If the Tennessee Vols are going to play meaningful games in December, then the offense has to improve.

The defense is keeping Tennessee in games right now. But at some point, the offense is going to need to have a huge day to win a game (maybe next week against Alabama).

That means the Vols need more production from the quarterback position.

We can debate Josh Heupel’s decision to not get a transfer quarterback all we want, but that doesn’t change that the quarterbacks the Vols have right now are who they have. That isn’t changing.

So how does Heupel get the most out of his quarterbacks this season and help the offense improve?

Former Volunteers quarterback Jonathan Crompton believes the answer is to use more of Tennessee’s old wide-split offense and choice routes.

Crompton said on the A to Z Sports postgame show after Tennessee’s win over Arkansas that he thinks the more pro-style offense the Vols are running right now may be asking too much of the team’s young quarterbacks.

“I’ve said this before — I’ve been vocal about it,” said Crompton. “The offense that we used to run is not my favorite. But it’s starting to show a little bit that maybe some of these younger kids, because they’re inexperienced, are having trouble reading a pro-style offense. … We have changed to more of a pro-style progression style offense rather than everything’s an option route.”

Maybe Crompton is on to something. Simplifying the offense could help the young quarterbacks out.

But on the flip side, the reason the Vols went to a more pro-style offense is because defenses were starting to have success shutting down Tennessee’s old offense.

I don’t know if Crompton’s idea is the right solution to Tennessee’s offensive woes.

What I do know, though, is that Heupel needs to figure out what his young quarterbacks can execute consistently at a high level and roll with that. If that means going with more of the Vols’ old offense (wide splits and choice routes), then so be it. But whatever it is, they need to figure it out before Alabama comes to town next week, because the Vols may need to score at least 30 points to win that game — and that’s not something Tennessee’s been able to do yet in three SEC games this season.