All games are created equal. No one of the 12 in a college football season is supposed to outweigh another in significance.
You live week by week. And, in Tennessee's case in 2009, you wake up on Nov. 29 and total up the Ws and the Ls.
That's the theory.
But back in April or July - or last week - didn't you look at the schedule, mentally circle UCLA on Sept. 12 and think: That's a big one?
For a new coaching regime trying to restore a UT program that has lost its mojo, a visit from UCLA shaped up as a litmus test.
The Vols were obviously going to maul Western Kentucky. The Vols were obviously going to be overmatched against a No. 1-ranked Florida with a burr under its saddle.
But could the Vols handle UCLA, a program on similar rebuilding footing, a decent team but one with clear limitations?
If they could, the ensuing confidence and momentum should survive whatever misfortune happens in The Swamp and carry into the trials of October and beyond.
If they couldn't?
Well, after a 19-15 loss to the Bruins, that has become Lane Kiffin's agenda.
The Vols stopped 1 yard short in their attempted game-winning rally against UCLA. Now Kiffin and his team have to keep that yard from expanding into something bigger.
Adversity is inevitable. The reaction to it makes all the difference.
Kiffin hoped his players spent a Saturday night with a barf bag.
"You should have felt sick, where you were barely able to sleep last night,'' he said on his Sunday TV show. "That's the people we want to be around.
"I know that's how our staff was. I got a bunch of calls from coaches that came back to the office last night instead of going home, that were watching the film because they were so sick.''
Kiffin needed a handful of Tums to review Tennessee's offensive failures.
A mere 208 yards gained. Four turnovers, three of them Jonathan Crompton interceptions on consecutive possessions. A 4-of-16 conversion rate on third down.
A line that couldn't protect the quarterback or consistently open holes for the running game.
"We're embarrassed by the way we performed,'' he said. "Especially on offense.''
He wasn't feeling so hot about the coaching, either.
"A lot of attention will be focused on (Crompton) and he'll get a lot of criticism,'' said Kiffin.
"But the criticism needs to go on us as a staff because we need to do a better job of calling better plays for him.''
Kiffin, for example, second-guessed himself for trying to pound the last two plays up the middle at the goal line when a toss-sweep to the perimeter might have worked.
He doesn't, however, seem to be second-guessing himself for sticking with Crompton instead of giving backup Nick Stephens a shot.
Crompton flunked his litmus test against a better-than-average UCLA defense. So, ultimately, did UT's offensive line, banged up or not.
More better-than-average defenses await, not to mention a couple of great ones.
To put Saturday in further context, while Tennessee was reverting to the dysfunction of 2008, future opponents Auburn, Georgia and South Carolina were finding their offensive stride to varying degrees.
So exactly how do the Vols handle this adversity so early in the season?
As for quarterback, Kiffin can only play the cards he was dealt and try to play them with enough craft to stay at the table. A reminder to the pro-Stephens faction: Two coaching staffs have independently judged Crompton to be the better option.
The players' challenge is to be humbled yet remain united in a common vision. The coaches' mission is to play to their personnel's strengths, mask its weaknesses and keep the players believing in the big picture.
The distance separating the Vols from where they want to be is only a yard. A bad day surely awaits in Gainesville but the story of this season has yet to be written.
But if they don't handle adversity, that yard could grow into a chasm too wide to cross.
Mike Strange may be reached at strangem@knoxnews.com or 865-342-6276.
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Comments » 109
woodcutter writes:
Since the Florida game will be a slaughter, might as well leave Crompton as QB for another week, then give Stephens a shot for the next three weeks.
stayingorange writes:
ESPN is reporting that Kevin Prince has a fractured jaw and will miss 3-4 weeks after the safety Saturday. UT may not have beaten them but they may be contributing to some losses in the next few weeks
GC23Vol writes:
The players need to keep their head on straight and learn to move on while keeping in mind what they have learned from their previous mistakes.
I still believe they are going to have a few tricks up their sleeves and are going to come out with a few surprises...
Maybe not next against Florida, but I do think it will be closer than most people will believe.
vol_chaz writes:
Vols move up to #3 in national recruiting, and #1 in the SEC.. write about that. It takes a mile and a half to turn a battleship around.. this is no different..
