A relieved Tennessee offense walked out of Neyland Stadium late Saturday night knowing strides had been made.

No sirens went off and no one was heading for cover, but coaches and players hope the Vols’ second major scrimmage of the fall signals a whirlwind of change is approaching.

Offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe has been saying it would happen.

"Yesterday was focus Friday and Coach Cutcliffe started to talk about a tornado or a storm starting to form on our offense," tailback Montario Hardesty said.

"Today we executed — catching, running, passing, blocking — so it’s starting to form and I think we’ll end up a really good offensive team."

It wasn’t perfect, and it got off to a slow start, but an offense that sputtered in last week’s scrimmage — and all of last season — showed signs of life with some big plays.

Junior quarterback Erik Ainge got to wipe away some frustration and leave the field with some positives to lean on with opening day coming Sept. 2 at home against No. 9-ranked California.

He went 17 for 26 for 196 yards with one 25-yard touchdown pass to Robert Meachem in overtime situational work.

The same player who threw two interceptions a week ago made it through Saturday turnover free.

"We’ve worked too hard watching film and getting our bodies ready to not be successful," he said.

"Coach Cutcliffe says all the time he will not allow us to fail and we’re buying in and getting ready to go."

Meachem made a couple of big plays at receiver including a 37-yard strike from Ainge down the left sideline.

"It feels good to make those big plays, but they’re expected," Meachem said. "When a ball comes your way, you’re supposed to make big plays.

"We walk out of here feeling a little better, not a lot. We’ve still got a long ways to go and only two weeks to go."

Meachem finished with four catches for 74 yards. Lucas Taylor added three for 67, most of that coming on a 65-yard TD bomb from Bo Hardegree.

Freshman Quintin Hancock had an impressive night with five catches for 68 yards and a 5-yard TD catch from Hardegree. Jayson Swain added three catches for 38 yards, including one absolute bullet from Ainge for 20 yards.

"Meachem caught the ball great and made a diving catch," Ainge said. "Swain went down and caught one.

"We looked like we used to look out here. I’m encouraged."

Freshman quarterback Jonathan Crompton went 9 of 14 for 99 yards and no TDs. Hardegree finished 8 of 9 for 115 yards and two scores.

"I thought the quarterbacks played tough," Cutcliffe said. "I’m real pleased with the weeks’ progress.

"We’re going to critique this thing hard and we’ll see a lot of things we need to improve."

Protection and avoiding sacks will be one area getting a strong look.

Ainge was sacked twice on the opening series to kill one drive.

"We’re still doing too many things, false starts and those kinds of things, that will get you beat," UT coach Phillip Fulmer said. "In a close ball game, those will make a difference."

Ainge felt like he made a couple of mistakes with bad checks at the line of scrimmage, but nothing that can’t be corrected in two weeks.

"The flow was a lot better," he said. "We had seven practices in five days and we didn’t take a play off.

"I think it really helped us a lot."

Fulmer obviously noticed the improvement.

"He did make some athletic plays and some really fine throws," Fulmer said of Ainge. "For the most part, he handled the offense, in and out of the huddle, and those kind of things pretty well."

At tailback, Hardesty proved he’s close to getting healthy after experiencing some swelling in his surgically repaired knee earlier this week.

The freshman rushed for 24 yards on nine carries and capped off a nine-play drive with a 2-yard TD run.

"I wasn’t surprised," he said. "I knew what I could do."

Roy Olasimbo added 43 yards on 10 carries working with the third and fourth teams. Ja’Kouri Williams and David Yancey each had four carries for 17 yards.

Defensively, safety Antwan Stewart led the team with seven tackles and returned a blocked punt 16 yards for a touchdown.

Linebacker Adam Myers-White had a strong night with five tackles, including two sacks and three for a loss.

Preseason All-SEC defensive tackle Justin Harrell also proved he’s ready to go with two of those early sacks on Ainge.

"The defense has really been controlling the summer and going back to the spring," Fulmer said. "The defense is stout.

"They’re fast and they’re doing really well."

The No. 23-ranked Vols return to the practice field on Monday and have another scrimmage scheduled for Tuesday night.