Interviews with coaches and players
Tennessee Stat Book
Auburn Tigers
Related Stories
- Report card: Tennessee vs. Auburn
- Adams: No review needed to make QB change
- Defense won't blame offense: 'We're a football team. We're family. We try to find good in people rather than digging in sores'
- Cunningham finally kicks into gear
- Offense squanders great field position
- Auburn's defense rescues offense
AUBURN, Ala. - Murphy's Law applies in football, too.
The story of Tennessee's 2008 season has been monumental mistakes and Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium against No. 15 Auburn was no different.
Give the Vols credit for reducing the number of killer mistakes. But when they made one, it was at the worst possible time with the worst possible result.
On a day when points and even first downs were at a premium, Auburn (4-1, 2-1 SEC) prevailed 14-12 by capitalizing on a gift-wrapped, goof-wrapped touchdown.
Auburn's Jake Ricks recovered a Tennessee fumble in the end zone for a second-quarter touchdown and that turned out to be the winning points.
As a result, UT falls to 1-3 for the first time since 1994. Worse, the Vols open SEC play 0-2 for the first time since 2000.
In all three losses, Tennessee has given up a touchdown on special teams or via a turnover.
"We play as a team, we win as a team and we lose as a team,'' said UT coach Phillip Fulmer. "That was a very disappointing loss.''
Last week in a 30-6 loss to Florida, Tennessee's offense turned over the ball twice inside the Gators' 2-yard line to thwart scoring opportunities.
Saturday, disaster came at the other end of the field.
Tennessee took over at its 5 after an Auburn punt. The Vols had just gotten a pair of Daniel Lincoln field goals to cut the Tigers' lead to 7-6.
With a sell-out crowd of 87,451 roaring, the Vols lined up on first down, Arian Foster in the end zone behind quarterback Jonathan Crompton.
"We'd just been in the huddle,'' said Fulmer. "We talked about all the things we try to teach in practice.
"This was a very safe running play, a handoff you do lots and lots of times. You've just got to take care of the little things.''
Oh, the little things.
Last week Crompton fumbled a handoff attempt to Foster at the goal line when the ball hit blocker Kevin Cooper before it got to Foster.
This time, there was no middle man. Crompton's handoff never got tucked away by Foster and squirted to the grass, just inside the end zone.
Ricks fell on it for the touchdown.
"It was just like one of our drills from practice,'' said Ricks, "except that this time it ended up as a touchdown.''
No one from UT was sure exactly which of the little things went wrong.
"Until I see the film I can't really say,'' Fulmer said. "From what the guys on TV said, Arian didn't quite have his elbow up enough. I don't know.''
Crompton and offensive coordinator Dave Clawson also said they'd have to look at the tape.
At any rate, Auburn led 14-6.
That was enough - barely.
Tennessee's only touchdown came on a second-half drive following Dennis Rogan's interception and 38-yard return to the Auburn 37.
Montario Hardesty scored on a 2-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Down 14-12, the Vols went for the two-point conversion to tie.
Crompton's pass to Gerald Jones was complete - a rarity this day - but Auburn wrestled Jones down short of the goal line.
From that point on, Tennessee had four possessions starting with excellent field position - thanks to a defense playing lights out - but could not punch out a single first down.
"I brought (kicker) Daniel (Lincoln) up at the end of the game,'' said Fulmer, "and said, 'You're going to win this game. Get loose and stay close.' ''
Lincoln never got a shot. The Vols' offense was so anemic it couldn't get him close enough. Those four possessions produced a combined 12 yards.
Chad Cunningham's 10th punt came with 3 minutes to play. Auburn, backed up at its 5, converted one first down with 2:04 on the clock and that was enough to salt away the win.
UT finished with only 191 yards of total offense, managed only nine first downs and went 4-of-16 on third-down conversions.
Crompton was 8-of-23 passing.
"We played a better defensive team today than we played last week, and that's not to take anything away from Florida necessarily,'' Fulmer said.
"We played on the road and we handled ourselves better in a lot of ways, as far as mistakes.
"But that one is enough to get you beat against a good team.''
Auburn has its own offensive issues. The Tigers' only offensive score was an 18-yard touchdown pass from Chris Todd to Robert Dunn in the first quarter.
From that point forward, Auburn got little done and finished with only 226 yards.
"It's hard to imagine two defenses would play like that,'' said Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville. "But we found a way to win.
"That's exactly what you have to do. You have to find a way to win sometimes.''
Sometimes, you find a way to lose. That's been Tennessee's story.
