If the University of Tennessee wants to feel better about its struggling offense, maybe it should look elsewhere.

It won't have to look far. Most of the SEC teams have concerns about their offense after this weekend.

• Alabama spent its open date in search of a replacement for Tyrone Prothro, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury a week ago. All he did for the Tide was catch passes, return kicks and punts, and occasionally give it a breakaway threat at tailback.

Alabama offensive coordinator Dave Rader summed up how the search went in a quote to the Birmingham News: "We have to step up and do a little bit more. There's not one guy that can step in and fill in for Tyrone."

• South Carolina scored 44 points against Kentucky on Saturday, but its offense still won't remind anyone of the real USC's. It reminds you more of UT's.

The Gamecocks are averaging an SEC-worst 2.7 yards per rush. The Vols are 11th in the SEC with a per-carry average of 2.9 yards.

• Kentucky has developed a big-play offense. Unfortunately, it makes big plays for opponents.

You think UT is mistake-prone on offense? Check out the Wildcats, who lost fumbles on three consecutive plays and had four turnovers in seven snaps against South Carolina.

• You think UT is mistake-prone on offense? Then, you also should check out Mississippi State, which lost two fumbles, threw an interception and gave up two safeties in a 35-9 loss to Florida.

Mississippi State isn't just beaten down. It's beat up. Quarterback Omarr Conner was knocked out of the game with a bruised sternum.

The Vols' starting offense is basically healthy.

• Florida should be encouraged about its offense after scoring 35 points, right? Not exactly.

The defense had two safeties and blocked a punt for a touchdown. Moreover, the Gators are limping into the second half of the season.

Quarterback Chris Leak played with a hurt shoulder, and the Gators were without injured wide receivers Andre Caldwell and Jemalle Cornelius against Mississippi State. Their wide-receiver rotation included former quarterback Gavin Dickey, former linebacker Billy Latsko and walk-on Kyle Morgan.

Did I mention: The Vols' starting offense is basically healthy?

• Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron, like UT coach Phillip Fulmer, isn't always sure who should be his quarterback.

After a sluggish first half against The Citadel on Saturday, Orgeron replaced Micheal Spurlock with Bob Lane, who promptly reminded Orgeron why he started Spurlock. Lane threw an interception, which was returned for a touchdown.

Exit Lane, re-enter Spurlock.

• Vanderbilt began the weekend with the No. 1 passing offense in the SEC. So how do you explain what happened against LSU, which had the worst pass defense in the SEC?

Explanation: That's Vanderbilt, which demonstrated in an earlier loss to MTSU how uncomfortable it is in the midst of prosperity.

The Commodores had 25 yards rushing on 26 carries, and quarterback Jay Cutler completed 11-of-32 passes for only 113 yards in a 34-6 LSU victory. UT's offense hasn't been that unproductive in any game this season.

• Arkansas leads the SEC in rushing with a staggering 286.4-yard per game average. But it's a distant last in passing. At least, the Vols are more balanced (sixth in passing, 11th in rushing).

Now, for a quick review: The Vols are more balanced offensively than Arkansas and haven't had a game as bad as Vanderbilt's against LSU. They average more rushing yards per carry than South Carolina and haven't committed as many turnovers as Kentucky. They haven't lost a player as talented as Alabama's Prothro and have become more decisive about their quarterbacks than Ole Miss.

See, if the Vols just look around, they should feel much better about their offense. Right?

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.