Tennessee took a prime-time approach for its second full scrimmage of fall practice.
To prepare for their 8 p.m. nationally televised opener on Sept. 1 at UCLA, the Vols scrimmaged Saturday night under the lights at Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee’s offense used the opportunity to shine.
A week after UT’s first-team offense struggled to move the ball against the first-team defense, the Vols were much more efficient.
And it all started with quarterback Jonathan Crompton.
“He got in a little bit of a rhythm,” first-year offensive coordinator Dave Clawson said. “Every time he plays, he plays faster.”
On Saturday night, Crompton played better, too.
Last week, he threw a pair of interceptions inside the 20-yard line.
This week, he guided the offense on a 71-yard touchdown drive in 10 plays, capped by his 8-yard touchdown pass to Gerald Jones, who led receivers with six catches for 82 yards.
“On that one touchdown pass, I thought he really knifed it in there well,” Clawson said. “Every time we practice a play, every time we get a rep, I think we get better at it. I thought he came out tonight and looked sharp.”
Crompton completed 12 of his 18 passes for 101 yards with one touchdown.
Perhaps most impressive, though, was he completed his first scrimmage since spring practice without throwing an interception.
“We eliminated some (mistakes) but we made some more,” Crompton said. “Nothing’s ever perfect. That’s why we’ve got to keep striving to be excellent.”
All told, the first-team offense did not turn the ball over at all Saturday night, after two interceptions and a fumble last week.
Tailback Lennon Creer fumbled — after a big hit, however — but did so while working with the second team.
Overall, Tennessee’s running game performed well Saturday, too, bolstered by Arian Foster’s first full scrimmage of preseason camp.
Foster, who missed last week’s scrimmage and several practices with a sore right knee, rushed three times for 18 yards and caught two passes for 24 yards.
The senior needs just 684 yards to become Tennessee’s all-time leading rusher. He also needed a little full-contact work to get himself ready.
“You’d always like to get all the work you can, but you’ve got to be smart about it,” said Foster, who was on the field for about 10 plays. “You don’t want to go out there and bang all the time. I’m just going to do what the coaches tell me to do.”
Heading into Saturday’s scrimmage, UT’s coaches wanted to run the ball more — and run it more effectively — than last week.
“We went at this scrimmage with a concerted effort to run it,” Clawson said. “We told the players before we’re going to try and run it a little bit more and we’re going to take more of a hard-hat approach.”
Creer rushed nine times for 70 yards, while Tauren Poole carried 14 times for 38 yards. Montario Hardesty was effective at times as well, and Clawson was pleased with the way his backs were able to make defenders miss.
“(Defensive coordinator John) Chavis does a great job of defending the run,” Clawson said. “There are times when guys aren’t going to be blocked. That’s where running backs have to make a play. I thought Arian did a nice job on that first drive of doing that. And I thought all the backs did a nice job of making guys miss.”
That cuts both ways in a scrimmage, though.
Chavis was displeased with the way his team tackled and felt like the group gave up too many big plays.
“I thought we had good effort, but I’m really disappointed in the way we tackled,” Chavis said. “I expect us to tackle better. That’s an area we’ve got to improve. We gave up some plays we can’t afford to give up.”
Defensively, though, true freshman Prentiss Wagner was a bright spot as a reserve safety. Wagner finished with four tackles, including one for a loss, and a 27-yard return of an interception thrown by Nick Stephens.
Newcomer Gerald Williams, working mostly at middle linebacker, led the defense with seven tackles, including a tackle for loss and a sack.
Tennessee has one full scrimmage remaining Thursday, and UT coach Phillip Fulmer hopes his team continues to improve.
“Are we SEC ready or are we ready for a game like UCLA?” Fulmer said. “This’ll be a great film study for us.”
Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.
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Comments » 84
mdvol writes:
I wont say it!!
orangecountry21 writes:
1st to say 1st!!
coaltrain1300 writes:
dad burned it im claiming third. short of never leaving the computer i'll never be first. ok now time to go up and read the story!
burntorangeVOLffle writes:
I guess they just wanted to run something but this wasn't too informative.
coaltrain1300 writes:
yeah no kidding. volquest dont have anything either. results from scrimmages are getting as bad as waiting on season to start. sounds like arian did good while he was in though!
andy112382#209793 writes:
1st to ask if there is some prize or something I don't know about for being 1st to comment!?!?
Anywho, can't wait for the details, glad to see a lack of breaking news on injuries, etc. Always good to have a solid scrimmage with no injuries. Can't wait for kickoff! Not a soul that doesn't bleed orange paying a bit of attention to our Vols, and I must say I love it! We're gonna suprise some folks, good year on Ol' Rocky Top coming soon!
GO VOLS!!!
jack_2222#231746 writes:
Informative article on urbie meyer and his recruits at SI.com in the college football section.
Five UCLA players have suffered concussions during fall practice. They hitting that much out there?
coaltrain1300 writes:
U
Can
Lose
Against UT
do they know helmets are required or acceptible during fall practice?
vol1994 writes:
jack 222- anything informative regarding SI article?
