139 yards rushing adds up to improvement

To be completely literal, Tennessee's offense was 139 times better on Saturday night in Neyland Stadium than it was seven days earlier at Georgia.

Facing one of the SEC's most physical teams in Mississippi State, the Vols rose to the challenge and rushed for 139 yards a week after picking up 1 net yard against Georgia.

What's more, they converted third downs with greater frequency, and they provided a clock-killing scoring drive in the fourth quarter exclusively on the ground.

In Tennessee's 34-3 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday - its first SEC win of the season after starting 0-3 - the Vols made a step forward.

How big, though, remains to be seen.

"That team held Vanderbilt to 107 total yards last week," UT coach Phillip Fulmer said. "Our team took a challenge. We went back to a lot more base-type football in the run game. Our guys did a good job."

Especially in the second half.

The Vols (3-4, 1-3 SEC) committed many of the same mistakes in the first 30 minutes Saturday that it did against Georgia last week.

At halftime against State, UT had 119 yards of total offense on 25 plays.

It also produced only two field goals for a 6-3 lead, a product of converting on just two of six third downs in the first half.

But beginning with its first drive of the second half, Tennessee's offense began to pull out of its tailspin.

On third-and-7, quarterback Nick Stephens completed a 12-yard pass to tailback Montario Hardesty.

Later in the drive after Mississippi State stuffed Foster for no gain on third-and-2, Stephens hit Lucas Taylor for 9 yards to extend the drive.

Once more on third-and-10, Stephens, who completed 10 of 20 passes for 136 yards and no interceptions, found Austin Rogers for a 20-yard gain.

Two plays later, Hardesty dove across the goal line and gave UT a 13-3 lead that all but put the game out of reach.

"We found ways to stay on the field," offensive coordinator Dave Clawson said. "Not just that drive, but other drives. Those are the downs we've not been good at. Nick really has kind of got a cool head in there. We emphasized third downs a lot this week."

Coaches also emphasized being physical up front in the run game as well.

After losing senior guard Anthony Parker in the first quarter (as well as receiver Gerald Jones) to a high-ankle sprain, UT's offensive line managed to pave the way for 139 yards rushing, UT's most productive output since rolling up 266 yards on the ground against UAB on Sept. 13.

Despite lackluster totals the last two weeks, Clawson said the Vols must rely on the ground game from here on out.

"We have to be able to run the football," he said. "We have a veteran offensive line. We have three good tailbacks. We have a bunch of tight ends. We have a fullback that's playing well. Our running has to set up our throwing."

And the offensive line has to do its job in both, something junior Jacques McClendon said the Vols did on Saturday.

"As an offensive line, we've been called out," said McClendon, who began the game on the bench in favor of Vladimir Richard. "We knew we had to come out tonight and make a statement. I think we made that statement, but we definitely still can improve. We definitely took a step in the direction we want to go."

Same goes for UT's tailbacks, namely Lennon Creer, who finished with a team-high 68 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown.

UT's final scoring drive went 53 yards on 12 plays - and every time the ball went to Creer.

It was the kind of plodding, clock-melting drive the Vols haven't had in some time.

"It felt real good, especially after last week," Clawson said. "We worked real hard on running the football. I thought it was going to be a real challenge."

It won't get easier this week.

Tennessee hosts No. 2 Alabama, which entered Saturday's games with the No. 2 rushing defense in the nation and the SEC's 10th best total defense.

And for all the progress made Saturday, the Vols know they've got to make even more in another week's time. Asked what the next step is for Tennessee's offense as it prepares for the Crimson Tide, Clawson skipped right past improvement to the end result.

"We need to beat Alabama," he said. "Coach (Nick) Saban is obviously known to be a great defensive coach. They've got great coaches and great players, so it's going to be a really good challenge.

"Hopefully we can build off of what we did today and get better towards next week."