The bad news is this: I don't know if there's an SEC team on the schedule that Tennessee can beat if they continue to play as they did at the Rose Bowl against UCLA Monday night.

The good news: well, there's just not that much of that this morning when you talk about Tennessee football. Football fans across Vol Nation were probably all gathered around the coffee pots this morning moaning the performance staged on "Monday Night Football."

For the second straight year, the Vols went to California for the season opener, and for the second time they drew back nubs after getting beat 27-24 in overtime, spoiling the start of the year and making it an extremely uphill battle to even be in a position to earn a BCS bowl berth.

Monday night's game with UCLA was terribly disappointing for several reasons.

* First, the Bruins were playing with a first-year coach and a third-string quarterback.

OK, it's not like their coaching staff includes a bunch of rookies. Rick Neuheisel has been around the block before in college football coaching circles, and his offensive coordinator, Norm Chow, is fresh from a three-year stint calling plays for the Tennessee Titans.

Kevin Craft, UCLA's quarterback, couldn't do anything right the first half, throwing up four picks. UT's problem was it wasn't good enough to do anything about the UCLA mistakes. They returned one of the interceptions for a score, but Tennessee's offense was so inconsistent they only led 14-7 at the half.

Phillip Fulmer said after the game that the Vols would play better teams this year than UCLA. You bet they will. Just pick you out one of the SEC teams on the schedule.

* Tennessee's offense, with a new quarterback and offensive coordinator, needs some work. That might be the understatement of the day. Jonathan Crompton, to me, looked uncomfortable at times, slinging the ball with an urgency that led me to think he felt the pocket was collapsing on him, when it really wasn't. He made some good throws, but he made some stinky ones, too. He hit only 19-of-41 for the game with no touchdowns.

As for Dave Clawson, the offensive coordinator, well ... The play-calling was not what I expected. Tennessee would often get four or five yards on first down, then would revert to throwing the ball 20 yds. down the field, leaving third down and long way too many times.

There was confusion, too. It was comical when Crompton and tailback Arian Foster ran into each other in the backfield and Foster made a heck of a tackle. Unfortunately, it was Crompton who went down.

And penalties? Good grief! Nine times the Vols were flagged. That'll get you beat, too.

* Have you ever seen a kick blocked so cleanly? When UCLA blocked the punt in the first half to grab the early lead, there were so many blue shirts around UT punter Chad Cunningham that any one of several could probably have gotten a hand on it. It was a total breakdown on blocking assignments by the Vols.

* The defense? After clamping down on UCLA in the first half, it seemed the secondary was playing way too soft in the second half. There was very little pressure on the quarterback and Craft played like a veteran down the stretch.

* Arian Foster's lost fumble inside the 10-yd. line in the third quarter was devastating. A touchdown on that good drive would have put the Vols up 21-7 and who knows what that might have done.

I could go on, but we'll stop right there. That's enough bad stuff to talk about on a Tuesday after Labor Day.

As for bright spots? There were some. I thought Gerald Jones looked good as a receiver and in the "G-Gun" package where he operates at quarterback. They obviously need to get the ball in his hands.

And it took a lot of intestinal fortitude by Crompton and his teammates to drive down the field in 27 seconds after UCLA had scored to go ahead 24-21 to get within range for a game-tying field goal by Daniel Lincoln as regulation time expired.

So, it's back to the drawing board for the Vols. They have this Saturday off and prepare for the home opener against UAB on Sept. 13.

One good thing is they don't open next season on the west coast.