Vols become one of SEC's best passing teams

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Charlie Daniel draws UT vs. Vanderbilt

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee wide receivers coach Frank Wilson has found himself drilling a different lineup of players almost every week.

He's had players missing because of injuries. Others were booted from the team because of discipline issues. Others left on their own accord.

Somehow he's still managed to help turn a depleted receiving corps and an interception-prone quarterback into one of the Southeastern Conference's most formidable passing threats.

"We stayed to the course and continued to work hard and developed as a group as a whole," Wilson said. "Those young guys had to step up at times and make plays and be accountable, and they did."

Through the first four games of the season, Jonathan Crompton had only seven touchdowns compared with eight interceptions and an average 160 yards passing per game.

Since then, Crompton has averaged 245.5 yards per game and thrown 16 touchdowns compared with two interceptions.

The Volunteers (5-5, 2-4 SEC) now rank third in the league in pass offense with an average 226.6 yards by air per game. Their 24 passing touchdowns rank second.

"We all knew we could do it," junior wide receiver Denarius Moore said. "We knew we had all the talent we needed, but we just needed to put it together. We needed guys to get healthy and get on the same page in this new system, and once we did, we got a lot better.

"We just kept sticking with it, and we got better. Now we've just got to keep getting better," he said.

Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson has learned a few lessons from some of Tennessee's previous opponents who focused first on stopping the run. Johnson knows his Commodores (2-9, 0-7) will have to do a lot to stop Crompton and the Vols' passing game too.

"What an improvement," Johnson said. "I would say probably the most improvement of anybody in the conference. That shows he's put in a lot of hard work and did a good job."

Plenty of blame for the early problems was heaped onto Crompton, but coach Lane Kiffin said the wide receivers were just as responsible for the problems, if not more. And the receivers had plenty of reasons to shoulder the blame.

Redshirt sophomores Ahmad Paige and Tyler Maples decided to transfer after Kiffin was hired. Redshirt freshman E.J. Abrams-Ward was dismissed in January for a disciplinary reason. Senior Austin Rogers suffered a season-ending knee injury in the summer.

That was all before the season started.

Since then, juniors Gerald Jones and Moore and senior Quintin Hancock have battled injuries. Junior Brandon Warren was dismissed for conduct problems and freshman Nu'Keese Richardson was booted Monday after being arrested last week on attempted armed robbery charges.

But none of that should serve as an excuse, Wilson said.

"That's the thing that this group has shown: resilience and character," he said. "(There) was a lot of times where we could have pointed a finger or blamed it on chemistry and continuity because one guy would be there and the next week he would not be there, but we didn't."

Having so many guys missing from week to week may have even helped the rest of the receivers, who got more repetition during practice as a result.

"We're still not where we want to be, but we're making strides, and I think we're headed in the right direction," Wilson said.

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