A Crompton Conspiracy: Is The Tennessee QB a Scapegoat?

The word “scapegoat” has been ascribed to many people in history. By definition the word is used to refer somebody who is made to take the blame for others
 
Conspiracy buffs love the word. It’s a part of their everyday vocabulary. They will tell you that JFK’s assassination was the result of a massive government cover-up, a coup de tat if you will, and that Lee Harvey Oswald was nothing more than the fall guy or scapegoat. 
 
Some considered former Enron CEO, Jeffrey Skilling, a scapegoat after the company collapsed earlier this decade. 
 
Yesterday, a local media personality referred to the Crompton situation with the following statement, “He’s built-in excuse for Lane Kiffin.”
 
For someone who has spent real time trying to figure out how in the world Crompton could still be starting at Tennessee, this appeared to me as a definite possibility. As much as I don’t want to believe its true, there is certainly evidence to support the theory.
 
Kiffin is hired and immediately shows all the moxie of a coach who’s got a championship caliber team ready to go after its championship. He calls everyone out and lets the rest of the SEC know that there is a new sheriff in town.
 
Then he watches Crompton practice and he starts to believe. After all, Jonathan Crompton is the Heisman winner of all things practice.
 
He then realizes he’s made a serious mistake during the UCLA game. Yet that mistake becomes a blessing in disguise once all the Big Orange faithful start complaining and saying things like, “same old Crompton.” When they started calling him by his unofficial nickname, “Crapton” there was potentially reason to believe that Kiffin would get a free pass on his inaugural season in Knoxville.
 
His steadfast refusal to open up the quarterback competition Crompton’s eight interceptions in four games is reason enough to suspect something like this.
 
When recruits get wary of Kiffin’s 6-6 or worse record after this season he can say, “Look what I was left with.” Or if the Vols luck-up and somehow win eight games this season he could say, “We had no passing game whatsoever and still finished 8-4, and third in the SEC East.”
 
I personally do not believe this is the case. It is, after all, a conspiracy theory. Tennessee’s new head coach allowing an FCS-caliber QB to continually undermine every effort on offense is not something Vols fans want to hear. I don’t think it’s true, but I can definitely see it. It doesn’t take much faith to believe it for me.
 
What else can we blame it on?
 
Kiffin doesn’t want to lose this team? Does he think that the offense and the locker room will be affected if he sits Crompton? Is Nick Stephens really that bad? Is Crompton really our best chance to win?
 
I’ve pondered all of these questions, and all they have done is breed more questions. So the conspiracy theory is a legitimate thought as far as I’m concerned. No matter how much I disagree with it.
 
I’m not too dumb to realize that Crompton is not the only problem with Tennessee’s passing game. I understand there have been many dropped passes, routes cut off too soon, routes ran completely wrong, tipped passes, and pass protection issues, but Crompton is clearly inept at the position.
 
Gerald Jones and Crompton complain about a lack of chemistry. Whose fault is that? Why are the QB and wide receiver not on the same page? Is there a rift between the two?
 
Who is forcing Crompton to throw the ball 10 yards short of receivers on a weekly basis? Are the routes run so poorly that he overthrows Jones by nearly 15 yards allowing the ball to land in a UCLA safety’s arms?

Before I hijack my own article, making it yet another Crompton bash-fest, I must state that I expect this Tennessee team to finish at .500 this season. The running game and defense alone are enough to ensure that. It would sure make the road a lot easier, however, if the quarterback we are apparently stuck with would just keep his head in the game.

Is there a covert conspiracy? I don't think so. Is there potential for a "crime of opportunity" to present itself? Sure. Lane Kiffin can use his quarterback's lack of ability to sell this program for the near future.

He can use it in recruiting. He can use it when the naysayers in the media begin to make fun of him after all the statements he made before coaching a down at Tennessee. It can be used as an excuse.

Kiffin is a mastermind. An evil genius, if you will. He will use whatever is at his disposal to spin it seven ways from Sunday. That's not a bad thing. The Vols have needed that for a while.

Now the Vols need a quarterback. It's not going to happen this year. With Stephens riding the pine for most of this year and Tyler Bray's true freshman status, it may not happen in 2010 either.  But when it does, the excuses from the struggles of 2009 might indeed become quite handy.