One TD, but no interceptions as Crompton works on rhythm

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Tauren Poole is tackled as he falls forward for extra yardage during a scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 16 at Neyland Stadium.

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.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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