Tennessee Vols Football: Still Dangling That Carrot

I'm generally an pessimistic person. I usually see the glass half-empty rather than half-full. So you can imagine my concern and overall dismay during the first half of the Tennessee-Auburn game on Saturday night.

I was ready to post random insults and various other musings on my facebook at halftime. I didn't do it, but I seriously considered it.

There was even a plan to write a "Sarkisian vs. Kiffin: Did Washington get the better USC assistant?" article in the near future. Can you blame me?

At times the playcalling was atrocious in the first half.

Why didn't Kiffin stick with the Nu'Gun for more than just the first play of the game, which went for 41 yards? Why does the young coach continually stick with a completely inept quarterback who looked awful for much of that half? Why aren't we running the ball more?

All of those questions were placed on the backburner with a good final drive of the first half and a great fourth quarter.

I know, I know. I hate writing articles about finding positives in a loss. I'm ready to write about how great I feel after a win--not how lousy, yet opimistic, I feel after a loss. But it is what it is.

This Tennessee team keeps dangling the carrot out in front of us after SEC losses. In the Florida game it was a great defensive effort and an awesome run game that kept the Vols from being blown into oblivion. Against Auburn it was a very strong effort in the hurry-up, two-minute offense that made an incrompitent (Yes, I know how it's spelled) quarterback look like someone else completely.

Crompton led a near comeback late in the fourth quarter with great plays, crisp throws, and nearly perfect accuracy. If only they could have discovered that in the first half.

There are still many, many things to work on for the Vols. Wide recievers are still dropping balls at an alarming rate. As bad as Crompton was during the first half of the ballgame his receivers made him look even worse by dropping passes when they were actually thrown right to them.

Comparing this loss to the UCLA and Florida losses, Tennessee actually looked much better. The Vols are building upon each effort. If you can't see that then maybe you should look a little closer.

Against UCLA Crompton threw four interceptions. Against Florida his interceptions were down to two. Against Auburn he didn't throw one at all.

In the UCLA game the two-minute offense was awful when the Vols got the ball back with a chance to win. Receivers ran wrong routes, Crompton thew all over the place, and ultimately a pick to solidify the Bruins win.

At Florida the two minute offense resulted in a touchdown via the run. The final hurry-up ended with an interception.

Against Auburn Crompton looked like a completely different quarterback. Zipping passes to his receivers, completing passes downfield, and ultimately accounting for 16 points in the hurry-up offense.

Things are getting better. Slowly but surely this team is putting things together.

Maybe Auburn is rebuilding faster, but Gene Chizik had more to work with on offense than Lane Kiffin did. Of course hiring certified football genius, Gus Malzahn didn't hurt either.

There's still a chance to win some big games this season. A December bowl game is not out of the question yet. A good season for Lane Kiffin in his first year as head coach is not out of reach.

If Kiffin can hone in on that hurry up offense and continue to build Crompton's confidence in the passing game, that carrot that the Vols keep dangling in front of us fans will finally be within reach.