AllVol1 writes:
Maybe Cromptone really is better than Stevens in a game. However, if we do not play him in a game, we will never know. We heard the same phooey last year: Crompton looks so confident in practice. He also looked really great against WKU--another practice. In a real game, he buckles again and again and again. Enough, give the future senior QB some real game reps.
tnmantravel#531151 writes:
LETS ALL WELCOME BACK BAD CROMPTON.....THE FLORIDA GAME WILL BE UGLY FOR JONATHAN
NoSirRee writes:
In my opinion, Kiffin's only mistake was to beat WKU by so many points and I can live with that. It got everyone all worked up (including the media) about what we were capable of doing this year. This year is a coach's FIRST rebuilding year. To have a winning season would be an accomplishment. In the long run, no one is going to remember if we went to a liberty bowl, a chick-fil-a bowl or no bowl. We're restocking some bare shelves and will compete seriously in a year or two. Everybody knows if you can recruit then you win. Just relax and enjoy watching all the other SEC teams squirm after bitter losses that actually mean something
10cvalleyvol writes:
If Crompton can overcome and somehow gain the confidence he needs to be a quarterback at this level we still have an uphill battle to win against Florida anyway. He is the largest piece of the re building as he has to lead our offense. I am sure the coaches are dealing with a kid with a mental blackout when it comes to a stressful situation. Every game tests his ability to act under pressure. So far he hasn't shown anybody he is capable of handling the pressure and use the physical talent that he possesses. We are talking mental toughness under fire, and keeping a clear cool mind. I am not sure that is something a coach can help cure. In High school he may have had an edge on his competition, but he is playing against more gifted atheletes and on a much bigger stage. May be too big for the young man. A smaller college might have been a better choice. I hope the light turns on for him soon or else his days as QB at Tennessee are going to be over in a couple weeks. If not, he has had his opportunity. Give Stevens a shot. It can't get much worse......really.
Bruins868 writes:
What a fine example of sportsmanship, taking joy in the fact that a young man has been badly injured. You're a real piece of work, stayingorange.
VOLKING writes:
CLK says the staff is to blame for not calling better plays for Crompton. If Crompton actually could throw it to the guys in orange, those would be great plays. He gets so panicky, he throws it right to the defender. Every team is going to crowd the line of scrimmage and make Crompton beat them with his arm. They'll blitz and he'll panic. For you Stephens' fans, remember we put him in last year and he was just as bad....if not worse. This is going to be a long year, but I believe that CLK will have us back in the championship race in 2011. We need a QB (got one already) and some huge O-linemen. With the great recruits we are already getting and our staff, we will be back. Just not this year.
Star16Volunteer writes:
TEAGUE FOR QUARTERBACK!!!
andy112382#209793 writes:
Nice article, we will know a lot more about this team once the Auburn and Georgia games roll around and are played, awesome recruiting going on, so the future should be a bright one, though, some growing pains at least to start this season.
GO VOLS!!!
silicon28 writes:
You're absolutely right. Sorry any UCLA fans had to read something this embarrassing. Not all Vol fans are this way.
RockinTop writes:
"A reminder to the pro-Stephens faction: Two coaching staffs have independently judged Crompton to be the better option."
A reminder to the pro-Crompton faction: Some of those coaching staffs no longer are employed at UT. Check the stats. There are better options.
For those with "hope" for the FL game....the only hope is that our defense prevents them from scoring more than 50 points. FL's defense will likely score too. Crompton stares down recievers....UCLA's DB's said so! Think the Gators know this?
Crompton will throw at least 5 interceptions. That is, if he is allowed to throw.
Again I say, I would rather lose with Stephens or Lamaison so they get more experience. I have officially resigned to the fact that we are rebuildng and it's going to be a long tough season as a Vol fan, especially since CLK is bent on keeping Crompton in. That's the only thing I will blame him for.... Not that CLK didn't take care of him. Please, THAT makes me sick.
Go Big Orange.
dbc5361 writes:
Tennessee is only a 28.5 point underdog for Florida!
notoriousBIGorange writes:
Oh yeah...Prince got JACKED UP!!!!
dbc5361 writes:
Typical Meathead Vol post...
We might have lost but that was a great hit!!
Or
Yes!, Just signed an ESPN 100 recruit!
or
We're gonna beat UCLA 45-10!
or
I hope Eric Berry knocks up my daughter!
