University of Tennessee Athletics
Offense Progresses Heading into Final Spring Week
April 12, 2008 | Football
Sophomore sensation Gerald Jones caught one touchdown pass and returned a blocked punt for another score as Tennessee???s offense made strides during a Saturday scrimmage at Neyland Stadium.
???Early in the scrimmage, we managed the clock well and made a couple of plays,??? head coach Phillip Fulmer said. ???(The offense) was better. I thought overall Jonathan (Crompton) had a good day; a really good day.
Crompton finished 17-of-22 for 146 yards, with a lone interception to redshirt freshman Anthony Anderson on the afternoon???s first series. But Fulmer said his junior signal-caller managed the offense well.
???I thought we got exactly out of the scrimmage what we wanted,??? Fulmer said. ???It was a long, extended scrimmage with some live work against the quarterbacks. There obviously was a priority on protection and we did a good job with that.???
Jones caught seven passes for 55 yards, including a leaping grab of a Nick Stephens toss for a 19-yard touchdown. His other score came after Denarius Moore blocked a punt and Jones was able to scoop it in stride and coast the remaining 25 yards.
Tennessee tailbacks Lennon Creer, Tauren Poole and Arian Foster also were impressive, combining for 130 rushing yards on 34 attempts.
???I thought we had a good day at running back,??? Fulmer said. ???Arian obviously is a weapon in a lot of ways. We???re still limiting his reps. It was good to see Lennon make a couple of plays for us, getting the ball down the field and taking care of the ball. I thought Tauren Poole had his best day as a running back at Tennessee. I think he???s going to be very good.???
Sophomore linebacker Savion Frazier paced the defense with 13 tackles, including two for lost yardage. Derrick Furlow added 13 stops from the secondary, while Rico McCoy chipped in seven tackles to go with a nifty interception and 53-yard return.
???I thought the defense, again, got its hands on too many balls,??? Fulmer said. ???It was a heck of a play by Rico. He made an outstanding break on the slant from what I saw.???
Defensive end Robert Ayers also drew notice from the head coach, as did all the defensive ends.
???I think Robert Ayers, Ben (Martin) and Wes Brown -- those three guys will give us a better speed dimension coming off the edge than we have had in a couple of years.
Two practice dates and the Dish Network Orange and White Game are all that remain of the 2008 spring season. The Vols coaching staff displayed the likely look for next weekend???s finale by working the first-team units against the second teams throughout Saturday afternoon???s affair.
???We???re going to make sure we get the most out of what we need next weekend. Even though it???s the spring game, we want to get a quality day out of it.
???If we continue to make progress and continue to give the effort we are trying to give on the field right now, then we will have a chance to be a good football team.
| Tennessee Scrimmage Stats for April 12, 2008 | |
| Rushing Leaders | ??(Att.-Yds.-TD) |
| Lennon Creer | 10-47-1 |
| Tauren Poole | 17-45-0 |
| Arian Foster | 7-38-0 |
| Reece Lovell | 1-30-1 |
| Jonathan Crompton | 7-19-2 |
| Passing Leaders?? | (Att.-Comp.-Int.-Yds.-TD) |
| Jonathan Crompton | 22-17-1-146-0 |
| Nick Stephens | 15-10-0-69-2 |
| B.J. Coleman | 19-7-1-41-0 |
| Barry Cunningham | 3-2-1-12-0 |
| Receiving Leaders | ??(No.-Yds.-TD) |
| Gerald Jones | 7-55-1 |
| Quintin Hancock | 7-41-1 |
| Kevin Cooper | 3-32-0 |
| Luke Stocker | 4-29-0 |
| Ahmad Paige | 3-26-0 |
| Arian Foster | 2-23-0 |
| Tauren Poole | 2-14-0 |
| Lennon Creer | 1-13-0 |
| Denarius Moore | 2-11-0 |
| Defensive Leaders | |
| Savion Frazier | 13 tackles, 2 TFL (-5) |
| Derrick Furlow | 13 tackles, 2 TFL (-5), PBU |
| Nick Reveiz | 8 tackles |
| Ellix Wilson | 8 tackles |
| Rico McCoy | 7 tackles, interception (53 yards) |
| Art Evans | 7 tackles, PBU |
| Ben Martin | 5 tackles, 2 sacks (-4) |
| Dan Williams | 5 tackles, sack (-3), TFL (-1), PBU |
| Robert Ayers | 4 tackles, 2 sacks (12), TFL (-2) |
| Wes Brown | 4 tackles, 2 sacks (-12) |
| Anthony Anderson | 4 tackles, interception (21 yards) |
| Dennis Rogan | 4 tackles, PBU |
| DeAngelo Willingham | 4 tackles, TFL (-2) |
| Daryl Vereen | 4 tackles, TFL (-1) |
| LaMarcus Thompson | 3 tackles, PBU |
| Demonte Bolden | 3 tackles, PBU |
| Eric Berry | 3 tackles |
| Vince Faison | 3 tackles |
| Donald Langley | 3 tackles, TFL (-3) |
| Jake Storey | 3 tackles |
| Punts | |
| Chad Cunningham | 6 punts, 40 yd avg |
| Field Goals | |
| Daniel Lincoln | Made: 38, 38, 39, 26, 42 |
| Missed: 39 | |
| Devin Mathis | Made: 38, 37, 31, 34, 39, 36 |
| Missed: 38, 38, 31, 43 | |
| Offensive Starters: OT Chris Scott and Ramon Foster, OG Vladimir Richard and Jacques McClendon, C Anthony Parker, WR Gerald Jones and Josh Briscoe, QB Jonathan Crompton, RB Arian Foster, FB Kevin Cooper, TE Luke Stocker. | |
| Defensive Starters: DE Robert Ayers and Wes Brown, DT Demonte??? Bolden and Dan Williams, LB Rico McCoy, Ellix Wilson and Adam Myers-White, CB DeAngelo Willingham and Dennis Rogan, FS Demetrice Morley, SS Eric Berry. | |
| Scoring Plays | |
| Jones 19 pass from Stephens | |
| Hancock 6 pass from Stephens | |
| Creer 4 run | |
| Lovell 30 run | |
| Crompton 1 run | |
| Jones 25 blocked punt return | |
| Crompton 1 run | |