"We're just killing ourselves,'' said center Josh McNeil. "We keep doing the same thing, week in, week out. Huge turnovers, points.''
Someone wondered if the Vols were just snake-bit.
"Snake-bit, maybe,'' said McNeil, "but we keep doing it to ourselves.''
Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276.
Dan Proctor draws Tennessee Football…
Cordarrelle Patterson drafted by the…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 318
DRW writes:
The offense was just dreadful today. At no point in the fourth quarter did I ever have the confidence that Crompton could make a play. If neither backup is better we should go exclusively to the G-Gun. That was pitiful.
revjulian writes:
I don't care what you say. I saw a team play today with as much heart as could be mustered. It's not a heart thing... or a talent thing. I think it is just a comprehension thing. Crompton's guts to run and take hits like that speaks volumes about His heart.... major props to him. I can handle this loss a lot more than the UF.
Now, let's get to comprehending this system and win some games. Not happy, but happier than I would have been last week.
gavol2572 writes:
agree with the first comment
volcycle writes:
Crompton has had 4 games to prove himself. He's proven he can't handle it. Surely someone else can hand of the ball cleanly. This can be blamed on the coaches for not pulling him, but play calling and game plan were fine on this one.
smashmouth98 writes:
I wanted more of the G Gun, especially if they would let Jones throw it a little more. The Defense is bringing 8 men in the box, making it harder to run the ball.
chucker6 writes:
The Auburn defense had little to do with Crompton's poor play, he did that pretty much all by himself. You don't need to look at game films to realize he is a lousy quarterback. The defense didn't make him miss receivers by 10-15 yards overhead or throw into the ground at their feet (or many yards short of their feet). Fulmer is an idiot and worse for his game management. If there was a crime for coaching "gameslaughter", Fulmer would be convicted in a nanosecond.
fredrickb writes:
http://muschampforut.wordpress.com
http://muschampforut.wordpress.com
http://muschampforut.wordpress.com
jcvol#215939 writes:
Anybody hear the Boos I heard today from the Auburn crowd - from all the news reports last week I thought that only happened in Kville??
Guess we need to just "Work like heck"
ESPN radion tonight was talking SEC recruiting ... talking about big name recruits in relation to Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Florida ... NO mention of Tennessee - my how we've fallen, so quick and so hard, maybe it wasn't overnight Phil, but clearly we are now an "also ran"
Gotta love this new offensive power house we've become.
Sheepscape writes:
Hey sir, did you see that Ole Miss beat Florida today?
Wake up dead enders. Wake up.
Volalumnus writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
VOLKING writes:
"We win as a team and we lose as a team." Really Coach...wow...looks as if you got the losing part down. Now can we work on the winning part of it? Or do you need to look at the film first? If you need a moving van to take your stuff back to Winchester...let me know. I know a guy who has a brother who has a truck.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
posivol - afore the other site crashed, I was just going to compliment you as a rare bird still stuck in the good ol' days of 10 years ago.
errr, gas is not .99 and Reagan is not still prez.
And your earthly god Phil has lost his magic.
Be well.
Ironcity writes:
I thought the QB play in 2005 was bad, this makes those guys look like All Americans. Clawson, just an observation, if your QB can't hit the side of a barn on 1st down, its likely he won't be able to throw it in the ocean on 3rd down. We could try a draw or an off tackle or maybe even a sweep once in a while on third and 4. Watching our QB on third down is painful. Lets call some plays that take the pressure off of him and put it on Hardesty, Foster, Jones or Creer and the offensive line.
Sheepscape writes:
Hey Dave Hooker, did Auburn lose recruits today because of the booing?
Why don't folks understand that crappy play contributes more to losing recruits than booing?
rcol110479#253791 writes:
Crompton will probably get "injured" in practice and one of the other quarterbacks will start. That way Fulmer can "save face."
UTME06 writes:
Post game audio is up on utsports. As expected Cromp blames his poor performance on the AUB D, and even hinted that he doesn't have the option to audible... wouldn't that be a disaster.
Fulmer did however say the right thing when the QB question arose, something in the tune of 'if there is someone else better suited to do the job...'
Heres hoping... go vols....
TNVolsFan writes:
Sadly it is time for a change across the board from Fulmer, Chavis to Crompton. Yes the Defense was good today, but if we would have had the lead at the end, TN would have went to the prevent and it would have prevented the win.
