Saturday's football scrimmage at Neyland Stadium left many onlookers scratching their head and wondering what went wrong with Tennessee's offense.

The answer was simple.

It came down to the ground, UT's run game. The Vols' longest rush of the day was 13 yards.

Ja'Kouri Williams was the best tailback of the day. He rushed for 55 yards on 11 carries. Ricardo Kemp rushed for 27 yards on 13 carries. David Yancey carried the ball 10 times for 27 yards.

No need to pick up your calculator. That comes out to 3.2 yards per rush.

"It kind of goes hand-in-hand. If you can't throw it, they're going to keep eight (defenders) up there," head coach Phillip Fulmer said. "That's one more than you can block."

The problem was expected. UT has three tailbacks who have either been ruled out of spring practice or extremely limited because of injuries.

"We don't have a running back right now that can break a tackle and make anybody miss," Fulmer said.

Don't blame it all on the tailbacks. UT's only season-long starter from 2005, Arron Sears, was rested Saturday for precautionary measures. Williams didn't lament the inexperience up front, although he did admit it was a challenge.

"But it also makes us better as tailbacks because once the five that are going to be in get there, we'll be ready for the challenge," Williams said.

Williams was the unexpected bright spot in UT's backfield and may have made an impression with only three spring practices left.

"I've been on myself about how I've played this spring," Williams said. "It's a very big opportunity for me. Once fall comes, it will be a crowded backfield."

Offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe, who was obviously displeased with the offense's performance, refused to let inexperience or injuries be an excuse.

"I expect us to be good enough with what we have here," Cutcliffe said. "That may be what we're playing with next fall. You have no choice but to be good enough. Right now, we're not doing that."

Cutcliffe said he would like to decide on five starting offensive linemen by the end of spring practice. He's not, however, holding out much hope.

"It would be great if we could make that decision but I don't think we're at that point," Cutcliffe said. "A lot of it is going to depend who comes back in the kind of shape we expect them to be in. Quite honestly, some of them aren't there right now."

More Cut: Cutcliffe said junior Robert Meachem and sophomore Lucas Taylor are the leading candidates to be UT's top two playmakers. Cutcliffe said UT's tight ends also could be considered playmakers if they continue to improve their consistency and toughness.

UT's offense didn't make many plays in Saturday's scrimmage. Cutcliffe said his group likely suffered from the defense's familiarity with UT's snap count and cadence.

"It's our job to solve those problems," Cutcliffe said. "We need to help them more.

Crompton Not Content: Cutcliffe said he was "tickled" with freshman quarterback Jonathan Crompton's progress but declined to say he was pleased with any quarterback after UT's sub-par offensive showing.

Crompton admitted that the game is slowing down for him after his 12th college practice but declined to say he was happy being a backup.

"I'm not content with anything in my life right now," Crompton said. "That's just the competitor in me. I'm not content with anything."

Said Cutcliffe, "I would hope that would be his attitude. I don't think anybody should be playing major college football that doesn't feel that way."

Raring Rico: Linebacker Rico McCoy has proved himself a hard hitter. He had eight tackles with one for a loss in Saturday's scrimmage.

"I'm letting some instincts take over," the redshirt freshman said, "and letting that natural linebacker take over."

McCoy is only playing weakside linebacker. He returned midway through spring practice after being sidelined with ankle surgery last summer.

"It was very important to get to run through the plays," McCoy said of returning to practice this spring. "This has helped me a lot going into the fall."

Center Of Attention: Josh McNeil admitted he tends to rely on his strength when he should be relying on technique.

"When you're in there in the heat of battle, sometimes you forget about your footwork," the redshirt freshman center said.

McNeil said he is very comfortable with UT's offensive line calls.

Injury Report: Sophomore defensive tackle Demonte Bolden had to be immobilized and taken off the field on a stretcher.

For precautionary reasons, he was taken to UT Medical Center with what was called a "head" injury.

"Everything looks fine from what they said," defensive coordinator John Chavis said. "He was very aware of everything when he left here.

"They just want to make sure and not take any chances."

Defensive end Walter Fisher also suffered a shoulder injury.

Colquitt AWOL: Sophomore punter Britton Colquitt was nowhere to be seen at Saturday's scrimmage. Kicker James Wilhoit filled in and handled most of the punting duties.

"Britton has a pulled hamstring," Fulmer said of the former Bearden High School star. "But he still should have been here for practice. I don't know where he was, but I'm gonna find out.

"He is AWOL."

Swain Surgery: Receiver Jayson Swain appears headed for arthroscopic knee surgery in the coming weeks.

"I think we've come to the conclusion he's not going to improve to get into spring practice," Fulmer said. "The only thing we can do to know for sure is go back in there and take a look.

"Around his academics, we'll go in there and do some exploratory surgery to scope it and see what's going on."