understand the nuances of each one, how you handle each one.

"Hopefully, it'll be a great teaching process for them. Unfortunately, Auburn is a 4-3 team and Georgia and a lot of the other teams we'll see later on are 4-3 teams. It would have been nice to had three games to prepare for a similar thing where you get really good at that.''

This time a year ago, Louisiana Tech would have cooperated. The Bulldogs switched from a 4-3 to a 3-4 this season.

Coach Jack Bicknell said Tuesday it was a meeting of the minds with his new defensive coordinator, Tim Rose.

"It was based on personnel more than anything,'' Bicknell said.

"In order to get pressure on a passer in a four-down front you better have some great defensive ends and it was just hard for us to find those guys. They end up going to Miami, Tennessee and Auburn and places like that.

"We felt like the 3-4 might give us the opportunity to put some pressure on the quarterback. When I was an offensive line coach I never liked it. I just felt like it caused some problems (pass) protection-wise.''

Protection against the pass rush is the problem the Vols must solve.

"You're trying to figure out which outside backer may be rushing,'' said Sanders, "so you can get your line directed that way and get your back out in a route.

"If they're not on top of it, you drop back to throw and your primary receiver is covered and your secondary receiver is covered and you're third one is not there because he had to stay in and block.

"So it puts more pressure on them that way.''

So far, Ainge and Schaeffer have aced their first two tests. They have a combined pass-completion percentage of 63.2.

Schaeffer's pass-efficiency rating is a scorching 192.80, and Ainge's is 162.29, which ranks 11th in the nation. Schaeffer doesn't have enough pass attempts to be ranked.

As a team the Vols rank 22nd nationally in total offense and 39th in pass offense.

And, by the way, the freshmen are still co-starters.

Against Florida, Ainge played the final four series after Schaeffer's fumble on the first drive of the second half.

"I don't think either one has played themselves into taking over more time than the other,'' Sanders said, "just as neither one has played themselves out of playing time.''

Mike Strange can be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.