Tennessee Stat Book
From the beginning of his tenure, first-year coordinator Dave Clawson said Tennessee's offense is all about playmakers and putting them in positions to be successful.
Heading into the second game of the season against UAB in Neyland Stadium on Saturday (TV: WVLT, 12:30 p.m.), the Vols have a good idea of who those playmakers are.
Finding an identity on offense, though, is an ongoing process, as it is for many teams this time of year.
Are the Vols a power-running team? Are they an offense that will lean on the passing game? Or are they somewhere in between?
"I really don't know what our bread and butter is right now because we've got a good passing game and good running game," quarterback Jonathan Crompton said. "We can go either way. It varies week to week, depending on the defense we're going to play."
In UT's 27-24 overtime loss to UCLA, the Vols faced a defense that was inexperienced in the secondary and had a pair of veteran defensive tackles, both of whom are considered NFL prospects.
The result was 41 passing attempts for Crompton to 34 running plays, which included six by Crompton. Not all those quarterback runs were designed runs, however.
"I really felt going into the game in order to run the ball we'd have to throw the ball early and loosen them up a little bit," Clawson said. "They gave us looks that you have to be able to throw it, and that's really where the breakdown was. We were getting looks to throw it, and we didn't execute the passing game as efficiently or as effectively as we need to."
By now, it's no secret the Vols missed on 22 of those 41 attempts. They also missed on shots down the field that UT coach Phillip Fulmer and Clawson have said would have opened up UCLA's defense to shorter passes and more running plays.
As it was, though, the Vols still managed 5.2 yards a carry, and tailbacks Arian Foster and Montario Hardesty combined for 162 yards on 25 attempts, or about 6.5 yards a carry.
Clawson said several of those carries came against less-than-ideal looks from UCLA's defense.
"Some of those plays we just let them run because we were doing a nice job up front and we were pushing the pile," Clawson said. "I thought both Arian and Montario were doing a nice job of making the unblocked guy miss.
"Certain defenses are going to take away the run, and they're going to put those guys in the box and you have a choice. You either throw it every down, or you take a hard-hat approach and you still try to knock them off the ball and let the backs try to make a guy miss. In the second half, we took a little bit more of that approach."
To a degree, though, an offense's method of attack is dictated by the looks presented by its opponent.
"It depends on how people try to play you," Fulmer said of trying to establish an identity on offense. "We ran several really good running plays into pressure and backs made safeties miss. It depends on who the safeties are. How are they trying to defend you, and what advantages can you gain? If people do as they (UCLA) did and try to lock up man-to-man, we need to make them pay. If they're going to (back) off and play coverage, you've got to be able to run the ball. That's the same in pro football, that's the same in high school football nowadays, and it's the same in college ball."
That doesn't mean Tennessee's offense won't be aggressive in attacking opponents, Fulmer said.
"We're always trying to be aggressive," Fulmer said. "I do think we take a very aggressive approach typically. We can be aggressive and run it 50 times. We can even throw it 50 times. We try to be as balanced as we can and do what we need to do to win."
And while Tennessee's identity as an offensive football team is still coming into focus, Crompton is confident the Vols can be productive.
"We can be a very powerful offense if we want to be. We got to put our minds to it," Crompton said. "We're trying to get used to what we want to do more, kind of get into our own little rhythm. I think if we get into a rhythm, we're hard to stop. I guess that's any offense in the country, but especially us with the personnel groupings we have.
"If we put our minds to it and get in a rhythm, I think we're hard to stop."
Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.
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Comments » 182
xvolx writes:
why dont we start recruiting bread and butter instead of football players. they all talk like they beat ucla and just played well enough to win. didnt want to run up the score.
yabadabadoo1026 writes:
STFU Crompton with the " we have a good passing game"---how about showing it first and talking it second, OK
MiserableFloridaVol writes:
Pound for Pound, we have the 2nd fattest coaching staff in the country. 2nd only to Kansas. I can see Fulmer and the chief selling Weight Watchers products or being a national spokesman for Krispy Kreme. It could go either way.
britt writes:
Should be Foster between the 20s with Hardesty putting it in. 70/30 run pass% sounds good
CoverOrange writes:
Good article Drew. Keep it up.
andy112382#209793 writes:
UAB is about as good as any opponent to establish a rhythm against, it FAU can get 500+ yds and Tulsa can get 600+ yds, we've got to step it up and show up Saturday. Great tune up for Florida, either to prep us on how bad it will be or how fun of a game it might be.
