Jonathan Crompton took full advantage of his opportunity Tuesday.

The redshirt freshman quarterback completed 11 of 17 passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns in his first scrimmage with Tennessee’s first-team offense.

UT coach Phillip Fulmer said that was the plan all along.

"We were trying to play Jonathan with the (No.) ones, kind of like a professional preseason exhibition," Fulmer said. "The first-team quarterback gets 15 plays, or a quarter. Then the second-teamer gets some.

"He (Crompton) played with the ones -- then he did a good job with the twos. He had a nice day overall."

Junior starter Erik Ainge completed 3 of 7 passes for 41 yards and a touchdown in a limited role. Each of UT’s top three quarterbacks wore green-non-contact jerseys as the Vols prepare for the season opener against California on Sept. 2.

Junior Bo Hardegree completed 8 of 17 passes for 46 yards and four interceptions. Senior Jim Bob Cooter completed 2 of 13 passes for 12 yards and a touchdown.

"This is the last scrimmage of two-a-days," Crompton said. "Erik’s ribs are sore so I was going to go in there and get some reps. We were just trying to even out some reps today."

Receiver Jayson Swain, a likely captain this season, was impressed with Crompton.

"Oh man," the senior said. "Crompton’s tough. He’s young, lots of upside. No doubt he’ll be Tennessee’s next great quarterback."

Crompton’s first series with the first team was nearly over before it began. He was sacked and the drive was over after just three plays.

Then, Crompton led UT’s offense on a 12-play, 58-yard drive that stalled at the 6-yard line when UT’s coaches decided to go for it on fourth-and-5.

Crompton completed a 28- and a 15-yard pass to Bret Smith on that drive.

Crompton led another lengthy drive later in the scrimmage among a mix of first- and second-team offensive players.

The drive — which covered 63 yards in 10 plays — resulted in a 13-yard touchdown pass to surging freshman receiver Quintin Hancock.

Crompton also proved to be a threat on the ground. He broke free for several substantial runs. However, the exact gains were impossible to measure because of his non-contact status.

"Every day you get into the offense and you buy into what Coach Cut says, you feel more comfortable," Crompton said, referring to offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe.

Cutcliffe couldn’t be reached for comment after the scrimmage.

Crompton said the speed of the game is slowing down every day. Each of UT’s top quarterbacks spent most of Tuesday evening facing off against UT’s second-team defense when they were with the first team.

As for Ainge, he wasn’t pleased with the offense.

"I thought we made some good plays, but our general demeanor, presence and tempo — that starts with me — wasn’t where it needed to be," Ainge said. "You can make excuses all day, saying guys are tired and hurt, but everybody in the country is tired and hurting right now.

"We’ve got to push through it."

Whether Ainge liked it or not, "tired and hurt" was a factor.

"We probably would have gone live again today on the quarterbacks," Fulmer said. "But we’re pretty banged up and we’re 10 days from the game, so I didn’t think we could do that."