Tennessee Vols Offense Shows Promise in Season-Opening Blowout Victory

Tennessee fans were excited to finally see something yesterday that has been missing for a while. The Vols offense never punted and put up 63 points on an opposing team.

Plenty of my anti-Vol friends were quick to point out, "It's Western Kentucky!" To which my response was, "Remember Wyoming?"

It's that point alone that shows me this team is different. For years Tennessee has played down to its competition. For years the Vols have scraped by against the likes of Memphis, Marshall, Southern Miss, and Northern Illinois.

To see what this team did yesterday after what it went through last season was remarkable.

I'm not so naive that I would predict this Tennessee team to win 10 games. I still think eight wins is probable because of how the schedule plays out. But yesterday was definitely encouraging.

Jonathan Crompton threw for five touchdowns against Western Kentucky after throwing four all season in '08. If you look back at his performance against Kentucky to end the season last year, you will clearly see he started showing improvement then.

Still, there were points yesterday, especially in the nervous first quarter, that a good team would have probably capitalized on. The fumbles and tipped interception would have surely put Tennessee in an early deficit against almost any SEC team. The Vols weathered the storm, however, and settled down to blow the Hilltoppers away.

Another important factor in the game was the freshmen. Bryce Brown ran for over 100 yards, David Oku looked like a junior out there, and Nu'Keese Richardson showed glimpses of what could be a special player.

It was Marsalis Teague that won the rookie of the day award for me, however. Teague made great catches, ran near-perfect routes, and emerged as a potential go-to guy for the time being. He definitely looked the part.

Senior running back Montario Hardesty looked nearly unstoppable. His 160 rushing yards were paved by an unwavering offensive line that was literally moving the line all day long. They got him off the line and out of the backfield, but once there he did pretty much everything himself. He ran over and around defenders all day.

Once again, I know it was Western Kentucky. I know that team ranked 120th out of 120 teams last season. But Wyoming ranked 110th out of 120 in '08. So, once again, I'll take it.

The Vols defense was stout all day, but then again, we fully expected that.

A more accurate reading of how far this team has come will probably be revealed this weekend. UCLA is not very good, but they are better than they were last season. A big win over the Bruins could be a harbinger of big things to come, just as the season-opening loss at Pasadena was in '08.

Scoring 63 points against a bad team might not be very impressive to most, but to those of us who endured an awful '08 and years of playing down to competition, it was just what the doctor ordered.