Stephens, Lee are surprise starters

Nick Stephens vs. Tyson Lee isn't a quarterback duel anyone would have bet on seeing.

When the 2008 college football season kicked off, Tennessee's Stephens and Mississippi State's Lee were ticketed for mop-up duty if any at all when the two SEC schools met on Oct. 18.

Both, however, will be starting Saturday in Neyland Stadium (7 p.m, pay-per-view) as the Vols (2-4, 0-3 SEC) and Bulldogs (2-4, 1-2) both try to get their seasons back on track.

"They're not having the kind of season they anticipated and neither are we,'' Mississippi State head coach Sylvester Croom said this week.

He was speaking of the Vols and Bulldogs in general. But the sentiment also applies to a pair of quarterbacks who began the season on the bench.

Stephens, a sophomore, has started UT's past two games after Jonathan Crompton struggled in his four starts.

Lee has also started the past two games after Wesley Carroll failed to generate much success.

The Bulldogs were confident enough in Carroll - who started nine games as a freshman in 2007 - to bring him to SEC Media Days last July, a rare distinction for a sophomore.

Lee is a 5-foot-11 junior-college transfer who came to State as a walk-on last spring.

Not that he didn't have credentials: He was first-team NJCAA All-America in 2007 at Itawamba Community College.

Lee earned a scholarship after spring practice and has injected some life into a unit that didn't score in a 3-2 loss to Auburn on Sept. 13.

The Bulldogs were encouraged to score 24 points in a loss to LSU. Lee's second start was a 17-14 upset of Vanderbilt.

"One thing,'' said Croom, "Tyson is very accurate with his passes.''

Lee is completing 63.4 percent of his throws and hasn't been intercepted in his five games. Carroll was picked off six times.

"He's obviously a very bright young man,'' said UT head coach Phillip Fulmer. "He does a nice job of finding a way to make plays, either by throwing the football or creating some time for himself by moving around in the pocket.

"The two or three scramble plays he had against Vanderbilt were crucial to keep drives alive and run the clock.''

Where Lee has played extensively in five of State's six games, Stephens had attempted just two passes before being promoted to starter. Lee has 93 attempts, Stephens 49.

The strong-armed Texan has met with modest success since replacing Crompton. While Stephens is completing only 49 percent of his pass attempts, the coaching staff feels he gives UT a better chance to get the offense out of the doldrums.

He has three TD passes, no interceptions and has been much more accurate than Crompton.

Stephens has also hit five long balls this year, two each in the past two games.

"One thing he doesn't lack is confidence,'' said offensive coordinator Dave Clawson.

"After he hit Denarius (Moore, for a 60-yard bomb at Georgia), he wants to go out there and throw 50 more 50-yard balls.''

Fulmer sees a parallel between Stephens and Lee as providing a spark for two disappointing offenses.

Mississippi State ranks ninth in the SEC in total offense at 300.7 yards per game; Tennessee is 10th at 299.5.

"We were just looking for more consistency,'' Fulmer said. "Nick, much like Lee, has got some moxie about him.

"He throws the ball on time and is doing some nice things that way. Still, in our case, he has a good ways to go to be all we want him to be.''

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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