KNOXVILLE -- It was the most startling part of the box score from Tennessee's loss to Florida.
The numbers tell only part of the story, but they underline a problem plaguing the Volunteers on offense.
Tennessee offensive coordinator Mike DeBord showed skill in Saturday's season-opening win over Bowling Green in Nashville by balancing the Volunteers' effort to score points with other game-managament factors, such as allowing UT's defense to rest.Tennessee wide receivers caught only two passes for 7 yards in the 28-27 loss to the Gators, and though quarterback Josh Dobbs completed only 10 of his 17 throws as the Vols found success running the ball, that statistic is shocking for a program that wants to refer to itself as "Wide Receiver U."
"They want the ball," offensive coordinator Mike DeBord said following Tuesday's practice. "Receivers want to catch the ball and all that, and I told them today that's going to happen. Every game has a story to it, and the story was we were running the football very effectively and we were wearing their defense down.
"That's what was going at the time, and we stayed with it. We've got to get our passing game involved. We will do that, we're going to do that and that's part of it. You'll see that happening."
The first opportunity comes Saturday against Arkansas and its SEC-worst pass defense, which allows 264 air yards per game.
Against Florida's vaunted secondary, Tennessee opted to keep the ball on the ground with Dobbs and running back Jalen Hurd and totaled 254 rushing yards.
When the Vols did throw it - Dobbs attempted just 14 passes before the final desperation drive of the game - they looked for other options. Running back Alvin Kamara and tight end Ethan Wolf led the Vols in targets with five and three, respectively. The wide receivers combined for just six.
Jauan Jennings and Josh Smith caught two of those six. Von Pearson dropped one, and Smith had a pass along the sideline in the third quarter go through his hands. Marquez North was rocked by a hard hit over the middle on a ball Dobbs threw behind him, and a mix-up led to an incomplete pass intended for freshman Preston Williams.
With North out for the second half, Johnathon Johnson available only in an emergency situation due to a hamstring injury and Pig Howard out with an injury, Tennessee was down to five wideouts in the second half.
"We said going in that this was probably going to be more of a running-back/tight-end reception game because of mismatches," DeBord explained. "Everybody wants to talk about matchups. Well, we got the ball to guys in matchup situations, and we won.
"That doesn't mean our receivers can't win or anything, but by alignment, by how they were lining up against our backs and tight ends, we had the leverage, so we were going to do that, and that's why we did that. You look at matchups, you look at leverage - that's a big thing - and the leverage, in that game, was to get the ball to our backs and tight ends that way."
Tennessee isn't lighting it up through the air this season.
The Vols are 11th in the SEC in passing (183 ypg), ahead of only Auburn, South Carolina and LSU. Tennessee has averaging only 165 yards through the air in its three games against FBS competition. The Vols managed 205 yards against Bowling Green, 125 against Oklahoma and 165 on Saturday.
"I feel like I have a rhythm (with the receivers)," Dobbs said Monday. "We haven't graduated a receiver since I've been here, which is great. I've been throwing with these guys for two years now.
"I feel like I have a rhythm with each of the receivers, and you know, a big part of the pass game, with the receivers specifically, comes in the offseason. We're able to establish a rhythm. Now it's just executing once we get into the game.
"There's no lack of confidence in the pass game. We know what we have to do to execute, and we know how to execute."
Among the receivers, Josh Malone leads Tennessee with nine receptions, which is tied for 39th-most in the SEC. Williams leads the Vols with 98 yards, all of which came against Western Carolina. Howard, the team's leading receiver in 2013 and 2014, has one catch in the two games he's played, and Pearson, the No. 2-leading receiver last season, has three.
Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11) runs the ball for a touchdown after a catch against Florida during the first half in an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015 in Gainesville, Fla. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough)Dobbs has more receiving yards (58) than Pearson, Howard and North.
The Vols have had two 100-yard receivers in the 29 games since Butch Jones took over as coach: North had 103 against South Carolina in 2013, and Howard had 109 against the Gamecocks last season.
With multiple NFL-caliber receivers, the Vols had 20 the three previous seasons.
"I'm sure the receivers are probably a little frustrated," DeBord said. "If I was a receiver I would be, too, because they're competitors. They want the ball. Everybody wants the ball. That day's coming.
"We're going to get the ball to them, and I told them that today."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.