University of Tennessee Athletics
Hardesty, Brown Lead Vols Over Ohio, 34-23
September 26, 2009 | Football
Sept. 26, 2009
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin knows his Volunteers are going to have to develop a passing game to succeed in the Southeastern Conference.
That's why he let his interception-prone quarterback take to the air against the eighth-best pass defense in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The gamble worked as Jonathan Crompton threw for two touchdowns and Tennessee beat Ohio 34-23 Saturday night.
"I think you saw a different game plan _ you saw us try to throw it around," Kiffin said. "I think we threw it 28 times in the first half, and then we kind of went back to what we do and threw it eight times in the second half.
"We've got a long ways to go," he said.
Crompton threw a 26-yard screen pass to Bryce Brown to give the Vols (2-2) a 31-20 lead with 2:38 in the third quarter and lobbed a 3-yard scoring strike to Brandon Warren at the end of the first.
The Vols relied on their stable of tough running backs in their first three games to protect the unsteady passing game with mixed results. Against the Bobcats, Tennessee rushed for 177 yards while Crompton completed 17 of 34 passes for 222 yards.
Most of those passing yards came in the first half. At halftime, the Vols already had 173 yards by air and only 45 on the ground.
By the end of the game, Montario Hardesty had run 20 times for 140 yards and an 11-yard touchdown and had increased his career total to 1,531 yards rushing.
Brown added 56 yards rushing and caught two passes for 60 yards, including a 34-yard catch on the second play of the game.
"I thought maybe they might want to work on their passing game ... they may want to try to get up on us quick to put the game away early," Ohio coach Frank Solich said.
Ohio (2-2) has a habit of playing bigger programs close. Even though rain earlier in the day kept the attendance at Neyland Stadium down, the 95,535 in attendance made up the second-largest crowd in Ohio's history.
The Bobcats kept Tennessee uncomfortable by taking advantage of mistakes and passing for 319 yards against a Vols defense that entered the game allowing an average 88.33 yards by air per game.
Crompton threw his eighth interception of the season to Noah Keller, who returned it 10 yards to the Tennessee 30. Theo Scott connected with LaVon Brazill on a 2-yard touchdown pass four plays later, giving the Bobcats a 14-7 lead with 7:08 in the first quarter.
"We wanted to pressure Jonathan Crompton to throw and make some bad throws," Keller said. "We had some chances to get more plays than what we did, but we never capitalized on them."
Scott finished 30 for 52. Brazill had 92 yards on eight catches, and Taylor Price added 90 yards on four catches.
Chris Garrett took advantage of the Vols' poor special teams coverage and returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.
Tennessee, which entered the game ranked fifth in total defense in the FBS, held the Bobcats to only 21 yards rushing on 17 carries. Chris Walker picked off Scott's pass at the Ohio 7 and returned it for a touchdown.
"I saw (the tight end) drifting a little bit and coming alive, and I knew something was up," Walker said. "The ball came right to me, and I caught it and knew what to do with it."
Tennessee will have a tough time regrouping before facing Auburn at home next week because of a laundry list of injuries, especially on defense. Kiffin said starting middle linebacker Nick Reveiz was likely lost for the season after taking a hard hit on his right knee.
Linebacker LaMarcus Thompson sat out with a sore back, linebacker Herman Lathers suffered a concussion, Walker left with a sore back and defensive end Wes Brown never played as he rested his sore knees.
"We're pretty beat up over there, but we've got to get better," Kiffin said. "We've got to improve our depth."
