VOLS' DEFENSE SETS TONE FOR FIRST FULL SCRIMMAGE

Aug. 12, 2006

Coach Fulmer | Coach Chavis | Coach Cutcliffe
| Practice Photos

As expected, the Tennessee defense is progressing far quicker than the offense.

So the Vols had to get creative to open up the scoring during the early stages of UT's first scrimmage of the fall at Neyland Stadium on Saturday.

Backup wide receiver and holder Casey Woods hooked up with kicker James Wilhoit for a 26-yard touchdown pass on a fake field goal for the first of five trips to the end zone for the Vols.

"It's a good thing it was the first scrimmage," head coach Phillip Fulmer said. "We'll learn a lot from this and go from there. I thought there was good effort out there, but there are obviously a lot of things to work on."

The UT defense didn't give any of the Vols' top three quarterbacks much breathing room, pressuring the passers relentlessly all day long and recording seven sacks. Preseason first-team All-SEC defensive tackle Justin Harrell paced the defense with two sacks.

Freshman Jonathan Crompton fared the best for UT in the face of the pressure under center, completing 7-of-13 passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns.

Crompton found Lucas Taylor from 27 yards for his first scoring strike, and the former Parade All-America capped the day's scoring with an 11-yard touchdown toss to LaMarcus Coker during the Vols' two-minute drill.

Starting quarterback Erik Ainge completed 13-of-26 attempts for 120 yards and two interceptions, but the junior showed good mobility and scrambled for a pair of first downs.

Junior quarterback Bo Hardegree threw an interception on his first attempt of the day, but was perfect on his next seven passes to finish 7-for-8 for 92 yards and two touchdowns - including a 50-yard bomb to freshman Quinton Hancock.

"(Crompton) played OK. Bo played OK," Fulmer said. "We have to go watch the tape before we say too much, but they managed the huddle and all three of the quarterbacks (handled their responsibilities) reasonably well."

Sophomore wide receiver Josh Briscoe, trying to earn a spot in the Vols' five-man receiving rotation, hauled in a 20-yard pass from Hardegree for the other UT score.

Senior running back David Yancey, who was recently awarded a scholarship, celebrated by leading the Vols' rushing attack with 66 yards on eight carries.

UT scrimmaged for about two and a half hours under mostly cloudy skies on a relatively cool day at Rocky Top. The Vols reported no major injuries, although five players were held out of the action.

Wide receiver Slick Shelley (abdomen), tailback Montario Hardesty (knee), fullback Cory Anderson (knee), defensive end Jared Hostetter (knee) and center Cameron Mayo (knee) all were nursing injuries on Saturday.

Scoring plays
TD - Woods to Wilhoit 26-yard pass (Wilhoit)
TD - Crompton to Taylor 27-yard pass (Wilhoit)
TD - Hardegree to Hancock 50-yard pass (Lincoln)
TD - Hardegree to Briscoe 20-yard pass (Lincoln)
TD - Crompton to Coker 11-yard pass (Wilhoit)

Rushing Leaders
No.	Player	No.	Yds	TD	Long
43	David Yancey	8	66	0	28
6	Ja.Kouri Williams	8	43	0	18
27	Arian Foster	11	37	0	11

Passing Leaders
No.	Player	Cmp-Att-Int	Yds	TD	Long
10	Erik Ainge	13-26-2	120	0	22
8	Jonathan Crompton	7-13-0	97	2	27
14	Bo Hardegree	7-8-1	92	2	50

Receiving Leaders
No.	Player	No.	Yds	TD	Long
1	Jayson Swain	4	54	0	22
81	Josh Briscoe	3	48	1	20
12	Lucas Taylor	3	37	1	27
22	LaMarcus Coker	3	16	1	11
3	Robert Meachem	3	28	0	15
21	Austin Rogers	2	25	0	16
86	Brad Cottam	2	20	0	16

Defensive Leaders
No.	Player	Solo	Ast	Tot	TFL/Yds	FF	FR/Yds	Int/Yds	PBU	Sks/Yds
4	Jonathan Wade	2	-	2	-	-	-	1(17) 3	-
5	Rico McCoy	3	-	3	-	-	1(0)	-	1	1(-9)
7	Jerod Mayo	2	2	4	-	-	-	-	1	-
91	Robert Ayers	2	-	2	1(-1)	-	-	-	-	-
87	Quintin Hancock	3	-	3	1(-3)	-	-	-	-	-
20	Demetrice Morley	4	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-
39	Ryan Karl	1	-	1	1(-1)	-	-	-	1	-
33	Jonathan Hefney	3	1	4	-	-	-	1(0)	-	-
29	Inquoris Johnson	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	1	-
37	Antonio Gaines	4	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-
94	Wes Brown	4	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-
24	Antoine Stewart	2	-	2	-	-	1(0)	-	-	-
36	Roshaun Fellows	3	1	4	-	-	-	-	-	-
46	Andre Mathis	4	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	1(-5)
38	Antonio Wardlow	2	1	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
92	Justin Harrell	3	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	2(-11)
90	Turk McBride	4	-	4	1(-1)	-	-	-	-	-
89	Antonio Reynolds	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	1(-5)
98	Demonte. Bolden	3	-	3	2(-8)	1	-	-	-	1(-1)
15	Sinclair Cannon	2	-	2	-	-	-	1(0)	1	-
54	Eric Young	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	1(-5)
30	Nick Reveiz	3	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
42	LaMarcus Thompson	1	1	2	1(-1) -	-	-	-	-
68	Matt McGlothlin	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	1(-7)

Punting
No.	Player	No.	Avg.	Long
47	Britton Colquitt	8	43.3	55

Field Goals
No.	Player	Att.	Made	Long
25	James Wilhoit	7	4	42

University of Tennessee Athletics

Related News

Related Videos