Tennessee tailback Montario Hardesty rushed for 79 yards and wideout Quintin Hancock added 59 receiving yards and a touchdown during the Vols' final full preseason scrimmage Thursday at Neyland Stadium.
It was an afternoon of ones versus twos, although head coach Phillip Fulmer described the action a little less desirably.
"I don't really know quite how to take this scrimmage,"
he said. "We've got a group of guys on the second team that has no idea how to play at this level. They have no idea, and that's very frustrating and very upsetting."
"But they won't see the field in certain spots unless it's absolutely necessary, I can assure you of that."
Hardesty's game was sharp, however. The junior broke numerous tackles on his four rushing attempts, slashing for 31, 24 and then 20 yards before settling for a four-yard gain on his final try.
"I was really proud of Montario,"
Fulmer said. "He came out here to play and some of those second-teamers on defense I was talking about were bouncing off him like Ping-Pong balls. Montario came out here very focused. And I thought Jon Crompton had a nice scrimmage."
"We just weren't nearly as sharp (overall) as we needed to be."
Crompton completed seven of his last eight pass attempts to finish 12-of-23 for 151 yards, with touchdown passes to Gerald Jones and Lucas Taylor. Lennon Creer added a combined 80 yards rushing and receiving, capping his afternoon with a 5-yard touchdown run.
Another big target throughout the day was Hancock, who led the offense with five catches and scored on a 13-yard strike from Nick Stephens. And Fulmer said there was nothing to read into Arian Foster's limited play, which saw the senior tailback carry just one time for an 11-yard touchdown.
"We didn't want to take a risk in getting him hurt. Those other three needed a lot of work and we took that opportunity today."
Defensively, linebacker Ellix Wilson had a pair of sacks among his four tackles to tie defensive back Prentiss Waggner for team honors in stops. Linebacker Nevin McKenzie also had two sacks on a day that was turnover-free.
Another thing the Vols avoided was serious injury; something the head coach says has been no accident.
"We have really worked to try and be healthy and we've also worked like heck to have a lot of full-speed snaps,"
Fulmer said. "That's as many full-speed snaps this close to a game as we've ever done.
"We've been very fortunate (with injuries) and I think the kids have done a good job of staying up on each other and staying off the ground, that sort of thing. A couple of guys got nicked today who just got right back in there. They are showing some toughness that way."
What injury holdouts there were for the scrimmage belonged to offensive lineman William Brimfield (ankle), fullback Austin Johnson (ankle) and defensive end Chris Walker (groin). Fulmer also said defensive tackle Dan Williams was attending to a family issue and should return by Friday or Saturday, while linebacker Gerald Williams was completing academic work.
Scrimmage Stats
Rushing Leaders (Att.-Yds.-TD) -- Montario Hardesty 4-79-0; Lennon Creer 11-51-1; Tauren Poole 5-16-0; Arian Foster 1-11-1.
Passing Leaders (Att.-Comp.-Int.-Yds.-TD) -- Jonathan Crompton 23-12-0-151-2; Nick Stephens 9-4-0-43-1; B.J. Coleman 10-7-0-36-0.
Receiving Leaders (No.-Yds.-TD) -- Quintin Hancock 5-59-1; Gerald Jones 3-44-1; Lennon Creer 3-29-0; Lucas Taylor 2-14-1; Tauren Poole 2-13-0; Luke Stocker 1-26-0.
Defensive Leaders -- Ellix Wilson 4 tackles, 2 sacks (-14); Prentiss Waggner 4 tackles; Nevin McKenzie 3 tackles, 2 sacks (-12); Dennis Rogan 3 tackles; Savion Frazier 3 tackles; Victor Thomas 2 tackles, TFL (-3); Robert Ayers 2 tackles, TFL (-3), sack (-4); Wes Brown 2 tackles, TFL (-1), sack (-7); Ben Martin 2 tackles, sack (-2); Eric Berry 2 tackles, PBU; DeAngelo Willingham 2 tackles, PBU; Nick Reveiz 2 tackles, PBU.
Punting -- Chad Cunningham 7-39.7-long 47; Steven Hensley 4-35.2-long 43; Britton Colquitt 1-31.0-long 31.
Field Goals -- Daniel Lincoln 2-of-2, long 39; Chad Cunningham 1-of-3, long 36. Offensive Starters -- QB Jonathan Crompton, TB Montario Hardesty, WR Lucas Taylor, WR Gerald Jones, TE Brandon Warren, TE Luke Stocker, OT Chris Scott, OG Anthony Parker, C Josh McNeil, OG Jacques McClendon, OT Ramon Foster.
Defensive Starters -- DE Robert Ayers, DE Wes Brown, DT Walter Fisher, DT Demonte Bolden, LB Adam Myers-White, LB Ellix Wilson, LB Rico McCoy, FS Demetrice Morley, SS Eric Berry, CB Dennis Rogan, CB DeAngelo Willingham.
Touchdown Scoring PlaysJones 18 pass from CromptonCreer 5 run
(Overtime period) Hancock 13 pass from StephensTaylor 14 pass from CromptonFoster 11 run
University of Tennessee.