It is simply time for a change... Fulmer has done so much for TN, but the way football works like most things in life is what have you done for me lately and clearly TN has failed.
dlobh writes:
Crompton must be playing MUCH better in practice, because if he was this bad any other day but Saturday (and one Monday), surely the coaches wouldn't play him. Throw it 10 yards out of bounds on 3rd and 4? How many times did he throw it several yards away from anybody? Running into the blitz? What did he do well? For the 2nd week in a row, he couldn't execute a handoff with a running back (granted, this one MIGHT not have been his fault). If you're still playing this guy, Fulmer, you're right, you didn't get stupid all of a sudden, you must have always been. Or Stephens and Coleman must be absolutely pathetic.
gavol2572 writes:
interesting, very interesting.
cdonsbach writes:
Crompton sucks.
Let's go with a qb that has more eligibility and more time to improve. Let's build for the future because it's obvious that this season is a bust.
The Crompton era is a failed experiment.
bobbyutvol writes:
Crompton is the worst QB I have seen at TEnnessee in 45 years of following the Vols. Fulmer has lost his mind not trying nick stephens or bj coleman. any other coach in americia would have done that last week. I bet our recruits ( whats left of them ) are saying no way to the Vols now. Sorry but The game has passed FULMER by. time for a change NOW. The defense played one of the best games i have ever seen Congts to the Defense Crompton you and Fulmer suck we have sunk below low going to get worse Fire Fulmer NOW
gavol2572 writes:
could we ever be so lucky?
burntorangeVOLffle writes:
Fulmer did say after they game they would look at all positions (including qb) and if there is someone better thats what they'll do.
I know everyone wants to throw the coaches under the bus but I have a hard time blaming them for this loss when the players make "bonehead mistakes" as Peyton said. You can't tell me that the coaches don't cover this stuff in practice.
We could have been in them game vs FL and won this game. The players need to listen to coaches and focus on not making game losing mistakes like we've had the last two weeks.
budd#207344 writes:
Only two more losses and phil will not make 8 wins and milkey will have to fire him
Go Vols
volsboy1983 writes:
bench him please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.petitiononline.com/Benchhi...
imnotwithphil writes:
What a pathetic excuse for an article. Try to spin this all you want Mike - but this loss had nothing to do with Murphy's Law or "the small things."
This loss had everything to do with a dysfunctional offense that was unable to move the ball 20 yards to set the team up for a game winning field goal... and the had three attempts.
Please spare us the "ball bounced the wrong way" articles or the "perfect storm" articles this year. Our football program is broken. It is time we fix it. And the fix is clear - FIRE FULMER NOW.
RockyTopReign writes:
Although i know Crompton is not playing good we need to share the blame to more of the team. At times he went through his progression and because we do not have(or do not play) recievers that can make seperation you have no where to throw that's why he threw those long hopeless passes. or he would get hit or sacked because of poor line play and missed assignments. Even Peyton can't throw to guys that can't get open and probably couldn't throw off is back with three DL's laying on top of him. I too like the fact JC will take and deliver a hit.
The fumble was Foster's fault once again. tv announcers were wrong watch the tape JC watched the ball in (look at his eyes) and Foster's elbow was low and still coming up when the ball hit it. I do think both JC and Foster should have been pulled at least for a series for that. Even if stephens just gave it to hardesty for three plays. What are we worried about a 3-N-out?!?!
The G-gun won't work without the pass and it was apparant Gerald has no arm. besides who is going to catch it if the only guy who makes plays is at QB. Warren?? oh yeah he's on the bench most of the time.
pammyvol1000 writes:
Foster>Crompton>fumbles.. we are jinxed!!
jively#233064 writes:
As I said last week - Crompton is not a good "gameday" player.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
It is simple. We are doing the best we can with what we have.
With what is leading us to where we are going.
Maybe to Shreveport, maybe not.
We are the bottom dwellers of the SEC.
Period. Thanks Haslam and Thornton.
eduardo writes:
How in the world do you not find someone open on some of those plays. Where was Brandon Warren. Did he even make the trip. This is only going to get worse! Do the right thing coach and step down. Please! Auburn was playing without their best defensive player in Trey Blackmon. His replacement got player of the game! Our best player was the punter! Never a good sign!
gavol2572 writes:
my fellow Vol fan in Ga, you are correct lol
invisiblekid writes:
"It was tough. Tough times come and go," said Crompton, who finished 8-for-23 for a paltry 67 yards. "This is obviously one of the tough times. We're going to get back and correct it, just like we always do here. Get back, watch film and correct it and go from there."
Some men you just can't reach, it's been pretty much tough times all around whenever he takes a snap.
