vols show offensive fireworks at orange and white game

Saturday’s Dish Network Orange and White Game gave Tennessee football fans their first glimpse of what to expect this fall from new offensive coordinator Dave Clawson’s up-tempo attack.

Saturday’s game, won by the White Team 38-16, was the culmination of 14 allotted days of spring football practice. The Vols will open the 2008 season on September 1 at UCLA.

Fans didn’t have to wait that long to get a sneak peak at UT’s new offense as Saturday’s Orange and White Game provided enough big plays and highlight reel moments to at least whet their appetites enough to make it through summer.

Head coach Phillip Fulmer said, although he’d like to have more time to prepare his team for the rigors of the Southeastern Conference, he’s happy with what he saw from the Vols this spring. Fulmer said it’s now up to the players to take it upon themselves to keep working through the summer at getting ready for the season.

“I’d like to have about 30 more days of spring practice,” Fulmer commented. “It’s the best time. Some of the guys are just now starting to understand how to play the game and now it’s over.

“I just told the guys that now Phase 3 starts, summer is so crucial for us, the leadership has got to grow,” Fulmer continued. “We’ve grown some in that area. Finals are coming up, coaches are recruiting and I will be in a fund-raising mode in different places. The leadership has to be there.”

Fulmer said Clawson has hit the ground running in his first few months as the Vols’ top offensive coach. He said Clawson has been impressive with how he’s handled the spotlight that comes with the job.

“I think (he’s handled it) really well,” said Fulmer. “It’s been a process. It hasn’t happened over night and you wouldn’t expect it to. Today was a good indication of what can happen when you operate, protect and throw on time.

“I’d like to have run the football better,” said Fulmer of how the Vols’ offense looked under Clawson in Saturday’s Orange and White Game. “I’d like to have run the ball better. If Arian (Foster) had stayed in the game I think we would have seen some more big runs. I’d like to see us run the football better and have the same efficiency in the passing game.”

Also thrust into the spotlight this spring was junior quarterback Jonathan Crompton, who has served as a backup to graduated starter Erik Ainge for the last two seasons and is expected to be the Vols’ full-time signal caller this coming season.

“I thought he had a good day except for that last ball,” Fulmer stated. “I don’t know what his numbers were but they were outstanding, particularly the first two-thirds of the scrimmage.”

Lamarcus Thompson intercepted an ill-advised Crompton pass on the final play of the game.

“We were actually going to put him back in so as to not end up on that interception, but decided it would have been stupid to get him hurt or something,” Fulmer commented.

Crompton, who finished the day 13-of-20 for 266 yards, three touchdowns and the interception, started the day in high style when he hooked up with sophomore receiver Denarious Moore for a 74-yard touchdown bomb on the opening play from scrimmage to give his White Team an early lead.

The White Team kept pushing the right buttons against the Orange Team, made up of the Vols’ second-team defense, as sophomore tailback Lennon Creer added a first-quarter touchdown run and veteran receiver Josh Briscoe tacked on a first-quarter touchdown catch on a Crompton pass to make it 21-0 in the first quarter.

The Orange Team got on the board with a second quarter Devin Mathis field goal from 30-yards out in the second quarter but the White Team responded with a 17-yard Moore touchdown catch thrown by G-Gun specialist Gerald Jones.

Crompton put an exclamation mark on the exciting first half with another touchdown pass to Bricoe.

The Vols running game was sparked by sophomore talkback Creer who finished the day with 10 carries for 61 yards. Tauren Poole led the way for the Orange Team with 55 yards on 12 carries. Senior running back Arian Foster, the Vols expected starter at the position this fall, spent most of the afternoon on the sideline and only saw action on one series in the first quarter.

Backup quarterback B.J. Coleman had his moments as a signal-caller for the Orange Team, finishing 9-of-13 through the air for 80 yards and a touchdown.

Briscoe and Moore were the leading receivers, as both finished the day with a pair of touchdown catches. Quinton Hancock and Gerald Jones played major roles in the Vols’ revamped offensive attack as well.

Defensively, former Austin-East standout Anthony Anderson and junior linebacker Rico McCoy were the leaders. Anderson, a freshman, finished with four solo stops and four assisted tackles, while McCoy had six solo tackles and one assisted stop.

Defensive end Wes Brown causes havoc in the backfield, finishing with four tackles for loss that combined for a loss of yardage totaling 27 yards. Safeties Demetrice Morley and Eric Berry added to the defensive effort, as each finished with an interception.