thedailytimes.com : Your 24/7 news source

KNOXVILLE -- Northern Illinois offered up precious few answers to Tennessee's mounting offensive woes Saturday in yet another disappointing performance from the Vols.

Tennessee sputtered and stammered with the ball in its possession yet again -- producing an anemic 225 yards of offense in the 13-9 win over the Huskies. The Vols did manage rare flashes of brilliance in the second half but were held to just three first-half points and found themselves out-gained by the Huskies' offense, 105-82, at the break.

In searching for a silver lining the UT coaching staff and fans turned to newly-anointed starting quarterback Nick Stephens, who may have provided at least a glimmer of hope for the future.

In his first start (and only significant action) as a Volunteer, the sophomore from Flower Mound, Texas, was 10 of 17 for 156 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions.

That's a stellar start by no means but not a bad debut -- all things considered.

The performance also earned Stephens another starting nod when the Vols take on No. 11 Georgia next Saturday in Athens. When asked if the sophomore had done enough to keep the job another week, Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer said "yes" as emphatically and definitively as possible.

"I'm proud of Nick and the way he managed the game today," Fulmer said of the outing. "He certainly didn't disappoint me. For the most part, I thought he ran the offense well. But we've got to get better, especially on third downs."

The Vols ranked 10th in the SEC on third-down conversions coming into the game. And they didn't improve upon that Saturday, going 3 of 13 on third down against the Huskies.

But Stephens did manage to turn in a few highlight reel passes -- both in the second half.

The first was a 43-yard completion to Gerald Jones that gave Tennessee a first down at the Northern Illinois' 21 yard line. The Vols failed to punch it in, but Stephens' pass led to a Daniel Lincoln field goal that gave UT a 6-3 third-quarter lead.

Stephens' second high point came on a pinpoint accurate bomb to Denarius Moore that covered 52 yards and accounted for both Stephens' and Moore's first career touchdowns with the Vols.

"We practiced those two plays a lot this week," Stephens said. "We really didn't have an opportunity to go to them in the first half. But we talked about it in the locker room and felt like we could execute them in the second half."

Stephens' only notable hiccup came on a 14-yard sack near the end of the third quarter. He fumbled the ball upon impact and the Vols turned it over to the Huskies at the Tennessee 9-yard line.

But the pressure came from Stephens' blind side and allowed him little chance to react before being laid out.

"The offensive line struggled today and probably didn't help Nick out a whole bunch," Fulmer conceded.

So, while Stephens seemingly improved upon the quarterbacking situation, several problems still loom large.

Most troublesome, as Northern Illinois began its late comeback and Tennessee needed Stephens to add a spark to the offense, the Vols failed to pull away. That, plus Tennessee's overall inability to move the ball with any real consistency, begs the question: Did Stephens really add anything to Tennessee's struggling offense? The answer is pending.

"I don't want to say that he was better," Tennessee offensive coordinator Dave Clawson said of Stephens. "But there were (no mistakes) glaring that I saw today from Nick."