Last Saturday, Tennessee's Jonathan Crompton threw two long touchdown passes and made a big hit literally in his first significant playing time at quarterback.
Crompton, a highly touted high school player from North Carolina mentored by Heath Shuler, played most of last week's game against LSU in place of injured starter Erik Ainge.
The redshirt freshman entered the game in the second quarter and went 11-of-24 for 183 yards and touchdown completions of 37 and 54 yards to Robert Meachem. The No. 13 Volunteers, who travel to No. 11 Arkansas on Saturday, lost 28-24 after LSU scored on its final drive.
Crompton's first series went nine plays and covered only 29 yards, but he got 11 of those yards the hard way. On third-and-6, he took off for an 11-yard run, which ended with Crompton leveling LSU's LaRon Landry, one of the best safeties in the Southeastern Conference.
``I was running. I didn't really see him coming, but then he just kind of popped up on me and I hit him,'' Crompton said, apparently not as excited about the play as his teammates.
Coach Phillip Fulmer has already weighed in about Crompton not risking injury.
``If it's a DB that's probably OK, but he doesn't need to be taking on any defensive linemen,'' Fulmer said.
Ainge's status for Arkansas is unclear. He sprained his right ankle Oct. 28 at South Carolina and tweaked his left ankle when he was tackled in the first quarter against LSU.
Ainge has not yet practiced this week, but Fulmer said Wednesday he was not ready to say which quarterback would start.
``If (Crompton) gets the start, which we haven't decided yet, he will have his first opportunity to go on the road in the Southeastern Conference in a crucial game for both teams in a very hostile environment and have to show that same type of maturity beyond his years of experience and command the offense. It'd be a really great test for him,'' Fulmer said earlier this week.
Crompton wasn't hiding that he would have liked to have started against LSU instead of coming off the bench.
``You always want to every week. That's just the competitor in you. It's how things went and you have to go from there,'' he said.
Before LSU, Crompton had played sparingly and attempted only four passes.
Crompton's mobility makes him a different quarterback than Ainge, who relies more on pocket passing. Crompton ran six times for 27 yards, but lost five yards the one time he was sacked by LSU.
``I did OK. I could have done better. That's about all I can say about it,'' Crompton said.
Crompton verbally committed to Tennessee in the summer of 2004, a year before he arrived on campus as a freshman. He did not play last year to recover from shoulder surgery. He had a torn labrum in his right, throwing shoulder.
It was disappointing for the Parade All-American from Waynesville, N.C., who has been mentored by Shuler, a former Vol QB and congressman-elect from nearby Bryson City, N.C.
Crompton said his shoulder ``feels better and better as it keeps getting stronger and stronger'' every day.
If Crompton starts at Arkansas, he believes he will be more prepared than a week ago.
``I really never understood what it meant to practice like a game. After being in there, you understand things happen 10, 15 times faster in a game than it does in practice. You just have to go out there and practice real fast,'' he said.
Crompton said he didn't have time to be nervous in the LSU game, and it sounds like his plan for playing against Arkansas is to get the ball to Meachem and Tennessee's other offensive playmakers.
``All you have to do is make sure you handle it and make sure you've got the play called right and make sure you know where you're going and get them the ball,'' he said.
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(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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