GO VOLS!!!
KnoxVol_in_TX writes:
I dont expect a greatly imporoved offensive performance. We always play down to our competition. That said, I hope we hang 70 on them.
TrueVolFan writes:
Sounds to me like we need to find that rhythm. We know our backs CAN get the job done, now lets just get Jon settled down and in a rhythm and have a good practice Saturday to get ready for Florida. Go Vols!
yabadabadoo1026 writes:
as bad as JC needs as much work as he can get without a green jersey, clawson better find a way to determine during this game who his stillllllllll underdetermined #2 is--Fla is goin to be bringing heat to knock JC out of the game I'd think
99gator writes:
"I really don't know what our bread and butter is right now because we've got a good passing game and good running game," quarterback Jonathan Crompton said.
is this kid serious?
jonathan let me tell you what you've got. you've got less than 50% completion percentage and a negative touchdown to interception ratio.
you've also got 0-1.
who lets this guy near anybody with a tape recorder or pad and paper?
what you need to do is have a coke and a smile and shut the heck up and do something on the field first.
honestly, you want to keep the kid upbeat and confident and i get that.
just don't run your mouth when your newspaper has a column about 9 three and outs out of 15 possessions.
99gator writes:
also....
if fulmer was "angry", i would have to believe that crompton would not have made a statement like that.
just can't believe he would have.
yabadabadoo1026 writes:
lol--you beat me to it gator---he needs to have a gag order put on him like the other freshman who arent allowed to give interviews--you can only shake you head at everything coming out of his mouth lately--remember he said after the debacle 'we played good" to obviously set the bar real low-----do your talkin on the field JC howbout it cause you lookin like an idiot with your comments to media
hcjournals#206623 writes:
Chomp.......Chomp.........Chomp...............See you next Saturday, 99.
Hehehehehehehehehehe..........
If must kill ya'll to know we know we can beat you. Even with the start this year.........................Good luck..........
law_vol writes:
The quotes in that article are ridiculous. "It varies week to week depending on who we are going to play" & "we can be a very powerful offense when we want to be" - what in the hell is he talking about? We've played one game, he played like phooey, and he is acting like our offense is just peachy. How about this, maybe you can want to play well the rest of the season for us, since that is all it takes. I guess national coverage wasn't a good enough motivator for you to want to be powerful and make a statement to the entire country. And now the coaches are back to the CYA approach saying that UCLA's retarded awesome defense was dictating the pass heavy play calling. I don't usually get too fired up on the boards, but this article makes my arse twitch.
DemocratVol writes:
Ingredients for a UT head football coach:
- 1 cup of Stay the course.
- 10 teaspoons of Work like heck.
- 6 dashes of Prevent defense.
- Mix in 106000 suckers that pay to see your team underperform at home.
- Add poor recuiting to taste.
- Let simmer for 15 years.
Yields 2.4 million dollars per year
bluetickhound writes:
What is anyone acutally saying in this article??? Holy phooey this is frustrating. I mean, I guess it's like they want us to believe that our offense is complex and responsive to the moment and whatnot, but in light of the UCLA game, it just comes across as "we don't know what the heck we're doing... and it's not getting better any time soon." Wow, this is bad.
xvolx writes:
I would have to agree crompton must be an idiot, but he shouldnt get all the blame. the off. line was next to sorry and the rec. ran poor routes. A lot of blame to go around. not to mention clawson's sorry gameplan and top that off with fumble(I'll carry that loaf of bread for you) foster.
xvolx writes:
by the way fla. posters. we the fans can't be touched. If we lose to fla., we expect it. If we win you'll never hear the end of it.
wildberry14 writes:
we have a good passing game? excuse me? i must have missed something. i guess we already played uab and put on 400 yards passing against them. why didnt anyone tell me they rescheduled the game?
PreventUT writes:
"We can be a very powerful offense if we want to be" - JC
Want to be, son! I beg you, want to be!
"You either throw it every down, or you take a hard-hat approach...In the second half, we took a little bit more of that approach" - Clawson
And by "that" you mean run? Oh well, still miles above Chavis' "blown assignment" talk.
PreventUT writes:
Add a "will have" into that passing game sentence and he's fine.
