Will it be trick or treat for Vols?

KNOXVILLE — A year from now, Monte Kiffin will get the exact response he wants.

The Tennessee defensive coordinator has made clear he'll be around to hear it. But in the meantime, Kiffin is content to plug in his system and the memories he wants the Vols to have on a weekly basis.

Even without the whole package or total recall, UT is already giving opponents fits and turning the end zone into a ghost town. So if the Vols hadn't already given Kiffin enough reason to stick around for a while, the chance to keep measuring improvement starting Saturday against No. 21 South Carolina (TV: ESPN, 7:45 p.m.) might push it over the top.

"I'm excited every week for the next week because we're getting a little bit better and we're getting a little more of the system," Kiffin said. "It's, 'Hey, we got it now,' or 'We can do this or that.' That's what you want, and we need to really finish out strong and next year will be awesome.

"We'll have a lot of players back, and it'll be, 'Remember this?' The players will say, 'Oh yeah, I got it coach.' This year it's, 'I don't remember that, coach,' and it's because we haven't done it yet."

The Vols (3-4, 1-3 SEC) might not be completely through the transition period with new schemes and a new coaching staff, but with another test coming from the Gamecocks (6-2, 3-2), the defense has looked like a finished product lately.

UT hasn't allowed an offensive touchdown in more than eight quarters and has rarely even been threatened in the red zone. It's shut down two of the best receivers in the country, held a Heisman Trophy-caliber running back to 99 yards with a fumble, and in all fourth quarters combined this season the Vols have allowed just one touchdown.

About the only thing they haven't been able to do yet is regularly pressure the quarterback or come up with interceptions, but since they're not giving up much more than field goals, it's tough to complain about the process.

"We've had to adjust and stuff, but the guys have been playing hard, you know, and if you play hard it gives you a chance," Kiffin said. "We're still doing a few things this week that are new for the players and everything. Every time you put in something new or put in a new formation that they're going to show us or this or that, there's a lot of adjusting going on.

"I think our staff does a good job - I know they do a great job. Game day I think they do a good job, too. A lot of coaching is what you do on game day, making adjustments, especially with a young defense in a new system."

The system isn't quite so new anymore, and clearly the Vols are catching on.

Extra film sessions have paid off. More attention to detail has helped shore up missed tackles and blown assignments. An emphasis on finishing drills has helped the Vols do the same at the end of games.

The record obviously still isn't where the Vols want it to be, but they're getting the idea of how they might get there. And the coaching staff appears to be finding the right way to bridge the gap.

"Man, I think that credit has to go to our coaches," safety Eric Berry said. "Our defensive coaching staff, they don't ever put it on us if we make a mistake. It's always, 'Maybe I didn't explain that good enough for you guys. Let me put it this way.'

"I think it's just getting that chemistry together with the coaches and the players. I think you could see that on the offensive side, too. It's just getting familiar with the coaches and what they want us to do. From a player's standpoint, I think it's coming as we go along."

There's still further to go, obviously.

But the ride is beginning to get much smoother for the Vols and far more violent for opposing offenses.

"We're gelling, we're learning coach Kiffin's system, and for the most part when you look at our clips, you can see eight, nine, 10 guys in a little clip running to the ball," defensive tackle Dan Williams said. "It's just like when we're playing (early), everybody might not get the call, somebody might miss an assignment, so we're just making sure we're eliminating mistakes.

"For the last two games, we didn't have that many mistakes and everybody's been on the same page."

The Vols might not know the whole script yet. But Kiffin isn't leaving until he hears all the right lines.