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KNOXVILLE -- The Tennessee football team started searching Sunday for solutions to the offensive problems that were exposed Saturday throughout a lopsided loss to Southeastern Conference rival Florida.

A new starting quarterback won't be one of them.

Junior Jonathan Crompton will remain the starter for UT (1-2, 0-1 SEC), coach Phillip Fulmer said Sunday, despite committing a pair of critical turnovers in a 30-6 loss to the Gators at Neyland Stadium.

"Jon's our quarterback," Fulmer said during his weekly media teleconference.

Tennessee travels to No. 15 Auburn (3-1, 1-1) on Saturday for the first of two challenging SEC road trips in the next three weeks.

The Vols will visit third-ranked Georgia (4-0, 1-0) on Oct. 11 after returning home for a non-conference game Oct. 4 against Northern Illinois (1-2).

Fulmer insisted Sunday that Crompton, who has made only four career starts, wasn't responsible for all of UT's problems on offense against Florida.

The Vols committed nine penalties for 95 yards and rushed for a season-low 99 yards.

"If it was just Jonathan, it would be one thing," Fulmer said. "But when we get the penalties that stop drives and put us in those long-yardage situations, it's very difficult for anybody to manage those long-yardage situations as you would like to.

"Our thing has to be execution and not putting a quarterback that's got limited experience in that kind of situation."

Still, Fulmer pointed out several areas where Crompton needs to improve.

Not all of them will be easy fixes.

The most frustrating of Crompton's mistakes against Florida, Fulmer said, was a second-quarter fumble caused by a collision in the backfield with fullback Kevin Cooper before Crompton could complete a handoff to tailback Arian Foster.

Fulmer said Crompton stepped out of his designed track on the play and didn't secure the ball well enough before it bumped Cooper's hip.

"If the thing's on the goal line, the proper steps to get the ball deep to the tailback, that's on him," Fulmer said of Crompton. "He has to take that responsibility. ...

"That shouldn't happen."

Crompton, who completed 18 of 28 passes for 162 yards, made a handful of good throws Saturday, Fulmer said. But he also was responsible for a costly interception in the final seconds of the first half on fourth-and-goal from Florida's 1-yard line.

"We shot ourselves in the foot," Crompton said. "We should have won the ballgame, in my opinion."

Crompton's ability to make on-field reads and find open receivers were areas of concern during fall camp, and they haven't improved much in UT's first three games.

"He needs to see better, more often," Fulmer said. "The times he's good, he can't get locked in on a receiver. That's something you go to the practice field and get better on, if you're intent on getting better. Obviously, we'll look at every way we possibly can to simply it, to make it as good for him as we possibly can."

For now, at least, Crompton's starting job is secure.

Sophomore Nick Stephens and redshirt freshman B.J. Coleman, the only other scholarship players on the depth chart behind Crompton, are even less experienced. Stephens threw the first two passes of his career Sept. 13 against UAB. Coleman still is waiting for his first attempt.

Both backups were inconsistent enough in preseason scrimmages for coaches to leave the No. 2 quarterback job undecided, at least publicly.

Fulmer didn't rule out Sunday making at least one dramatic change in personnel this week -- at punter.

Sophomore Chad Cunningham struggled again Saturday, averaging only 37.5 yards on four punts. Fulmer said after the game that Cunningham also kicked too far toward the middle of the field in the first quarter on a 78-yard return for a touchdown by Florida's Brandon James.

The Vols rank next-to-last among NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision teams with a 22-yard net punting average.

"We're going to look at all of our possibilities there," Fulmer said.

Senior Britton Colquitt still has to serve the final two games of a five-game suspension before being allowed to return in time for the Georgia game. In the meantime, Fulmer said, the alternatives include "a little walk-on youngster right now."