Whew!  Back from a hot, hot day at Neyland Stadium.  Joel and I had the opportunity to catch up and enjoy the game together, and we had a great time overall.  I'll need some time to mull things over and figure out what I think, but here are a few quick thoughts on the game:

• Yay Brandon Warren!  BW caught his first pass in Neyland Stadium to a chorus of cheers.  It's good to see him used in the offense and it's good to see the crowd take to him so warmly.  That had to be one of the better moments in a while for him.
• What is wrong with Crompton?  I want to watch some replay, but it seemed that he regressed on his mechanics today.  He had a lot of throws that appeared to be off the back foot, and he seemed to be staring down his primary target pretty heavily.  One INT can be attributed to a defensive spy watching his eyes.  When he gets his mechanics right, he has a great throw.  Both of his fades into the endzone for TDs came from proper step-ins into his throws.
• Use your hands, Luke!  Luke Stocker had far too many drops.  The TE passes can be a real weapon in the offense when the running game is working; it makes the linebackers pause to figure out what they're going to cover.  But if the TEs don't catch, it's not m uch help.
• Lennon Creer = Good.  Keep in mind that Creer was brought in as a fresh back against a tired defense.  But he ran with purpose and didn't dance in the backfield waiting for a hole.  He went to where the hole should be and hit them very nicely.  The shoulder-lowering juke-for-TD was slick.
• First words before first snap:  They're in man defense!  The Vols played a lot of man D today, quite unlike the last game.  Let's be fair; zone defense has its strengths, but switching things up makes it harder for the offense to exploit the defense.  At first glance, the defensive playcalling was much better.
• Crompton is better in the no-huddle.  Or am I the only one who noticed that he threw better in hurry-up mode (in both games so far)?  With the exception of the botched final play of the first half, he looked much better when he hurried.  Maybe there's something to it.
• Tackling fundamentals should be revisited.  I want to check again, but it really felt like the tackling wasn't as sound as it should be.

More to come later, but let me leave you with one final thought.

Fun Schadenfreude Theme for the Game

UT OFFENSE : DIS-ESTABLISHING THE PASS TO SET UP THE RUN.