Tennessee didn’t waste any time in its first full-contact practice Tuesday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Vols held a scrimmage as soon as the NCAA would allow.

Much of the 55-play scrimmage was aimed at judging — and improving — UT’s running game after four days of partial pads due to the NCAA-mandated acclimation period.

"It certainly looked like it," offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe said when asked if his team was physical in its first practice in full pads.

Cutcliffe and head coach Phillip Fulmer were complimentary of UT’s tailbacks, led by Arian Foster and LaMarcus Coker.

"It was evident in the run game that we made some runs," Cutcliffe said. "We made some plays there."

Montario Hardesty, who had surgery on both knees, landed awkwardly on his knee and did not return. It was not clear which knee caused him to leave.

"He had fallen on his knee earlier," said Cutcliffe. "I don’t know his status, but we think he’s OK."

Fulmer admitted that UT mostly ran its base defense against an offense still trying to find itself. Absent were the complicated blitzes and stunts that will come in future preseason scrimmages.

The vanilla look allowed Fulmer and offensive line coach Greg Adkins to take a close look at the center position, where Josh McNeil and Michael Frogg split first-team snaps. Adkins was complimentary of both.

Adkins said he wasn’t yet ready to announce the other starting four offensive linemen, but he was optimistic that Arron Sears (left tackle), David Ligon (left guard), Ramon Foster (right guard) and Eric Young (right tackle) had established themselves this early in camp.

"We’ll probably settle in after the scrimmage this Saturday," Adkins said, "and maybe name a group that’s going to run out there against Cal."

Cutcliffe saw some things he wanted to see from his offensive line.

"I think our front has really become more physical and they’ve taken that attitude every day in practice," he said. "It’ll pay off if we continue to do that.

"As the old saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day. We’ve still got a long way to go."

Vanilla or not, Fulmer was pleased with UT’s defense, especially in key situations.

"The defense got their hands on some balls in third-down situations," he said. "That’s not an accident. They’ve been working really hard at that."

QB Report: Cutcliffe said he was excited to see his quarterbacks have fewer negative plays than they did during spring practice.

"I thought we managed the game well," Cutcliffe said after the closed practice. "Decisions, for the most part, were good.

"We turned the ball over but I’m not panicked about that. We put them in some tough situations from a coverage standpoint."

Cutcliffe said he was pleased with redshirt freshman Jonathan Crompton’s response to Erik Ainge being named the starter before spring practice.

"Jonathan’s a competitor," Cutcliffe said. "That’s a direct challenge to him. He’s responded to that by working harder. He couldn’t hardly work any harder than what he does."

Crompton completed his 20th college practice Tuesday. He was forced to miss practice last year after surgery on his throwing shoulder. He returned in time for spring practice this year.

"He’s really playing great," Cutcliffe said. "He’s further along than where I thought a redshirt freshman could be that sat out."

Wideout Report: Wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor said he was pleased with his group. Taylor said the receivers had five drops, three by former basketball player Stanley Asumnu, who is playing football for the first time since middle school.

Taylor said he is set on four of five positions in his receiver rotation. Jayson Swain, Bret Smith, Robert Meachem and Lucas Taylor will play in the season opener barring something unforeseen. Josh Briscoe and Austin Rogers are vying for the final spot.

Fulmer said UT has yet to try Rogers in the secondary as he originally planned before fall practice commenced.

"He’s got to get his feet on the ground as a receiver," Fulmer said. "We’ve got to establish that first."

More On Morley: Fulmer said defensive back Demetrice Morley is competing hard to live up to the head coach’s preseason challenge.

Fulmer said the sophomore should be a key contributor this year. As for Morley’s progress, Fulmer said it has been, "OK".

No Names: Much like spring practice, Fulmer was hesitant to dole out any praise on young players.

"I don’t think that’s the thing to do right now," he said. "I think we’re learning how to play as a team. Right now, we’re not into individuals. We’re into trying to play as a football team and everybody doing their part."

Missing Ends: Defensive end candidates Turk McBride and Xavier Mitchell didn’t scrimmage.

McBride didn’t make it to the practice field until around 9 p.m.

"He had a group project that’s due on Thursday and he had to meet on that tonight," defensive ends coach Steve Caldwell said. "We’ve got to let those guys take care of their academics."

Mitchell, coming back from shoulder surgery, hasn’t been cleared for contact yet.

"Xavier won’t be back and able to do much until next week," Caldwell said. "That’ll make a big difference in the direction we go (on the defensive line)."

Mark Burgess contributed to this report.