Ainge preparing for his final Tennessee game
Erik Ainge is preparing for his "end of an era" at Tennessee, just as he did a little more than four years ago at Glencoe.
Except Ainge didn't know that the 2003 first-round playoff game at Medford would be his final one in a Crimson Tide uniform.
Midway through the second quarter, Glencoe and North Medford were tied, 21-21. But the Black Tornado added two touchdowns before intermission and eventually won going away, 56-28, to eliminate Glencoe from the playoffs.
That game not only marked the end of the Erik Ainge era, but it also closed the book on Craig Ruecker's 22 seasons in charge of Glencoe's football program.
Ainge will end an outstanding career as Tennessee's quarterback on New Year's Day, when the Volunteers play Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla.
Regardless of the outcome, Ainge will go down in history as one of the Vols' best passers.
And the outcome is important to long-time Vols coach Phillip Fulmer.
Even though Fulmer received a two-year extension and has a .767 winning percentage and a national championship during his 15 years at Tennessee, some fans and supporters expect more.
Fulmer's recruiting and his inability to police them have led to more than his share of problem players in the system.
It's easy to overlook those problems when coaches are winning conference titles, but it's been a while since Fulmer has won a Southeast Conference Championship.
The Tennessee Volunteers came close to bringing home the title this year, before Ainge threw two fourth-quarter interceptions. One was returned for a touchdown that led to Louisiana State's 21-14 win.
To Fulmer's credit, he wouldn't let Ainge take the blame for the loss. Fulmer pointed out there were more than 140 plays in the game, and any one of them could have made a difference in the outcome.
The veteran coach said Tennessee wouldn't have been in the SEC Championship if it weren't for Ainge, and the numbers bear it out.
The 6-foot-6 Ainge was third in the SEC in passing yards per game (242.8), and he had the same number of touchdown passes (29) as Heisman Trophy winner and Florida sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow.
He was also one of three SEC quarterbacks to complete at least 60 percent of his passes. Ainge and
Kentucky's Andre' Woodson completed 63 percent, while Tebow led the conference with 68.5 percent.
Fulmer said it's Ainge's body of work that will define his legacy at Tennessee, not those two interceptions against LSU.
"He has done extremely well for us," Fulmer said. "We wouldn't have been in the 2004 SEC Championship if it wasn't for Erik. He had fantastic junior and senior years. I don't think you can define his legacy by one game."
Even though he started his freshmen (2004) year platooning with Brent Schaeffer, Ainge threw 17 touchdown passes to break Peyton Manning's frosh school mark of 15. His 1,452 yards through the air ranked second only to Manning in UT freshman history.
Following a down sophomore year when he lost his starting job to senior Rick Clausen, Ainge bounced back and became the starter as a junior.
Heading into the Outback Bowl, Ainge has completed 300 of 476 passes for 3,157 yards this season. He's only thrown 10 interceptions.
Ainge's passing yards are just 194 fewer than SEC-leader Woodson and 25 more than Tebow's total.
Following the loss to LSU, Erik Ainge is looking for a better performance against Wisconsin on New Year's Day.
A strong performance for Tennessee Volunteers (9-4) against the Wisconsin Badgers (9-3) will also go a long way toward keeping the doubters off of Fulmer's back.
You can now purchase
at 2009 Outback Bowl tickets today.
|
