Ainge regains confidence, feels relaxed after QB decision

KNOXVILLE — Tennessee fans aren’t the only ones noticing how differently quarterback Erik Ainge has played so far compared to a year ago.

Ainge, a sophomore, was the starter in the middle of last season and may be most noted for leading the Volunteers to a win at Georgia.

He believes his confidence is back.

“That’s the biggest thing some of the coaches were saying, ‘Where’s Erik? Where did he go?'” Ainge said. “I think they’ve always had confidence in me. I think they were just waiting for me to get back to looking like I used to.”

Ainge started the opener and then came off the bench against Florida while rotating with Rick Clausen. Partly as a result, Ainge has not looked as sharp and sometimes confused. But this week coach Phillip Fulmer finally settled on Ainge as the quarterback.

The No. 10 Vols (1-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) travel to third-ranked LSU on Saturday night for the Tigers delayed home opener.

“I think they just want somebody to be the guy and go,” Fulmer said about the team’s acceptance of the QB decision.

The players seemed to agree.

“We’re going to have to rally around him and make sure we all get the job done,” said center Richie Gandy.

Offensive coordinator Randy Sanders says he doesn’t think the quarterbacks have been bothered too much by looking over their shoulders, wondering if they will get the hook after a mistake. But now there is little chance for that to happen.

“He knows it’s his game to go out there and play,” Sanders said.

———

CAJUN CONNECTION: Tennessee has five players from Louisiana: LB Jason Mitchell of Abbeville, WR Lucas Taylor of Carencro, TE Chris Brown of Destrehan, RB Ja’Kouri Williams of Plaquemine and DB Jonathan Wade of Shreveport.

The Vols haven’t played at LSU since 2000, so this will be their first trip home in an orange uniform.

“I’ve been waiting on this since I graduated from high school,” Brown said. “Everybody down there is calling me and saying how we’re going to come down there and lose. It’s going to be a great atmosphere.”

Mitchell says he plans to have between 20 and 25 relatives at the game and hopes they can all get tickets.

“It will be ridiculous,” he said.

———

NOT SO SPECIAL: There will probably be some changes on special teams after the Florida game that featured a blocked field goal, botched fake punt and fumbled punt.

Fulmer said those blunders led to a “meltdown,” but he’s also concerned about the lack of production from the return game.

Fulmer and his staff worked on using a wedge blocking system, but he is not happy with the blockers so far.

Tennessee’s average of 14.3 yards on kickoff returns ranks 110th in the NCAA. The punt return average is 5.3 yards, 88th in the nation.

When asked this week if Fulmer had ever spent so much time on special teams in the preseason, he said no and shook his head in apparent frustration.

———

RECEIVERS SAY: Receiver Jayson Swain had one word to describe the offense, and receiving corps in particular: Underachieved.

The receivers and quarterbacks apparently had trouble with some communication in the Florida game and could not take advantage of man-to-man coverage.

“That’s a shame with all the talent we have,” Swain said.

He said the team did not have the same problems in the opener.

The Vols had 147 yards receiving in the 16-7 loss at Florida.

“It was tough because we knew going in we could have put a lot of points on the board because of the way they played,” receiver Robert Meachem said.

“We need to come together and have fun. A lot of people were too uptight.”

C.J. Fayton leads the team in receiving with 100 yards on six catches, but he had only one for 3 yards at Florida. Swain and Bret Smith have five catches apiece. Meachem has four.

———

NEW STARTER: Redshirt freshman center Anthony Parker might earn his first career start on Saturday. And he would be the third player to start at center so far this season.

Richie Gandy, who was supposed to be the starter all along, missed the first game because of a partially dislocated knee cap. He returned to the lineup last week at Florida, but his knee hasn’t recovered fully. Fulmer said earlier this week he would start Parker if the decision had to be made then.

“I would just be real happy about it after working hard all summer and all spring,” he said.

Parker played last week at Florida.

“It was a shock playing down there in The Swamp. The first play, I was a little nervous, but after that I was good,” he said.

At Florida, linebacker Jerod Mayo got his first career start because of an injury to Jason Mitchell, who ended up playing in the game.

———

LAST POINTS: Tennessee leads the all-time series against LSU 19-5-3, and two of those losses have came in the teams’ last three meetings. …The Vols’ first win as a program over a No. 1 team was in 1959 when they beat LSU 14-13. …Tennessee’s only loss in an overtime game came in 2000 at LSU.

———

SMOKEY SEZ: “I feel like if you dwell on the past, it can hurt you,” said cornerback Jason Allen when asked about bouncing back from the loss at Florida.