(AP)?A strong performance by Jonathan Crompton in Tennessee?s scrimmage wasn?t enough for him to lock up the starting quarterback job.
?It?s going to be interesting to see as we watch this out and make some final decisions as the week progresses and what coach wants to do in regards to that,? Volunteers offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said. ?I think it?s been the best thing for our football program to keep the competition on.?
Crompton, a senior, was 17 for 31 with 266 yards passing, two touchdowns and an interception. His competition, junior Nick Stephens, finished 9 for 17 with 90 yards and no touchdowns.
Coach Lane Kiffin has said he likes how the competition has forced the two quarterbacks to improve but wants to have a starter chosen at least a week before the Sept. 5 opener against Western Kentucky.
Crompton, who lost the starting job in 2008 after four games only to regain it for the final two games of the 5-7 season, made a few plays on the run.
When an offensive play fell apart, Crompton scrambled and connected with fullback Kevin Cooper on a 46-yard pass. He also found Brandon Warren on a 34-yard pass and Marsalis Teague for a 27-yard play.
?You don?t want to make a bad play worse,? Crompton said. ?If you have to throw it away, throw it away. If you?ve got to run, then go ahead and run. It?s something we pride ourselves on, and I think we?re doing an OK job of that right now.?
That wasn?t the case always. Crompton forced the pass that was picked off by Eric Gordon after the called play fell apart?a mistake reminiscent of his struggles from a year ago. He threw several other potential interceptions that were dropped.
Stephens for a second week appeared to be the victim of more dropped passes by wide receivers than Crompton and had a few solid pass plays erased by penalties.
?I think I had a pretty good day, and I think the week leading up to this I had a pretty good week,? Stephens said. ?It?s their decision, and whatever they chose, everyone has faith in them.?
A few other offensive players made their case for playing time. Warren, who caught a 6-yard scoring strike from Crompton, led all receivers with 67 yards on five catches.
Freshman David Oku finished ahead of other tailbacks with 45 yards rushing on 14 tries. Fellow freshman Bryce Brown had 28 yards on only four carries and a 5-yard touchdown run.
Though Brown has earned plenty of praise from his coaches for his performances in the Vols? scrimmage, he may not be available to play in the season opener. The NCAA is investigating whether money was improperly raised for the Wichita, Kan., native to visit colleges during his sophomore year of high school.
Brown may have to repay the money and sit out a few games this season as punishment.
Kiffin wanted to create a game-day atmosphere for the Vols during the scrimmage to get a better feel for how they will perform during the season.
The Vols went through the exact same pregame schedule that they will keep throughout the season, warmed up to the same music they will use all season, played four quarters and even kicked off at 12:21?game time for Western Kentucky.
Kiffin said he was pleased with how the first half of the scrimmage went but thought the energy of his team dropped off after halftime.
?We?re going to have to work on continuing to finish,? he said. ?I don?t think it was a conditioning issue. I just thought that we had them ready to go the first half and not as good in the second.?
?It?s going to be interesting to see as we watch this out and make some final decisions as the week progresses and what coach wants to do in regards to that,? Volunteers offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said. ?I think it?s been the best thing for our football program to keep the competition on.?
Crompton, a senior, was 17 for 31 with 266 yards passing, two touchdowns and an interception. His competition, junior Nick Stephens, finished 9 for 17 with 90 yards and no touchdowns.
Coach Lane Kiffin has said he likes how the competition has forced the two quarterbacks to improve but wants to have a starter chosen at least a week before the Sept. 5 opener against Western Kentucky.
Crompton, who lost the starting job in 2008 after four games only to regain it for the final two games of the 5-7 season, made a few plays on the run.
When an offensive play fell apart, Crompton scrambled and connected with fullback Kevin Cooper on a 46-yard pass. He also found Brandon Warren on a 34-yard pass and Marsalis Teague for a 27-yard play.
?You don?t want to make a bad play worse,? Crompton said. ?If you have to throw it away, throw it away. If you?ve got to run, then go ahead and run. It?s something we pride ourselves on, and I think we?re doing an OK job of that right now.?
That wasn?t the case always. Crompton forced the pass that was picked off by Eric Gordon after the called play fell apart?a mistake reminiscent of his struggles from a year ago. He threw several other potential interceptions that were dropped.
Stephens for a second week appeared to be the victim of more dropped passes by wide receivers than Crompton and had a few solid pass plays erased by penalties.
?I think I had a pretty good day, and I think the week leading up to this I had a pretty good week,? Stephens said. ?It?s their decision, and whatever they chose, everyone has faith in them.?
A few other offensive players made their case for playing time. Warren, who caught a 6-yard scoring strike from Crompton, led all receivers with 67 yards on five catches.
Freshman David Oku finished ahead of other tailbacks with 45 yards rushing on 14 tries. Fellow freshman Bryce Brown had 28 yards on only four carries and a 5-yard touchdown run.
Though Brown has earned plenty of praise from his coaches for his performances in the Vols? scrimmage, he may not be available to play in the season opener. The NCAA is investigating whether money was improperly raised for the Wichita, Kan., native to visit colleges during his sophomore year of high school.
Brown may have to repay the money and sit out a few games this season as punishment.
Kiffin wanted to create a game-day atmosphere for the Vols during the scrimmage to get a better feel for how they will perform during the season.
The Vols went through the exact same pregame schedule that they will keep throughout the season, warmed up to the same music they will use all season, played four quarters and even kicked off at 12:21?game time for Western Kentucky.
Kiffin said he was pleased with how the first half of the scrimmage went but thought the energy of his team dropped off after halftime.
?We?re going to have to work on continuing to finish,? he said. ?I don?t think it was a conditioning issue. I just thought that we had them ready to go the first half and not as good in the second.?
