The first few possessions of any football game have a lot in common with the first few hands of a poker game - or a rather timid swimmer dipping his toe in the water.

But that's not exactly how David Cutcliffe does things.

Tennessee's offensive coordinator believes in matchups, not schemes. And it takes a lot less time to exploit a shaky cornerback or a linebacker lined up on a wide receiver than it does to sniff out a schematic flaw.

"I don't script plays, like a lot of people do," he says. "You're testing the game plan, who you think you might could attack, where your best matchups are. There's no reason to wait on those things."

The Vols sure haven't waited long to score, either.

Entering Saturday's 12:30 p.m. kickoff at Alabama (TV: WVLT), 20th-ranked Tennessee has scored on its opening drive in all four of its victories this season.

If there's a better way to seize momentum, the Vols haven't found one.

"I've always been taught by my coach in high school that the first five minutes pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the game," offensive lineman Anthony Parker said. "That could be very well true. Us going out on the first drive and scoring has been pretty big for us."

Those drives haven't been cheapies, either.

The shortest trip to the end zone was 64 yards against Arkansas State, the longest 81 yards against Georgia.

On average, UT's opening drive in its four wins has gone 73 yards and lasted nearly 3 1/2 minutes.

Preparation helps, says quarterback Erik Ainge. So does execution, especially on third downs.

"Knowing what they've been doing, what they've been coming out in and knowing there's nothing they can do that you haven't seen before at some point in time," Ainge said. "We've just made some plays. More than anything I think we've just been making plays."

Tennessee won't be the only team in Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday that has made some early plays.

Alabama enters having outscored its opponents 71-10 in the first quarter in five wins this season.

Tennessee only holds a 41-27 margin after the first quarter in its wins.

Cal and Florida outscored UT 28-17 in the opening quarter.

But for the Vols, it's less about the scoreboard and more about gaining momentum and confidence to last longer than the opening series.

"When you go out on the first drive and score, that makes a statement," says offensive lineman Vladimir Richard. "You're just saying, 'We're here and we're not going away.'"

Says center Josh McNeil: "You get out there first drive, drive it down the field and punch it in, that's huge motivation. It really turns the tide as far as momentum goes. That just gives confidence - we can do this all day, we're going be able to score. I think that really hypes the defense up."

Against Georgia, it was the defense that fired up the offense.

To start that game, UT sent the Bulldogs' offense back off the field with a three-and-out.

Five minutes and 81 yards later, Arian Foster scored from 9 yards out.

That's best start that linebacker Rico McCoy could hope for, at least the best one that doesn't involve a monster hit or a turnover.

"It's to go out there that first series wide open," he said. "You can call it wide open, laying everything on the line. From then on, you can dictate the game."

Most of the time, anyway.

The quick starts for Tennessee - and Alabama - haven't been flawless.

Tennessee stopped Florida on its first two drives in Gainesville, but the Gators still went on to score 45 offensive points.

And for all Alabama's quick starts, the Crimson Tide has allowed 45 fourth-quarter points in those five wins.

Ainge loves the quick starts, but he'd love a quick finish even more.

"It's easy to get cranked up before the game and all that sort of fun stuff," he said. "The hard part is to sustain that through halftime, into the third quarter and fourth quarter.

"The more impressive stat would be if we were 7-for-7 to start the fourth quarters. I think our attitude allows us to come out and be effective, but we need to work on sustaining that."

Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.