VolWoman writes:
Two coaching staffs did make that decision. The difference is we've seen how bad they were in Clawson's offense but we've only seen Crompton in Kiffin's. I'd like to see how Stevens would do under this offense. Kiffin himself said we have two quarterbacks capable of running it. It doesn't seem that Jon can, so I'd like to see Stevens try. He may be just as bad but we really don't know that.
kb7398#233189 writes:
LOL at Kiffin being around in 2011, but if he still is there's not going to be a championship played for unless you mean the Tennessee State Championship after beating UT-Martin and Vandy...
panavol writes:
Second guessing is easy...If we could have scored a TD on that drive at the goal line everybody would be calling CLK the geatest coach! After the Western KY game we tought we could beat anybody...UCLA was a more adequate measuring stick for our coaches to determine where we are and what needs to be done. Don't forget that CLK is also learning and we all learn by making mistakes. A QB change has to be made and I'm sure that will be determined after the coaches discuss the situation but Crompton is still a member of the volunteer family and no Vol deserves to be booed and treated the way this young man has been treated by our fans. There is probably nobody commenting on this board that could do a better job, much less, even make the team.
CLK never promised to go undefeated the first year and we will lose some games during the rebuilding years and beyond.
We have a great defense and they deserve some praise the way they played and so do a lot of other players. Be patient and support your team like a true volunteer and stop the destructive comments because it will only destroy the morale of the whole team. Players and future recruits read these comments too!
Win or loose I'm a VOL and always will be!
GO VOLS!
watchdog writes:
Re: "But could the Vols handle UCLA, a program on similar rebuilding footing, a decent team but one with clear limitations?"
There's more of a similarity between the 2009 Vols and 2008 Bruins.
Last year, Craft was the starter and Neuheisel was in his first year at UCLA. Craft threw four first half picks, but still managed to move enough against soft coverage to win the game - 9 of 19 on 3rd down will attest to that. This year, UCLA started a freshman: Neuheisel's recruit Kevin Prince, pried away from Washington.
This year, Crompton is (for now at the least) the starter and Kiffin is in his first year at Tennessee. Crompton threw three picks against the Bruins, but Tennessee still did enough on the ground to have a chance to win the game despite UCLA's D loading the box because they knew the passing game was nonexistent. Next year, Kiffin will have Tyler Bray, who switched his commitment to Tennessee from SDSU.
UCLA stuck with Craft all year last year, by the way. He threw 7 TDs and 20 picks. I really feel bad for them that Prince is going to be out a while with his jaw wired shut. We should understand as well as anyone why they were probably excited to be starting their freshman QB.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Is there any truth to the rumor that the Fla band has been practicing "El Deguello"?
someofmybestfriendsarevolsfans writes:
Rivals has UT #7 with LSU, UA and UF ranked higher. Scout has UT ranked #10 with UA, LSU UF and UGA ranked higher.
wags32 writes:
That is exactly what needs to happen. Good point!
Ironcity writes:
Who cares we play Florida this week.
USNAVol writes:
Bruins868....I could not agree with you more. The injury to Prince was unfortunate and not the intended result of the defense playing against him. I would like to think the "stayingorange" comment was simply thoughtless rather than malicious. In any event, the Bruins were clearly the more physical team on Saturday and only appropriate reaction for us is that 'we've got to get better'. I'm not happy about the Vols' performance, or by losing to UCLA two years in a row, but fair minded fans should concede that the Bruins deserve to be congratulated for their playing ability and mental toughness in a very difficult environment. Good luck for the rest of the season and great job ruining my Saturday !
txvolsfan writes:
Scout has the Vols number 3 if you look at it.
On the home page of their website they only have 18 commits. Inside they have it updated with 21 commits and number 3
kazoo writes:
Joey Matthews was a much better QB than Crompton. Crompon has no feel or instincts for playing QB--he doesn't know how to improvize, doesn't make quick decisions. All he can do is sit in the pocket, lock on one receiver--and then throw an errant pass.
bigtimevol writes:
The problem with winning 63-7 against a junior high team is that everyone translates that execution over to the balance of the games, and projects us to be a 10-2, 9-3 team, beating GA, some predicting to beat FL. We have a LONG ways to go. But, if we can get minimal execution at QB, I still think we win 7.