"We [will have] a good passing game and good running game"
Now, go and put your mind to it!!!!
hcjournals#206623 writes:
Chomp.......Chomp.........Chomp...........
I love doing that........
You get on Florida early and you don't let go. We've been there.....We've done that........And when we do it, they don't recover.......
We've only played one game........UAB..........Then..........
Chomp......Chomp.........Chomp.............
I don't care if I'm the only one who thinks so.........
They are having problems..............
Chomp.........
PreventUT writes:
or add ..."in practice" to the end of it.
"we've got a good passing game and good running game...in practice."
Don't worry, JC. I got your back!
MrBamSeydu writes:
blah blah coach talk blah blah more coach talk
how about you just WIN the next 4 games so we can actually be excited about UT football again?
hcjournals#206623 writes:
By the way.....
When we get ahead of Florida, the whole stadium starts doing the Gator chomp......It's great......They are our biggest rival........They have the upper hand........We lead in the series.......They hate hearing that. They call that ancient histrory. I call it........leading the series........They didn't really have a program of note before 1990.......Who are they to try to take our thunder. We don't need to look past UAB........But...Just for a moment picture Neyland Stadium. 108,000 people.......Most of them doing the chomp before the game to the Jaws theme..........You know what I'm talking about.......Pretty intimidating......To have us chomping them with more people than they have in the whole Swamp.......They wish they could have 108,000 people to watch the Gators.......Why don't they? Ever thought about that? You would think that if they had the demand for 108,000 people to want to see them play......They would move heaven and Earth to make it happen, wouldn't you? But it hasn't happened........We need to take back what is ours.......We need to start our own winning streak................This year......Now..........We need to have the best crowd we have had since we beat them in 1998. I was there. Were you? Did you watch it on TV? Did we as the fans do our part? When we are on, there is no place on earth louder than Neyland. The stadium goes straight up. The sound is contained.....This is our legacy.........This is the part of the game we can control....
We can't coach.....or play (anymore)
But we can sure as heck affect the game. We can throw them off. We can inspire our team. We can make them make mistakes..........And when we do.....The team will respond..........We have the best homefield advantage that exists on the face of the earth.............It's time to use it.
Someone said our band plays Rocky Top 30 times when we are on a roll. Seems like two or 3. 100,000 plus singing a song at one time.....Any song for that matter....But it's not any song........It's our song.......
It's Rocky Top.......
We are........Rocky Top.....
Half bear, the other half cat.......
Ain't no smoggy smoke........
I still think about that.........
See you there......I'll be the one who is going to help us win.............
Thanks for coming out.......
yabadabadoo1026 writes:
hc, what are you mixin that koolaid with ?
PreventUT writes:
The best crowd was in 2004. And it's hard to picture Neyland with 108,000 anymore since the stadium no longer holds it.
I, too, hate hearing the series talk. It sounds too much like Alabama. But I'm with you on creating a new winning streak.
PreventUT writes:
Totally off subject, but has anyone ever seen footage of the "Snow Bowl"? Too funny!
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/ent...
VOLKING writes:
Ahhh...we get beat by an inferior team and look like a junior high school team doing it...and we are talking smack about beating Florida. I love UT!!!
ChattVol2485 writes:
DemocratVol...classic. That is hilarious!
Is it too much to ask of the coaches to run the ball 50 times against UAB? I don't care about this spread offense phooey, JC's rag arm, or whatever else they come up with between now and Saturday. I'd just like to see a butt kicking of Big Orange proportions. Run it up!
Pound the rock and go for the throat. Oh! How could I forget? Chavis, grow a pair...quickly.
GO VOLS!!!
rockytop47 writes:
99gator is an idiot. You are right he should have said he sucks and our passing game is horrible. Really why don't you take your uneducated and ignorant gator tail back to Florida and shut up.
ZR writes:
If Tennessee only had a good quarterback and head coach to go with that passing game. Or does "passing game" ring true, as in passing by Tennessee's coach. Tune to wfah for details.
gnm53108 writes:
hcjournals...I dont care what you are puting in your koolaid.
I need some.
djgovols writes:
I have no idea what JC was thinking but the fact he thinks we have a great passing attack / offense after what i saw last week????? I still say lets wait and see what happens the season just got started but dont expect more than 35 to 45 points and 17 or so for UAB we always call off the dogs. If its closer than that then its time to worry folks ! Either way we still should support the TEAM.....
