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KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer eventually will get over the Volunteers' season-opening loss Monday night at UCLA.

He's just not quite ready to do that.

The Vols returned to practice Wednesday for the first time since their 27-24 overtime loss to the Bruins, and Fulmer made it clear to players that he was too upset to move on from a defeat that still stings as much as any in recent memory.

"The one thing I told them: 'It's not all right. Everything is not all right. Somebody can say that, but it's not,'" Fulmer said. "As we go along, I'll get over this and they'll get over this, and (today) I'll have the chance to visit with them again and maybe feel really good about some things.

"But I've got to be honest with them. I was very upset."

With that in mind, Fulmer said UT's open date this week before the Sept. 13 home opener against UAB at Neyland Stadium might pay off more than initially expected.

"I guess we got the luxury of feeling like crap (Wednesday) because we don't have to play again (this week)," Fulmer said. "I got off the plane and came over here ... and all we've done is watched (film) and talked as a staff on things we can do better and things we need to adjust and eliminate."

There's been plenty to discuss.

Punter Chad Cunningham, filling in for the start of senior Britton Colquitt's five-game suspension, had a first-quarter punt blocked and returned for the game's first touchdown.

Kicker Daniel Lincoln was only 1-for-4 on field-goal attempts and ended the game with a 34-yard miss in overtime.

A dominating first half on defense that included four interceptions gave way to a second half in which UCLA quarterback Kevin Craft, a junior-college transfer starting because of multiple preseason injuries, bounced back to help the Bruins rally from a 14-7 deficit.

Secondary coach Larry Slade admitted UT cornerbacks played too far off the line of scrimmage at times in the second half while UCLA got its offense on track with a short passing game.

"We have certain techniques that we're going to play, and there were some that we'd like to play a little bit closer up, obviously, in certain situations," Slade said. "Sometimes, at that part in the game, people dwell on that."

On offense, quarterback Jonathan Crompton completed only 19 of 41 passes for 189 yards and an interception, and was under pressure throughout the game.

Senior tailback Arian Foster also fumbled inside the 10-yard line on UT's opening drive of the second half, squandering the chance to take a double-digit lead and shifting the momentum to the Bruins.

Coaches told players they counted nine offensive plays that never had a chance of succeeding because of missed assignments.

"It seemed like every time we got in a rhythm, we always messed up ourselves," said junior tailback Montario Hardesty, who rushed for 66 yards and two touchdowns. "We'd get in a rhythm and do a bad play."

Several of the mistakes, surprisingly, came in pass protection. Crompton was sacked only once but had countless rushed throws and repeatedly was knocked to the ground after getting rid of the ball.

And that was with an offensive line that returned all five starters from last season, when the Vols allowed only four sacks, the fewest in the nation.

"It's definitely always harder after a loss when you know you're the ones that shot yourself in the foot," junior center Josh McNeil said. "But we've got to go out there and correct things in practice, and I think we can take this game as a learning experience.

"Everyone realizes we need to get better."