The 5-6 season just won't go away.

The calendar year changes. A new team reports for preseason camp. And what do you get?

Flashbacks to 2005.

Here's one: Starting quarterback Erik Ainge drops back into his own end zone and makes a perfect throw to a player in a white jersey, but the player drops the ball. One other detail: The defense is wearing white.

Another flashback: The No. 1 offense is threatening to score late in Saturday's scrimmage when Ainge is threatened by an onrushing lineman. He responds with a high-arching throw off his back foot; a player in a white jersey makes an easy catch in the end zone.

Did I mention the defense is wearing white?

If those two plays didn't scare you back to 2005, you weren't paying attention.

Actually, the interception wasn't as bad as it looked. The play was scripted as a last-second pass at the end of the game. So the desperation was by design.

But another interception wasn't in the script.

"That's what we've seen in the past, and it's not acceptable," UT offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe said of an Ainge pass that was picked off by cornerback Jonathan Wade. "That's what we scrimmage for. We didn't see that (from Ainge) as much in the spring.

"Playing quarterback is sometimes as much about knowing 'when not to' as to 'when to do it.' Obviously, I haven't got that point across well enough. We have a few days left to get that done."

There's nothing unusual about a messy early-season scrimmage in which the defense has the upperhand. That's more the rule than the exception - and not just for teams coming off 5-6 seasons.

But when a program drops off as drastically as UT's did last season, it's only natural to expect some dramatic transformation at first sight. Maybe that's why UT coach Phillip Fulmer called for a fake field goal on the first possession of the game.

UT's offense ranked 90th nationally last year. Its special-teams play was often just as dreadful.

Yet on that one beautiful, fake field goal and pass, the 2005 season was easily forgotten. Casey Woods, a former high school quarterback converted to wide receiver, made a perfect touchdown throw to kicker James Wilhoit.

Woods said the Vols are 3-for-3 on that play in preseason. The way they're executing and advertising the play, I expect to see it again in the season opener against Cal. It's reverse psychology. The Golden Bears will assume UT is showing off the play as a decoy; UT will take advantage of that assumption and actually run the play. Brilliant, huh?

Excuse me for getting bogged down on one play. It's called "avoidance." I want to avoid rewriting columns from 2005.

But for much of the afternoon, UT gave me no help. For example, take the first play. The Vols had to call a timeout before they could run it.

Such confusion was commonplace last season. So was uncertainty at quarterback.

There was more uncertainty Saturday. Ainge, who completed 13 of 26 passes for 120 yards, made a few big-time throws - some with zip, some with touch. He also improvised well on a couple of plays, avoiding one rush with a scramble and another with a nifty pitch to running back Arian Foster.

Those plays were offset by others - deep passes that fell short, sideline passes that floated. There was an indecisiveness and awkwardness about him that was reminiscent of last year but wasn't apparent in the first half of his freshman season when he looked like UT's next big thing at quarterback. Bottom line: He lacks the consistency of a quarterback who has started 11 college games. And that speaks more to his lack of confidence than lack of talent.

Does that mean UT is headed for another quarterback debate, this time between Ainge and redshirt freshman Jonathan Crompton?

"Sure, if I were you guys, I would raise the issue, too," Cutcliffe said. "We'll keep competition at all positions, including quarterback. (Ainge has) got to play better than he plays from a mistake standpoint, and I'm sure he's disappointed. But he's doing many things well. We're not shaking up or changing anything based on one scrimmage."

Maybe not, but Ainge's play was shaky enough to warrant giving another quarterback practice time with the first-team offense.

Crompton, who completed seven of 13 passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns, showed promise at times while quarterbacking the No. 2 offense against the No. 2 defense. He also showed the rust from sitting out his freshman season after shoulder surgery. Too often, he looked out of sync on the center exchange, fumbling a couple of snaps and almost fumbling others.

Bo Hardegree, who was 7-for-8, threw two of the prettiest passes - both for touchdowns, albeit against more reserves. He also looked especially sharp on play-action fakes.

Improvement from Crompton and Hardegree is not UT's top priority right now. After last year and the year before, the last thing UT's coaching staff wants is uncertainty at quarterback.

But unless Ainge comes back strong from Saturday's scrimmage, that's exactly what it has.

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