RTB writes:
A good column by Mike Strange with lots of good points included in it. But for one more yard on the last play, Tennessee could have come out on top, and the mojo would have been very different this week. But CLK's point about the coaching staff's offensive play calling is a big key point -- that's the one where he said (he) should call more plays that Crompton and the team can actually execute successfully.
ChattMac writes:
I agree Bruin, and why would we want UCLA to lose. Heck I hope they go undefeated because then we'll know it wasn't such a bad loss after all. Last year the loss was bad enough, but then to see UCLA get slaughtered by BYU made it even more telling and more confidence shattering. But hey..it does show what it is like to play in the SEC..Georgia loses to OSU and then what happened to OSU??? They were tired and beat up from playing Georgia. SEC teams deal with it every week. Everybody comes to play..everybody will hit you in the jaw..Week in and week out..The other conferences like to say the SEC is down..No..it's better than ever..there is so much parity that most teams end up going .500. You play Florida one week..and Georgia the next and then say Mississippi state..You may beat one and then barely beat the celler dweller and it makes you look bad..You thought u were going to have a week off, but no... Mississippi State hits you in the Jaw and beats you to a pulp. The media has a field day talking about how bad u played against a "bad team". Your ranking suffers.. etc..I can't help but feel bad for that 2004 Auburn team...Nobody should go undefeated in the SEC and not get to play for the big prize..A season is this season..the loss to USC at home the year before cost them that opportunity..That was plain wrong..They made up for it by giving LSU the shot with 2 losses in 2007. I would have liked to have seen USC and Auburn for the 2004 NC.
CrankE writes:
On the field it may look like just one yard. But when I look at the whole game, it's clear that there's still a very long way to go. By the performance on the field and the result, you wouldn't know we had a coaching change last year.
drone#208075 writes:
I'm beginning to wonder what money is behind Crompton starting.
shoelessvol#236864 writes:
We might as well get used to the fact that Crompton is going to be the QB this year for most in not all the significant playing time. What needs to be done is as CLK said we need to do a better job of calling plays that Crompton is comfortable in running. We need to get the "playmakers" the ball and let them win games for us. I think we have enough of those, Hardesty,Brown,Oku,Moore, Richardson,and Teague. Get them the ball!On the goal line play, I might have faked into the middle and rolled to the wide side with an option pass to the fullback or run by Crompton. UCLA was stacking the box and we would have probably had only one player to beat. Defense is good enough for us to still compete on a winning level.
ChattMac writes:
We have no QB..CLK is playing for the long-run by instituting his offense. We could probably use our great stable of running backs and run the T or the Wishbone and win more games than we will without a QB to run his style of offense. But that's high school stuff where ur stuck with what you get and make the best of it. In college and the NFL you can recruit for your style of play. But that still doesn't mean we can't run a little option so we can win some games. The defense is too good to blow it for us. But we can't be giving the other team the ball in field goal range and we can't leave our defense out on an island like we have. Imagine how dominant they'd be if we had any of our past QB's of this decade. Sad we didn't have such a great defense back then...We relied on our offense to out score the opposition...Man so many games where we just need to finish a couple of drives to win. We are like Bama in the early 90's..Put your best players on defense and wait for the other team to screw up. That is probably our best bet for the near future. If you can keep the other team from scoring and not give them any turnovers, even if that means u go 3 and out a lot. At least at the end of the day u have a chance to win..
RunningWithTheVols writes:
If we are going to stick with Crompton then we need to "max protect" on obvious passing downs and become a superior draw-screen team. Our OL cannot dominate even average DL's so we are going to need to out-scheme.
Decision-making and execution under fire are Crompton's two critical flaws that we need to work with as it is too late to fix.
RockinTop writes:
Glad to see we have an area of agreement this thread. I agree precisely and You're especially spot on with the point that sticking with JC too long is a mistake for our recruiting.
In other news....
"Delhomme threw four interceptions and lost a fumble in less than three quarters Sunday against Philadelphia. With the Eagles leading 38-10, coach John Fox replaced him with Josh McCown, leading to a loud cheer from the Carolina crowd. Delhomme was 7 of 17 for 73 yards. His fumble was returned for a touchdown.Delhomme threw five interceptions and lost a fumble in Carolina's 33-13 playoff loss to Arizona in January."(STATS, Inc.)
