Adams: For starters, it's Western Kentucky

The marquee might have read "season opener." But it looked more like a continuation of Tennessee's mock scrimmage a week earlier.

It was all-UT on Saturday in a 63-7 season-opening rout of Western Kentucky. And almost everyone was involved: offense, defense; veterans, freshmen; passers, runners.

Who scored that last touchdown? Was it David Oku or Smokey?

Who got the last sack? Was it Ben Martin or a tuba player?

Senior Montario Hardesty and freshman Bryce Brown each rushed for more than 100 yards. A cheerleader could have gotten 50 the way UT's offensive line was paving the field with Hilltoppers.

This was an everybody-is-a-star day at Neyland Stadium. With that in mind, a group-participation column is appropriate. No matter what I say, you say "But it was Western Kentucky."

Me: UT quarterback Jonathan Crompton threw more touchdowns in one game (5) than he threw all last season (4).

You: But it was Western Kentucky.

Me: I haven't seen UT's offensive line this dominant since it beat Florida in The Swamp in 2001.

You: But it was Western Kentucky.

Me: UT hasn't scored this many points since November of 2000.

You: But it was Western Kentucky.

I could go on and on, but you get my drift. As you can see, there's an advantage and disadvantage to opening a season or era (take a bow, Lane Kiffin) against what might be the worst FBS team in the country. Every dominant performance - and there were plenty of them - must be qualified.

You could take Western Kentucky's ineptitude a step further and suggest that it's one of the worst teams ever to stumble into Neyland Stadium. Certainly, it's one of the worst teams that wasn't from Louisiana.

Remember coach Phillip Fulmer's first season opener as a full-time head coach: 50-0 over Louisiana Tech (and it could have been worse)? Or how about the 70-3 victory over Louisiana-Monroe in 2000? Or the 59-7 pummeling of what was then the school known as Louisiana-Lafayette?

Qualify if you will but don't ignore the score, the yards (657 to 83 for Western Kentucky), or all the smiles on the faces of UT freshmen playing their first game in Neyland Stadium or the veterans playing their first game since the 5-7 debacle of 2008.

This was just what UT needed, particularly on offense. The Vols ranked 115th nationally in total offense last season. That team couldn't have generated 63 points against a team of cardboard cutouts.

The defense was just as dominant. Its physical superiority was matched by its intensity.

The way the Vols were having their way with Western Kentucky's offense, it's a wonder the secondary wasn't nodding off in the third quarter. Yet except for a third-quarter lapse on the Hilltoppers' scoring drive, the defense played as though the game was hanging in the balance on almost every snap.

Kiffin won't settle for less.

For example, take Brown's 34-yard run late in the third quarter. Kiffin celebrated by taking him out of the game.

"I was disappointed in his long run, the way that he finished it," Kiffin said. "We pulled him because he ran out of bounds.

"He didn't finish in the style we play with here. That was disappointing, but he'll learn."

You also learned something about Kiffin. The baby-faced 34-year-old head coach has a killer instinct.

Backup quarterback Nick Stephens didn't enter the game until midway through the fourth quarter with the Vols clinging to a 49-7 lead. His first play was a 27-yard completion to freshman Nu'Keese Richardson.

The play call was the on-the-field equivalent of Kiffin's off-season barbs, jokingly aimed at opposing programs. Remember what he said? He's just worried about UT.

He didn't have much to worry about Saturday.

But it was Western Kentucky.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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