If Stephens doesn't start next week, I am not sure which scenario would be scarier: that Fulmer is so stubborn he sticks with him or that Stephens and Coleman are that much worse than Crompton. Personally, I don't think Crompton did himself any favors with his sideline demeanor either.
OLDVOL writes:
I went to my first game in 1947 as a young boy. My heroes
were,Proctor,Powell,Littleford,Lauricella,Payne,Rechichar, Gordy, Majors, Gordon and others. Went to school in the late 50's. Went through the defeats and ties by Dayton, Chattanooga, Fla St, North Texas and others.Was tear gassed when Chattanooga beat us in 58 I think. Was there for the STOP against LSU in 59. Then saw the rebuilding years with Majors and Fulmer. Today I was totally embarrased watching the game with friends on my new Hi Def TV. I did manage to save on gas and concessions but would trade it all to see our offense make a first down in the 4th quarter.
memphistnvol writes:
WHERE did the post game article with 750+ comments go? It vanished from the site!
BTW, several people on that thread were claiming credit for "Incompetent." Sorry but my daughter came up with that last week during the FLA game.
drone#208075 writes:
Maybe if the Offense wasn't dancing around to the music playing during the timeout, they could have focused on getting the ball away from the end zone. Juking, dancing then fumbling.
spencer1989#206886 writes:
Today I saw a great defensive stand that played with a lot of heart and passion. On the flip side, I saw a pathetic offense (once again). One thing that I thought of is if we had Payton as the head coach (when he retires) then we might once again have an offense that can drive the ball and put points on the board.
memphistnvol writes:
oops I meant InCrompetent.
imnotwithphil writes:
Who recruits the players? Who selects which players will play each game? Who calls the plays? Who establishes team discipline?
MOST OF ALL, who gets paid MILLIONS to do all of the above?
Hint: It ain't the kids. Perhaps you, sir, should stop blaming our 18-21 year olds - and start blaming our 50+ year olds.
Richmondvol writes:
Agree 100%...Muschamp!
yeavols#228407 writes:
Stay the course..no really!..The SEC is begging to keep Fulmer...I agree with the VOLS faithful and my VOL fellow fans...KEEP FULMER!!
stormblast writes:
Losing recruits because of the fans booing is as a pathetic excuse to lose a recruit as I've ever heard of. First of all, I'm glad Nunes won't be coming to UT if he can't take a crowd not showing their displeasure because of poor play and awful...awful coaching. One quarterback with these kinds of emotional issues of booing is bad enough (Vince Young...booooooo!), but there's not enough room in the state of Tennessee for two grown men to whine due to hurt feelings. Surely, it couldn't be the performance of our mighty Vol offense during the Florida game, that made Nunes reconsider. No...couldn't be (alas, alas).
Back to business...time to scrap everything. Bench every starter on offense next week. Might as well start a new. Nick Stevens can't be this bad. He's already thrown the best looking pass this season by any quarterback during the fourth quarter of the UAB game. And BJ Coleman (my Chattanooga Bro) came in afterwards and has proven HE CAN HAND THE BALL TO THE RUNNING BACK!!!
Volalumnus writes:
memphistnvol
I was wondering where it went myself.
Too much for them?
UTTuba writes:
Only thing I can say is that the last time we started this bad was 1994. At least out of that we got Peyton Manning. Maybe theres another sitting on the sideline and we dont know it.
JMP_Vols writes:
Yes sir, you are speaking the truth.
If we can spend three years developing JC and get results like this, I'm positive we can spend a few short weeks and take a look at Stephen/Coleman.
yeavols#228407 writes:
FREDRICK I have championed WIL MUSCHAMP since 2 years ago..He is a GREAT COACH! He's on the sidelines, coaching, moving, and winning...WIL MUSCHAMP!!!! WIL MUSCHAMP!! remember that name!!
TommyJack writes:
Major props to Crompton? Rev., You cannot be serious.
Dark1964 writes:
Too bad she didn't post it.
mediatom writes:
Let me get this straight Fulmer:"the offense only had 1 mistake."
Listening to the tv broadcasters crompton didn't see receivers running open while crompton was throwing the ball 20 yards out of bounds.
As for revjulian, that sounds like something a vandy fan (when they where losing) would say.
gavol2572 writes:
and it looks like there will have to be an injury to find out because Fulmer just seems to refuse to bench Crompton. I'm sorry but I was hoping that Crompton was nicked up a little so he would have to sit out at least one play or series. To my dismay he was back in on the next series.
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.