Replacing a QB for poor performance....what a novel idea.
Go Big Orange.
TommyJack writes:
Probably. But remember what happened to the Mezzgans.
cpa writes:
To me what happened is just another indication of the appalling condition of the UT program when Fulmer left. There is very little depth at certain key positions and other than Berry, who on the team would have been heavily recruited by the current staff? While walk ons provide inspirational stories, having a large number should make you wonder why they are making the team and are they really all SEC caliber players? We need to give Kiffin and his staff a chance to recruit and develop a team that will be a top level SEC team again and fans should visibly and vocally support our team for the rest of the home games.
cmoore7 writes:
I understand that two coaching staffs chose Crompton as the best option, but one coaching staff(Cutcliffe) chose to take over one of the worst programs(Duke) in the history of D1 football rather than coach him. Also, I'm growing weary of wathcing the same guy struggle. I would be fine to watch Nick Lamaison struggle because I know that improvements will come from the struggles, not so much with Crompton.
TommyJack writes:
Too true, bean counter. Especially the last sentence.
brentrod writes:
Two years in a rew without a bowl game. We haven't been that bad since the 70's. What a disaster. I hope that we have a functional quarterback next year or it will be 3 years in a row without a bowl game. What's bad is that it is very easy to make a bowl game these days.
OrangePride writes:
I have looked at the replay of this game twice becuase the differences between week one and week two seemed so incomprehensible. Last year, Crompton was a disaster, no doubt. But I felt that the real problem last year was as much the offensive line as opposed to just simply bad quarterbacking. Guess what? I still think that line is a HUGE part of the problem. There were very few times when the pass protection was even adequate. The best runs were toss sweeps (don't get me started on why that wasn't tried on the goal line) or counter plays. Frankly, Hardesty got many of his yards on his own. Crompton made some horrible throwing decisions; missed wide open receivers, threw 3 (4) interceptions and didn't see a wide open receiver for a TD. Yep......agreed. BUT....if we plan to play and win against better teams, we better also find a way to help this offensive line or it won't matter who is at QB. GO VOLS.
cpa writes:
Well, it will be rough if there are as many South Carolina and Georgia fans at games as there were Bama fans last year. I was really proud of students and fans for cheering loudly until end of game Saturday. Students started a cheer in support of Crompton.
doubledown writes:
Why don't we just forfeit the Florida game so nobody gets hurt?
Vol_in_Mich writes:
Wishbone, triple option, anything that doesn't require a good quarterback till we get one.
PennVol writes:
I thought we should've pulled Crompton after the first play of the 3Q was a pick. Everybody lost all confidence in our passing game after that play and we ran the rest of the game. I'd rather be 2-0 with a QB controversy than 1-1 with no idea what to expect from Crompton at Florida (although I'm not saying we would've won with Stephens but it was worth trying him). These coaches and captains gotta have their hands full getting the rest of the team to have confidence in Crompton after Saturday. He's a fifth year Sr and missing easy throws and focusing on one receiver. I know he's had multiple offensive coordinators but I don't see him becoming an SEC caliber QB.
golfballs03 writes:
The players want Nick Stephens
KENVOL writes:
Couldn't agree more. If we cannot throw the ball lets use our speed and run the ball in an option offense.
volaholic45 writes:
Three Inconvenient Truths, and One Pleasant One:
1. Crompton is probably the best wrong answer available at QB this year, the truest answer being "none of the above."
2. Coach Kif and staff must be given huge props for the recruiting so far, but were unable to bring in immediate hope and change at the QB position. The QB position is simply a liability this year, and nothing will change that.
3. The formula for beating Tennessee is clear to everyone - shut down the run and make the QB beat you with his arm (and head). Meanwhile, TN will be trying to minimize the QB role. We can only hope that the coaching staff will do that with a little more creativity and success than was displayed in our final down and goal situation against UCLA.
4. The TN defense is good enough to set us up to win even with mediocre to poor offensive performance. They almost pulled it off Saturday. UCLA was very lucky on a couple of fumbles that could have easily lost the game for them. This defense will put up a few scores this season, too. They could possibly outscore the offense in a game this year.
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