UCLA win exposes Vols' problems

LOS ANGELES -- A national television audience got a first-hand look as Tennessee sought a few answers in its season opener against UCLA Monday night at the Rose Bowl.

The Volunteers discovered their highly touted secondary was as good as advertised, except for the fact they surrendered a pair of long touchdown drives in the fourth quarter.

Tennessee found out its much anticipated spread offense was not as good as advertised, but still managed to post 10 points on its final two possessions to force overtime.

Finally, the Vols were made painfully aware of deficiencies in their special teams. A blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown gave the Bruins their first points of the evening.

But it was kicker Daniel Lincoln's third missed field goal that hurt the worst. That miscue at the end of the first overtime allowed UCLA to escape with a 27-24 triumph and send the Volunteers home from the west coast with an 0-1 record for the second year in a row.

"It did not come down to one kick. You can't put this on Daniel Lincoln," Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said of his sophomore kicker, who also missed kicks of 51 and 55 yards in the first half.

"Those long field goals earlier in the game -- I don't expect him to make a large percentage of them," Fulmer said. "We just need to go back to work and see what we need to do to get better."

Fulmer will likely start with his offense.

While the Volunteer defense snatched four interceptions and held the Bruins to just 85 yards in the first half, the Tennessee offense sputtered to get on track under first-year coordinator Dave Clawson and new starting quarterback Jonathan Crompton.

A fumbled snap, miscommunication in the backfield, Crompton interception and the missed kicks kept the UT offense out of sync the first two quarters.

The Vols did manage an 80-yard drive that culminated in tailback Montario Hardesty's 11-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Their other first-half points came via linebacker Nevin McKenzie's 61-yard return of an interception just before intermission. Tennessee carried that 14-7 advantage into the second half.

"I am obviously disappointed. I thought we had several opportunities to score points and we left too many points on the board," said Clawson, who replaced David Cutcliffe as offensive coordinator during the offseason.

"Whether it was in the overtime period, having the ball on the 6-yard line, or at times having the ball on the 20- or 25-yard line and taking sacks on third down that took us out of field goal range. Those probably took very makeable field goals and turned them into long shots."

Perhaps the biggest blow occurred on the Vols' first possession of the third quarter.

After driving 73 yards on eight plays, UT was poised to punch in another score when senior tailback Arian Foster fumbled the ball away six yards short of the end zone.

UCLA did not score on its ensuing possession, but the momentum had been turned. Bruin quarterback Kevin Craft settled down and threw for over 225 yards from the middle of the third quarter on. The hosts scored 17 points on three of its last four possessions and held a 24-21 edge with just 27 seconds remaining.

Crompton responded by completing a pair of quick passes to set up Lincoln's game-tying 47-yard field goal as regulation expired. It only delayed the inevitable.

UCLA kicker Kai Forbath drilled what turned out to be the winning 47-yard field goal to open the overtime period. Lincoln's second attempt at game-tying heroics went wide left to bring the game to an end.

Now, the Vols return to Knoxville in search of even more answers prior to their first home game of the season Sept. 13 against UAB.

"We made enough mistakes tonight to lose three, four, or five football games," Fulmer said. "Whether it was offensively, defensively, or the kicking game … you can choose any one of them. But those things are fixable."

"It always hurts, but it's still a long year," Crompton added. "We've still got SEC play to go. We can finish up the same way we did last year (SEC Eastern Division title), maybe a little better and move on."