'Complete' appetizer for Vols

Photo by Saul Young

Tennessee running back Lennon Creer celebrates after scoring against Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday at Neyland Stadium. The Vols celebrated homecoming by crushing the Ragin' Cajuns 59-7, improving to 6-3 for the season.

Photo by Saul Young

Louisiana-Lafayette wide receiver Richie Falgout does down under linebacker Rico McCoy, center, and defensive tackle J.T. Mapu on Saturday at Neyland Stadium. The Vols celebrated homecoming by crushing the Ragin' Cajuns 59-7, improving to 6-3 for the season.

Photo by Saul Young

Louisiana-Lafayette cornerback Scooter Rogers grabs Tennessee wide receiver Denarius Moore by the face mask on Saturday at Neyland Stadium. The Ragin' Cajuns were assessed a 15-yard penalty on the play. The Vols celebrated homecoming by crushing the Ragin' Cajuns 59-7, improving to 6-3 for the season.

A Tennessee homecoming romp over Louisiana-Lafayette? Nothing surprising about that.

But for details, you have to round up some unusual suspects.

Such as: Gerald Jones, Kenny O’Neal, Antonio Reynolds, Antonio Wardlow, Lennon Creer, and Quintin Hancock.

And that’s just guys who scored touchdowns Saturday in a 59-7 rout of the Ragin’ Cajuns at Neyland Stadium before an announced crowd of 96,197.

A crucial November got off to a rousing start as No. 24 Tennessee took care of some non-conference business with impressive efficiency.

“We put a whole game together,’’ said quarterback Erik Ainge, who retired after three quarters with a 49-7 lead.

“We knew this didn’t matter in the conference race but we knew we weren’t going to win the next three games if we didn’t get better.’’

Now the Vols (6-3, 3-2 SEC) can point to the stretch run of Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Kentucky, knowing a sweep puts them in the SEC championship game on Dec. 1.

“We played a complete game today,’’ said UT coach Phillip Fulmer, “but we’ve got a lot bigger fish to fry.’’

UT’s offense scored on seven of eight possessions. Britton Colquitt was called on 10 times, but nine were kickoffs and only one a punt, a ratio Tennessee would take any day.

The Vols rolled up 466 yards of offense and produced two 100-yard rushers in freshman Creer (109 on only seven carries) and Arian Foster (100 on 20).

Ainge was 16-of-23 passing for a season-low 125 yards, with one touchdown pass.

The game plan was tilted heavily toward the run — 39 attempts for a season-high 273 yards — in order to keep ULL’s high-octane rushing attack off the field.

The Ragin’ Cajuns did well on the stat sheet, rushing for 234 of their 364 total yards. It did not translate to the scoreboard, however.

The visitors’ only score, Tyrell Fenroy’s 21-yard run, came on a drive to open the second half and cut into a 24-0 halftime deficit.

“We felt like we could move the ball some and we did,’’ said Louisiana-Lafayette coach Ricky Bustle, “but defensively, we didn’t get any stops.’’

Unlike last week when South Carolina wiped out a 21-0 halftime deficit to force overtime, Tennessee merely resumed the drubbing Saturday.

They scored on all four second-half possessions, the last two after Jonathan Crompton replaced Ainge at quarterback.

The Vols got the rout started in conventional fashion:

Daniel Lincoln’s 24-yard field goal, followed by Foster touchdown runs of 1 and 4 yards for a 17-0 lead.

From there, new faces jumped in the end-zone parade.

Reynolds, a senior defensive end, returned an interception 70 yards for a touchdown to make it 24-0 with 1:50 left in the half.

“He looked like a truck running down the sideline,’’ said Fulmer. “I didn’t think he’d ever get there.’’

After ULL scored to open the second half, Tennessee answered with its third 13-play drive of the game. It ended with Ainge’s 5-yard scoring pass to Hancock to make it 31-7.

Tennessee’s defense then put together a pair of productive series.

First, a three-and-out after which Nevin McKenzie broke through to deflect the punt.

Wardlow snatched the wounded duck at the 20 and went untouched for the score to make it 38-7.

The Cajuns’ next possession also ended poorly. Gambling on fourth-and-3, quarterback Michael Desormeax was sacked for a 6-yard loss, with a 15-yard personal foul tagged on the end of the play.

Tennessee took over at the ULL 36. On the second snap, Creer took a handoff and sped around right end for a 30-yard TD and a 45-7 lead.

Crompton came on to start the fourth quarter and got his most meaningful playing time of the season.

Creer ran 12 yards on a third-and-11 draw to avoid a three-and-out. The drive ended with Crompton heaving a 49-yard touchdown strike to O’Neal.

A Jarod Parrish interception got the ball back for one last UT possession. The last two plays featured Jones, a freshman receiver, taking direct snaps.

He gained 8 yards on the first and then went 13 to the end zone on the second and it was 59-7.

“It was good to see the young players get a chance to play and play so well,’’ Fulmer said.

“That bodes well for the future, certainly.’’

The future is a three-game grind to clinch the SEC East title.

“It’s not the next three,’’ said Fulmer, “it’s the next one.

“That’s the way it has to be.’’

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276.

© 2007, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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