NOLAvol writes:
Yes, Compton, by all means, follow the wisdom being offered here: whenever you encounter failure, whatever else you do, however hard you work to correct the previous week's mistakes... DON'T TAKE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE!
As all these posters are advising you (and possibly proven in their own lives?), success will only come when you constantly repeat to yourself and anyone who will listen, "We su_k!"
C'mon Jon, embrace failure. Success is just an elusive mistress, a flirting tease... but failure will always be there for you, faithful and true to the very end.
Most importantly, remember this: your job is to reflect whatever UT "fans" are feeling after each game--because you "are" their lives. Don't just lose a game, Jon... BE the loser.
PreventUT writes:
That was funny tngeoff. Thanks for that link.
GreerVol22 writes:
Oh, OK. Now I feel better, because now we know who our playmakers are. Whew, glad we figured that one out.
hcjournals#206623 writes:
Chomp........Chommmmmmmmp.....
If you are a real Vol fan, you know the magic that can happen in Neyland. To the poster who said we can't get 108,000 in the stadium........Who do you think you are? We are the Vols. Get out of our way...............
hcjournals#206623 writes:
Wild as a mink, but sweet as soda pop.........
I still think about that...........
hcjournals#206623 writes:
I've had years of cramped up city life
Trapped like a duck in a pen
All I know is it's a pity life
Can't be simple again.........
I still dream about that................
mmhartz writes:
"I really don't know what our bread and butter is right now because we've got a good passing game and good running game," quarterback Jonathan Crompton said. "We can go either way. It varies week to week, depending on the defense we're going to play."
Okay, based on the fact that UCLA's tackles were eating your bread and butter, you should have gone with what worked, i.e. the running game. We averaged over 5 yds/carry, but thought we would try passing some, maybe confuse them. Can't stick with what works. Had to be vanilla so we wouldn't show anything to Florida. Picked up an "L" in the process and made ourselves look like a joke of a team. If you have a balanced attack, play like it.
PreventUT writes:
Uh...that was me HC, and UT won't get 108,000 in that stadium for the Florida game or any other game this year.
"Who do you think you are?" - Don't quite know how to answer that question for ya, buddy.
hcjournals#206623 writes:
I know you are a good fan, but my point is if we have to hang from the light poles, we need to have every person we can get there....................
MustangPackage101 writes:
JC must have been talking about our pass attack against the Mustang Package in practice.... I am fairly confident that 19-41 isn't considered good by any top tier team
MustangPackage101 writes:
I tried to rewatch the game film but failed to get past the fumbled snap on 3rd and 1 on the opening possession
lomas98 writes:
So our offensive identity is based on what looks the defense gives us. I have never understood this comment and it has been used a lot over the years, not just with Clawson. I can't remember really good running teams not running the football because the D had 8 men in the box. If running the ball is what we are good at make the defense stop you instead of them dictating what to do. Nebraska back in the day didn't stop running the ball when people put 9 in the box.
scvols writes:
It is true on what they are saying. UCLA was unstopable once they got into a rhythm. :-(
yeavols#228407 writes:
"I really don't know what our bread and butter is right now because we've got a good passing game and good running game," ....that ended the reading for me..I couldn't finish the article..it's like reading a script from someone who is in denial
PreventUT writes:
st98: what you wrote kinda sounds like a chapter from Chavis' playbook: "Don't let the offense dictate what we do on defense." Does it not work both ways?
UT, like most other teams, can't run for 4 yards every time it's faced with 8 or 9 in the box. If they could, they would do it. No question. But they can't (lots of 3 and outs) so they won't. Instead, they establish the run (pull the defense in) to pass and establish the passing game (back the defense off) to free up the running lanes a bit. That's simplified of course.
I'm pretty tired so tell me what I'm missing here.
VolsorCat writes:
I say hand to Hardesty 20 times, Creer 15 times and Foster 15 times. If UT doesn't have 250 yards rushing this game, they didn't run it effectively. Find the top 5 pass plays and use those intermixed to build confidence. Make them easy pass plays to tight ends across the middle etc. Practice rolling out to get away from pressure. There is a reason the schedule is set up with roughly 3 weeks between UCLA and Florida. Correct the problems and score 50 this weekend, while dismantling UAB defensively.
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