Tennessee's defense staked its claim to Neyland Stadium.

Basically, it's becoming a spring ritual.

"Who's in the house? — D's in the house," the entire UT defense chanted about two hours into a three-hour scrimmage Saturday afternoon.

They were right.

Tennessee's defense dominated its offensive counterparts — again.

"I think we're doing some things better," defensive coordinator John Chavis said with his usual flair for understatement. "We're headed in the right direction and I'm excited about this group.

"We're green as a gourd, but we've got some good talent out there really working hard."

UT head coach Phillip Fulmer knew it was bad when the most exciting offensive player on the field was a basketball walk-on in his third day of practice.

You guessed it — former Vols' basketball player Stanley Asumnu made one of the few big plays on offense, catching a 50-yard bomb from Jim Bob Cooter.

"The only thing exciting that happened today, Stanley did it," Fulmer said. "That's a sad state of affairs when you talk about the entire day with our receivers."

The rest of the afternoon belonged to the guys in the white uniforms.

Defensive back Antwan Stewart had two interceptions.

Freshman outside linebacker Rico McCoy looked quick and physical with a team-high eight tackles, one sack and one tackle for a loss.

"He's an around-the-ball football player," Fulmer said of McCoy. "You could probably hear it from the stands. Our defense was into the scrimmage and having fun. He's one of those guys."

So are middle linebacker Marvin Mitchell and defensive tackle Justin Harrell. Mitchell had seven tackles and Harrell six, including three for a loss.

Sophomore safety Demetrice Morley continued his quest for a starting spot with five tackles and three broken up passes.

"We want to be the leaders of the whole team," Morley said. "Tennessee's a defensive school. Hopefully by the fall we'll be ready to make a big impact."

They looked ready Saturday.

Stewart intercepted freshman Jonathan Crompton to stop one early drive. He then treated Erik Ainge to another pick the very next offensive series.

"The coaches are putting me in the right places," Stewart said. "I just have to go out there expecting to make plays."

Making plays. That's what it's all about.

Offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe wishes he saw more of that kind of attitude out of his offense.

"You've got to kind of love it when you get your back pushed to the wall," Cutcliffe said of instilling some mental toughness in his offense. "That has kind of been my nature all my life.

"Don't push us back in a corner. Watch what's going to happen to you. That's the attitude we've got to take."

Ainge was 13-of-31 passing for 102 yards in a lackluster, ho-hum day that included several dropped balls from his receivers.

Crompton was 11-of-20 for 94 yards and no scores. Bo Hardegree was 5-of-10 for 88 yards and Cooter 1-of-5 for 50.

The only scoring came on two short touchdown runs by Ricardo Kemp and a bevy of James Wilhoit field goals.

"Offensively, it was a heck of a struggle to get any kind of continuity," Fulmer said. "I thought the second group had a couple of nice drives, but we're not nearly where we need to be — to say the least."

Ainge hung his head and appeared frustrated with the entire day as he met with reporters.

"We lack execution right now," he said. "We practiced great the last two weeks, then we come out here and test it, and it wasn't very good.

"It's frustrating for me and anyone else on offense."

Confidence isn't exactly peaking early for Cutcliffe or his players.

"I don't think we're there from a confidence-level standpoint," Cutcliffe said. "I think that's probably pretty normal after you've come off a year like last year (5-6).

"You earn confidence. You can't kid yourself or fool yourself. You've got to come out here and earn it."

The offense has three more chances this spring. There will be two practices next week and the annual Orange and White Game at 2 p.m. Saturday.