Tennessee facing one of nation's top defenses

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer was very specific about what it will take for the Volunteers to beat fourth-ranked Florida.

``We'll have to play our best game of this season to win the game,'' he said.

Fulmer was encouraged by the improvement his offense showed between the team's loss at UCLA and Saturday's 35-3 win over UAB. Jonathan Crompton completed more passes and found the end zone several times and the rushing game remained solid for Tennessee (1-1).

But that was against a UAB defense that is allowing an average 567.67 yards per game and now ranks last in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Florida's defense is a little better. Actually, a lot better.

The Gators (2-0) rank third nationally in total defense having allowed an average 190.5 yards in games against Miami and Hawaii.

Florida ranks fourth in pass efficiency defense, which could spell trouble on Saturday for Crompton who has yet to find consistency in his passing.

Crompton started out against UAB with a few long completions, like passes of 28 yards and 48 yards to Lucas Taylor and touchdown passes of 20 yards and 40 yards to Gerald Jones. Trying to drive the field in the last 1:40 before halftime though, he threw four straight incompletions.

After watching the UAB game film, Fulmer said his junior quarterback had a solid game against the Blazers and put responsibility on the entire squad to improve.

``All of us need to be more consistent,'' he said. ``There were some really, really outstanding plays made by Jonathan and by our football team as well, but we've got to be more consistent at every position.

``The quarterback is the one that's most magnified. His is going to show up quite a bit more,'' Fulmer said.

When asked what he felt he needed to improve before facing the Gators, Crompton simply said ``everything.''

Some of his incomplete passes weren't his fault. Several perfectly thrown passes were dropped by receivers, including three by starting tight end Luke Stocker, which elicited boos from the Vols fans.

``He is an outstanding tight end with outstanding hands,'' Fulmer said after the game of the sophomore. ``He had one of these days and I'm glad it was this week and not next. He'll be fine.''

The Vols leaned more heavily on tailbacks Arian Foster, Montario Hardesty and Lennon Creer after halftime to help put the game out of reach for UAB. The trio had 221 yards on 27 carries an 8.2-yard average a pair of touchdowns from Creer and another from Hardesty.

Josh Briscoe acknowledged the strong performance of the tailbacks, but wants to see himself and his fellow receivers play a larger role in Tennessee's offense.

``We've got to get the ball to our playmakers. Our running game was very good,'' he said. ``We're very talented at our receiving, we just need to use it.''