Tennessee-UAB Report Card: Better but Still Room for Improvment

After a much-needed week off to think things over and work out some problems, the Tennessee Volunteers played their home opener against UAB.  The Vols jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but then the offense sputtered for the rest of the first half.  In the second half the Big Orange got back on track and pulled away to win 35-3.

How do their grades look this week?  Let's take a look.

OFFENSE

Rushing

Tennessee ran the ball 41 times for a total of 266 yards.  That is an average of 6.7 yards a carry.  While it was against an inferior opponent, it sure made fans feel better to see Tennessee go back to being able to run the ball better. 

Unfortunately, the offensive line of Tennessee could have done even more, as they outweighed the Blazers by 40 pounds a man.  This weight advantage really wore down the Blazers as the game went along.

Arian Foster led the way with 100 yards, including key runs in the third quarter that paved the way for Montario Hardesty to get into the end zone and make it 21-3.  Lennon Creer came in and played well, carrying the ball eight times for 93 yards and two touchdowns, including one that went for 45 yards that put the game out of reach.

GRADE: B

Passing

Jonathan Crompton was 19 of 31 for 240 yards with a pair of touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.

Right now it looks like Crompton needs to make better decisions throughout the game.  When his primary receiver is open, he delivers a great ball.  However, when he is pressured or has to look for another target, he seems to be off.  His second interception happened because he did not go through his progressions correctly and made a lousy pass.

Crompton also needs to make a quicker decision as to when he needs to run the ball.  A few times during the game I thought he waited too long to try and scramble.  Instead of maybe being able to get a first down with his legs, the defense was all over him and he had nowhere to run.

Crompton's numbers would be a little better if tight end Luke Stocker could have caught a few balls.  Stocker had three key drops, the most significant coming near the end of the first half.  He dropped an easy catch where he could have run in for the score.  Instead, Tennessee came away with no points on the drive.

I understand Stocker will be open more because he is not a real passing threat compared to Brandon Warren, but if we want more production from the tight end, Warren needs to see more snaps.

Meanwhile, the wide receivers were all right.  Lucas Taylor had nine receptions for 132 yards.  Most of those yards came after the catch on short passes where he ran well in space.  Gerald Jones only caught three balls for 39 yards, but two of those were nice catches in the end zone.

GRADE: B-

DEFENSE

Rushing

The only real running threat from the Blazers was their quarterback, Joe Webb.  He was able to run the ball 14 times for 78 yards.  Other than him, the Big Orange were able to stuff the run.

Unfortunately, Webb was able to break way too many tackles.  Tennessee had him stopped for a loss more than once, but Webb was able to break the tackles and get a decent gain.  That does not bode well for the Vols if they expect to stop Tim Tebow next week.

GRADE: C+

Passing

After giving up way too many passes in the fourth quarter against UCLA, Tennessee put the clamps down on Webb in the second half.  For the game, Tennessee allowed only 167 yards through the air and was able to pick off three passes.  One of those interceptions snuffed out UAB's only real scoring threat as Eric Berry picked Webb off at the goal line.

The secondary is playing very opportunistically so far, as they have picked off seven passes in two games.

GRADE: B+

SPECIAL TEAMS

Tennessee only had to punt the ball twice, and the only kicking Daniel Lincoln had to do was for extra points.  Sometimes less is more, as there were no real pressure situations where the kicking game was a factor.

In the return game, UAB punted away from Gerald Jones much of the game as he only returned one punt for six yards.  Nothing big happened on kick returns as well—just one for 27 yards.

GRADE: C

COACHING

It looks like Phil Fulmer is showing a little more fire this season.  During the game he was not just idly clapping: He was out there yelling at the players when they made mistakes.  He showed some fire I was not used to seeing.  Still, too many silly holding and false start penalties killed Tennessee drives.

I think Dave Clawson started to get the hint in the second half.  On Tennessee's third touchdown drive, it was a heavy dose of Arian Foster.  Once they made it 21-3, the Vols had all the momentum and it was over. 

However, I think Clawson has not gone to Foster enough so far.  In the first half, when Tennessee would run on first down and get a minimal gain, Clawson would call a pass play instead of running again to try to make it third and short, which would have made it more manageable for Crompton.

It is tough on a new starting quarterback to keep making plays when he is always facing 3rd-and-8.

GRADE: C

FINAL GPA: 2.63

While not honor roll material, it was much better than their opening game.  However, the Blazers are not the Gators, so the Volunteers are going to have to get things going this week if they want to stop the Gators.