Still plenty of questions

The countdown to kickoff keeps getting closer.

At the same time, questions in need of answering appear to be getting more muddled for the No. 3-ranked Tennessee football team.

The Vols went through their second major scrimmage Saturday night at Neyland Stadium.

They hoped to clear up a starting quarterback dilemma. It didn't happen.

They hoped to find a frontrunner for the backup tailback position. It didn't happen.

There's a logjam of players vying to fill a void at center caused by injuries to Richie Gandy (knee) and David Ligon (ankle). Plus, the secondary -- improved from last week's scrimmage -- still gave up a couple of long touchdowns.

"They're not in a real rush," Ainge said of coaches making a decision on a starting quarterback.

"But as a team, we know we've got a game coming up and it's time to get down and dirty."

Senior quarterback Rick Clausen had the same feeling and made the most of his opportunity.

Last season's Cotton Bowl MVP got off to a fast start and went 10-of-15 passing for 180 yards with a 41-yard touchdown bomb to Lucas Taylor and one late interception into the hands of safety Jonathan Hefney.

Clausen started his night completing his first four passes, including a 57-yard strike down the left sideline to Robert Meachem.

"I think I checked to them both times," Clausen said of his two long completions. "The one to Lucas, he put in a whole other gear.

"The one to Meachem, it's just giving guys opportunities to make plays. We've got playmakers out there. It's just a matter of getting them the ball."

Clausen made it clear he's not sweating the coaches' impending decision.

"I just go out and do what I know how to do," he said. "I try to give the ball to the playmakers and minimize my mistakes.

"I'm not the most gifted guy in the world, but I know how the offense works.''

Meachem, who got past All-America-candidate cornerback Jason Allen on his 57-yarder, thought it was all about having fun.

"Rick did real good today," he said. "He calmed down and had fun out there. Ainge just has to calm down and have fun like Rick. Then we'll have two great quarterbacks."

Ainge took the first snaps and ended his night 10-of-20 for 91 yards with a touchdown to Bret Smith and one interception to Antwan Stewart.

"We know we're getting closer," Ainge said. "Every little thing really makes a difference now -- a penalty here a penalty there, not calling timeout when the clock's running out -- little things like that we need to fix because we've got a game coming up pretty soon."

Neither quarterback looked particularly effective in a late two-minute drill.

"That looked sloppy as heck," UT coach Phillip Fulmer said.

Fulmer added most of UT's mistakes are very correctable in the two weeks coming up prior to a Sept. 3 opener against UAB.

Jim Bob Cooter, vying for a third-string QB spot, even hooked up with freshman Slick Shelley for the "all-name" touchdown of the night.

The Vols' defense came through with a solid performance, especially against the run.

Running backs coach Trooper Taylor was hoping to get a better idea of a backup for Gerald Riggs Jr. at tailback, but no one made a noticeable push.

Freshman Montario Hardesty had just one carry and had to leave with a deep thigh bruise.

Freshman LaMarcus Coker had 12 carries for 34 yards, but also lost two fumbles. Redshirt freshman Arian Foster added 23 yards on nine attempts.

As expected, Riggs had a very limited night with two carries for 19 yards.

"I tried to put him in a green jersey, but he threw it back in my office," Taylor said. "I'm proud of the way he's handling everything.

"I really liked what LaMarcus Coker did tonight, other than putting the ball on the ground."

Freshman defensive lineman Vladimir Richard left due to an ankle injury.

"We've got a pretty tired, beat up football team right now," Fulmer said.

And the clock keeps ticking closer to Sept. 3.