November not kind to Vols' Ainge

By RON HIGGINS

If it's November, it must mean that Tennessee senior quarterback Erik Ainge is crossing his fingers while knocking on wood.

Because the way Ainge's Novembers have gone throughout his college career, he needs all the help he can get entering Saturday's game against Arkansas in Knoxville.

As a freshman in 2004, he separated his shoulder in a 17-13 home loss Notre Dame on Nov. 6 and didn't play the rest of the season.

As a sophomore in 2005, he played the entire game in a 41-21 Nov. 5 loss at Notre Dame, trying to repair badly damaged confidence from being benched earlier in the season.

And last season as a junior, after severely spraining an ankle in a 31-24 win at South Carolina on Oct. 28, Ainge played just one series in a 28-24 home loss to LSU on Nov. 4 and didn't play a down in a 31-14 loss at Arkansas on Nov. 11.

"I want to stay healthy and keep winning, that's the goal," said Ainge, who has thrown for 2,138 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions this season. "We ended last year on a rough note (losing three of the last five games, including a 20-10 loss to Penn State in the Outback Bowl).

Last week's 59-7 blowout of lowly Louisiana-Lafayette was a welcome sight for Ainge and the Vols' offense. The previous two weeks, in a 41-17 loss at Alabama and a 27-24 overtime win over South Carolina, the Vols had been outscored in the second half and in overtime by 41-6.

Against Louisiana-Lafayette, the Vols led 24-0 at the half. From that point, Tennessee was able to empty its bench and work on some new wrinkles, such as its G-Gun formation, in a live situation without fearing mistakes might lose the game.

"Any time you get a lead like that, you can run some different packages, different plays, get some young guys in the game to get some experience," Ainge said. "We ran the ball well. We did what we wanted to do in the passing game. It was a good way to get ready for Arkansas."

Arkansas is one of three SEC teams Ainge hasn't beaten as a starter. There's the feeling that if Ainge had played in last year's game instead of backup Jonathan Crompton, the Vols, at the very least, would have produced enough offense to keep Arkansas' explosive, run-oriented attack off the field. Crompton was 16-of-34 for 174
yards, two touchdowns and one interception, and he was sacked four times.

Instead, Arkansas led 28-7 at halftime. By that time, Tennessee's offense had gone three downs-and-out on 4-of-7 first-half possessions. After the opening two quarters, Arkansas running back Darren McFadden had outgained the Vols by himself, 128-117.

It wasn't a pleasant situation for Ainge, sidelined with the bum ankle and watching his team fall apart on national television (ESPN) and not being able to play before a stadium full of Hog-calling fans "I remember their offense had a great game," Ainge said. "We did some good things on offense, but we weren't as sharp as we needed to be. Our best players didn't have great games.

"Arkansas played really well. I'm not saying it can't happen again. But sometimes you play better than you are, and sometimes you play worse than you are. They (Arkansas) played one of their best games against us last year."

Vols' coach Phillip Fulmer recalled Crompton did the best he could under the circumstances, but ... "Erik manages games exceptionally well, and we missed him last year," Fulmer said. "We're glad he's healthy and he's able to play."

Because Ainge is full speed this time around, Arkansas certainly expects more of a fight than last season.

The Razorbacks' 17-point win last year was Arkansas' largest victory margin in its three wins in the 15-game series, and even then Tennessee scored a consolation TD on the Hogs with 30 seconds left to play.

"We had a lot of respect for Crompton, but Erik Ainge has more velocity on the ball and seems to handle things better," Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said. "We need to get some pressure on him and not give up any big plays to his receivers."

Source: Scripps Howard News Service; Photo Credit: SEC Sports Media