Yeah, I heard an interview with UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel and says all the right things.
I was very surprised with he and his team's confidence level as he said they are looking forward to playing UT and they have been thinking about this game since he was hired as coach.
Said they will surprise many people this year and he feels they have a strong gameplan to make UT one dimensional.
Kinda surprises me but I guess PAC 10 really wants a shot at any SEC team. Hope our Vols are not too confident.
mdvol writes:
Is it 3 carries for 18 yards for Foster or 6 carries? The headline says one thing and the article says another. I'm just glad to see him out there. 12 yards a catch is solid.
Russell writes:
That Urban Meyer artical was crazy. What a bunch of criminal tool bags.
UT4ME writes:
For a game that starts at 5 PM Pacific Coast Time, I doubt they will have to turn the lights on during the game unless there is bad weather...then again, ESPN will probably milk this game for as much $$$ as possible, with maximum TV timeouts and a long half-time. If the game is still going on past 8:30 PM on the West Coast, I'd say we're stuck in a high scoring shootout (not likely) or stuck in overtime (anything is possible).
I hope the coaches are stressing how badly we played in last year's opener, especially on special teams and w/respect to turnovers. Cal let that win get in their head...and fell out of both polls when UCLA whipped them, leaving them both 5-2 at the time, while UT was 4-3. We CANNOT assume a win due to some back-up quarterback or OL injuries...NEITHER Olson or Cowan played great last year, so who knows, we might be facing an upgrade at the QB position, and their defense played very well last season...laying 1 egg against Utah (we laid several, FWIW). Other than that, they shut down some pretty good offenses. Forget their record! Cal fell apart after starting 5-1, too. Doesn't mean anything for this game or this season. A quick score or two, a turnover, a major injury for us...and suddenly we're playing from behind against a VERY good defense.
All that being said, I hope we whip them on national television...followed up by stomping UAB and chomping the gators...with an avalanche of recruits committing starting September 14! Go Vols!
vol1994 writes:
goo post ut4me. My main concern is we come out flat and have to play from behind. Their QB situation make me more nervous now because we do not know what to expect. Coach Rick Neuheisel
said they had complete confidence in their starter as he can run the ball and beat Oregon last year (or came close to beating oregon) and played well in two other games he played.
We have to get a quick start and shut THEM DOWN defensively and special teams so Crompton does not feel pressured.
If we get behind then..........
Oenoboy writes:
Posted by jack_2222 on August 16, 2008 at 10:08 p.m.
Informative article on urbie meyer and his recruits at SI.com in the college football section.
____________________
I can't find that article on SI. Can someone send a link?
1manningfan writes:
dont be worried fellows this game is in the bag, have some self respect for the team. Im not even worried about UCLA, its Florida who we need to be preping up for. These two first games are tune-up games. Its very crucial that we find some chemistry on offense in the first two games some were mentally prepared for SEC play. Thats when it all counts, some of you are looking into this UCLA game way to much.
P.S. I WILL GIVE IT MY ALL FOR TENNESSEE TODAY!!! GO VOLS!!!
burntorangeVOLffle writes:
The Tennessean was a little more informative
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.d...
Sounds like Crompton and Foster are going to be a dynamic duo in the back field this year.
TrueVolFan writes:
Does anyone have any info on Marlon Walls, Fr LB. Is he cleared accademicly?
orangebloodgmc writes:
Thank you burntorange for that link. KNS, you let the Tennessean beat you? What's the hold-up? You studying Warren's paperwork or something?
copan07#220906 writes:
I just read the more informative article from the Tennessean. The secondary is seems to have depth beyond belief.
Bigger_Al writes:
Check out the pics on the other thread. Looks like Coach has lost a bunch of weight and is looking pretty good.
Betcha he could body slam Jerkin'...
andy112382#209793 writes:
Bigger_Al - I noticed that too, was wondering if I just hadn't paid much attention to that recently or not, or if he really had lost weight here recently.
burntorangeVOLffle writes:
Fulmer probably exercises more than 99% of the people that make Krispy Kreme jokes about him.
I notice they updated the article but didn’t really add much information. What’s going on?
MrBamSeydu writes:
This whole "1st" thing is getting old. If you really want to be the first to comment..... then make a comment!!!??? Simply saying "1st" really doesn't do anything.
Oh well.
caskew#218608 writes:
I'll second that brad summey.
caskew#218608 writes:
25th!!!!!!
gobigorange writes:
Chavis was displeased with the way his team tackled and felt like the group gave up too many big plays.
