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KNOXVILLE -- News flash from Neyland Stadium: Tennessee offensive coordinator Dave Clawson was correct this week when he noted that Jonathan Crompton wasn't the only problem with the Volunteer offense.

Although Nick Stephens threw with more confidence in his first start than Crompton has in his four appearances this season, the lack of discipline and uneven performance of the offense against Northern Illinois on Saturday night prefigures a tough October for the Vols.

If only the federal government had earmarked some of this past week's unprecedented bailout for the Tennessee football program, athletic director Mike Hamilton might have an easier time with a buyout -- should it come to that.

No need to mention the empty seats down by the river. What crowd there was on hand was enthusiastic, buoyed by Stephens' presence as the starter, but its reward was a lot more of the same miscues that have dogged the offense all season.

The only thing that will help the Vols now will be to emerge from this ugliness in Georgia next week as if the first month of the season were just a bad dream. That doesn't seem likely.

Every time the Tennessee coaching staff designates one area for improvement, another sags. This past week, Fulmer and Clawson emphasized the need to make the passing game a threat. With Stephens going 10 of 17 for 156 yards and one TD pass of 52 yards, there was progress.

Meanwhile, the (seldom-used) ground game, which has been praised for its consistency by both Fulmer and Clawson, picked up only 69 yards on 32 carries, much of it coming in the fourth quarter when the Vols were trying to protect a 13-9 lead.

We're talking Northern Illinois here, not Georgia, not Alabama, not even Vanderbilt, a 14-13 winner over the Auburn defense that UT couldn't budge last week.

"I feel like we moved the ball well tonight, but at times we stopped ourselves," Stephens said of his debut. "We have to finish. We have to go out there and we can't stop ourselves."

That appears to be a more difficult mission to accomplish than swapping quarterbacks or keeping a bevy of talent at running back happy or trying to figure out where the veteran receiving corps is vacationing this fall.

"Offensively, we made some steps in the right direction," Fulmer said of defeating a 2-2 MAC team that was without its starting quarterback for the second half.

For lack of a better phrase, the steps were small, perhaps insignificant given the presence of Georgia waiting in Athens next week, followed by Mississippi State and Alabama at home before Halloween.

What remains to be seen is how quickly there will be progress now that Stephens has been designated the starter against the Bulldogs.

That change produced a spark on Saturday against a non-conference foe, but this Tennessee team needs a full-fledged offensive conflagration to avoid a postseason without a bowl game.

Leonard Butts is sports editor. Write to him at The Daily Times, P.O. Box 9740, Maryville, TN 37802, or e-mail him at leonard.butts@thedailytimes.com