Tennessee jumped out to an early lead on Homecoming night at Neyland Stadium and cruised to a 56-28 win over the Memphis Tigers in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the score indicated.

Quarterback Jonathan Crompton had a career night against the Memphis secondary, completing 21 of 29 passes for 331 yards and 5 touchdowns through the air, and added a rushing touchdown late in the second quarter. Five Crompton touchdown passes were completed to five different receivers.

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The Tennessee quarterback now leads the SEC in touchdown passes.

"That's a good thing, and that's saying a lot about our team. It's not an individual goal, in my mind," Crompton said. "That's really just the O-Line doing their job. And the receivers catching the ball and making plays. It's a good feeling to say, 'I lead the SEC' but that's not what we care about. We care about [wins]."

Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin says that part of Crompton's success is getting players healthy.

"He's developing in the system. It's his first year in the system, and he continues to get players being healthy week in and week out," Kiffin said. "We just got Quintin [Hancock] back today. So I think that helps us. And it's helped Jonathan a ton. They're making plays for him."

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We knew we’d have guys open as long as we ran the routes at the right depths, and I threw it on time, and the O-line block just like they did. We expected some things to be there, and that’s why we game planned that way. Jonathan Crompton

Things started quickly for the Vols.

Freshman tailback David Oku took the opening kickoff 69 yards to set up Tennessee in great field position. Bryce Brown scored from one yard out a few plays later to cap the scoring drive. With just over two minutes off the game clock, the Vols led 7-0.

Kiffin says that Tennessee's offense thrives on a short field.

"Our offense has unbelievable numbers when we get the ball in good field position," Kiffin said.

"They respond to energy, and they respond to excitement, whether it's a turnover or a big return. Every time it happens, guys go running in there a little bit faster."

The Vols moved the ball and scored in buckets on both long and short fields, having scoring drives of 24, 55, 74, 26, and 87 yards in building as much as a 35-point lead.

Both teams traded touchdowns before the half, including a well-orchestrated scoring drive that gave Tennessee a 42-7 lead in the waning seconds of the second quarter on Crompton's one-yard touchdown plunge.

Tennessee scored again on its first drive of the second half, prompting Kiffin to pull most of his starters early in the third quarter. Memphis took advantage, gashing the second and string Tennessee defense for chunks of yards. Memphis running back Curtis Steele routinely made Vol defenders miss, scoring two touchdowns and bringing the Tigers with a 28-point defecit.

That was as close as the Tigers would get.

On the next drive, a Nick Stephens-led Tennessee offense moved crisply down the field, culminating in a Denarius Moore touchdown grab, one of two on the night for Moore.

Despite the lopsided score, Kiffin was not pleased with his team's performance in the second half.

"We lost the fourth quarter for the first time, I think, all season, and that was depressing to see," Kiffin said. "We're a little down after the game because of the way we finished. We need to finish better, it does not matter who is in there."

Notes and Quotes: Tennessee 56, Memphis 28

Notes: Tennessee safety Eric Berry got his 14^th career interception on Saturday off a tipped pass. Berry returned the ball for 7 yards, leaving him 7 yards short of the NCAA record for interception return yardage.

Nu'Keese Richardson had a touchdown reception in the first half. Richardson missed practice on Sunday with what was reported to be personal issues. On Tuesday Lane Kiffin said there was 'no situation' between Richardson and the team.