No matter how many points we score, we wont be a championship caliber team until we learn how to wrap up the ball carrier and quit arm-tackling.
orangecountry21 writes:
Is it just me, or does Arian look larger then he was? Not muscles though.
iowavol writes:
I was thinking the exact same thing UT4ME, start time of 5PM and KNS equates 8PM EDT start with using the lights - go figure. RE: our start against CAL last year was more about confidence than it was ability. Specifically, the offenses confidence. I just don't think it was there and it showed. Our defense played well enough to win considering how we kept giving them MO. Take away the two non defensive scores and it's a differnt ball game. Take away the four or five drops by the recievers and its a different ball game. THat may be why the focus by everyone on the turnovers. Especially in college FB, there is not better way to turn MO to the other team than a TO when a drive is needed.
Cherokee writes:
"Montario Hardesty was effective at times as well..."
Could we be a little more specific? Did he carry the ball? How many times? How many yards? Any catches?
Did Nick Stephens do anything besides the interception? Did B.J. Coleman take a snap? Any info on any of our receivers other than Gerald Jones?
This report doesn't give us a whole lot.
xvolx writes:
A Chavis defense that cant tackle. what else is new. Cal. last year. Missed 22 tackles. Also Fla., Ala., Ky., SC., Vandy. His defense has never tackled good.
invisiblekid writes:
mdvol: 3 carries for 18 yards, 2 catches for 24 yards for Foster.
rccheek#205272 writes:
xvolx, you are right on the money. Chavis doesn't teach tackling technique. Every year it's the same song. "We've got to improve our tackling." How about starting on that in the Spring? WRAP 'EM UP.
xvolx writes:
back at you rccheek. every year is the same old thing. the lb coach, dl coach, db coach are suppose to teach tackling. chavis is suppose to hold coaches responsible. sounds like the good ol boy club is off and running.
gohawks1 writes:
burntorangeVOLffle (11:20 p.m.) has a good link to an article with more information. Check it out.
Things covered in that article not found here: blocked punt, a scuffle between Rico and Vlad, stats on punter Chad Cunningham and Daniel Lincoln.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Truevolfan 11:21 - Tom Lemming (What does he know) said he didn't believe Walls could qualify.
We'll soon see.
xvolx writes:
I agree DCfla. better keep his mouth shut and show up to play. Im a vol. fan, but tebow is a real player and a good kid. cant pull against a kid that puts God first in their life.
richvol writes:
Gerald Williams sounds like he is going to be a monster and this Prentiss Waggner kid came out of nowhere.
Williams has had virtually zero time with us and can't possibly know all the schemes, yet makes eight tackles, a sack and includes a tackle for loss! I'm sure Elix Wilson is good but we need to let this young man play.
dvols writes:
Anybody know what ucla'a defense was ranked last year.
was it #9 ?
invisiblekid writes:
DCFL, 9:13, let me explain the defensive tackle M.O. at UT to you: Bolden runs his mouth, Williams and Fisher do the work. Hope he proves me wrong, but, after 3 years, I'll believe it when I see it on the field.
dvols writes:
thanks, that should be enough to give the vols offense some good work! nobody is worried about ucla's offense with good reason but then i would like to see the offense have to 'open up the new play book' a liitle more than they probably want to.
Go4Two writes:
DC
Do you think Percy H. will be ready for the season opener. Seems like this injury is really dragging out.
VOLS85 writes:
Richt will rue that decision for a long long time. I'm just glad that we play georgia before UF does, because UF is going to put the hurt on. I wouldn't want georgia pissed off when they play us. We'll just go down to athens and do what we have done time and time again...
Ralph_Crampton writes:
The talk among Vol fans is scary...sounds just like the chatter before the Cal game last year. They may have forgotten that the Cal., team biltzed us in first two or three minutes with two quick scores. Vols appeared to be flat, stunned, or scared? We were forced to play catch-up the entire game. The bitter pill was that Cal turned out to be less than a medicore team the remainder of the year.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Gen W, they've quit doing the wave?
Who knew?
Bt the way, Dupree just drove by on his Moped, trailing a half-roll of toilet paper.
gohawks1 writes:
Kingsport, you headed out on the Love Boat, brother? Take Dupree with you if he can get some time off from K-Mart. Get that boy an appointment with a french masseuse, and he won't even be able to straddle that moped seat for a week.
utwick writes:
Anyone think it odd that under scrimmage stats, Warren was the only tight end listed? Even if by miracle he is cleared to play, I think we should try to get the other guys some much needed experience. On the other hand, will we actually throw to a TE in Clawson's offense?
RJ_Vol writes:
OK. I've been watching the Olympics like there is no tomorrow - swimming, marathon, soccer, basketball, etc. I'm a bit out of the loop. So, please forgive me if I missed some news...Are G. Williams and Warren cleared to play? If not, what is the hold-up?
TommyJack writes:
General Melon: Kingsport made see blue hues and get a runny nose on Bruise Cruise.
gohawks1 writes:
utwick - Clawson will throw the ball to anybody if they show themselves to be a playmaker. What's the holdup on Warren, anyway? Do they intend to make a decision before the season gets rolling or not? Anybody know?
utwick writes:
IPO, that's great if he does (throw the ball), but I thought I remember reading that if Warren was not cleared by Friday (this past Friday I thought), that they would move to plan B.
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