Lundy: Low-rated Ainge has caught fire

With a quarterback rating of 184.1, Ainge is No. 4 nationally in the most recent NCAA statistics released Sunday. The next-highest ranked freshman, Chad Henne of Michigan, is No. 61.

You have to wonder why recruiters from every major-college football program weren't camped out on Ainge's doorstep in Oregon last fall. Was it because Ainge was hidden away in the upper-left hand corner of the country and very few programs east of the Mississippi have the budget to go chasing prospects hither and yon?

Superprep ranked Ainge as the No. 19 quarterback prospect. The Insiders.com had him pegged at No. 20. Rivals.com ranked him No. 11 among pro-style quarterbacks. However, he wasn't even included in the Rivals.com overall ranking of top 100 prospects.

UT coach Phillip Fulmer said he is fuzzy on the details of Ainge's recruitment. However, he did remember that his interest was piqued by an Ainge video clip posted on an Internet recruiting site.

"I know the day I saw that, I called his coach, and he and I really hit it off,'' Fulmer said Sunday.

UT took the NCAA maximum of six allotted recruiting contacts with Ainge. Fulmer personally visited the Ainge family in Oregon, but never saw him play a game.

"High school tape is always hard to judge, (but) it doesn't take a long time when you see a great one to say, 'This guy is really good,' '' Fulmer said.

You don't have to watch Ainge long to realize he possesses some special skills. After he completed 10 of 15 passes for three touchdowns in UT's 42-17 win over Louisiana Tech, offensive coordinator Randy Sanders was asked to compare Ainge with Peyton Manning at the same point in their careers.

"We're putting a little bit more on Erik than we did when Peyton was a freshman,'' Sanders said. "We had a pretty good defensive team in '94 and we had two senior backs who were very productive and we were really good up front.

"I think Erik is playing very well. But it's almost unfair to start comparing him to Peyton Manning yet because Peyton was pretty good."

Let's compare Ainge's first three games with Manning's first three starts because Manning didn't play extensively before he started.

In his first start against Washington State, Manning completed 7 of 14 passes for 79 yards. He talked about missing his target when he tried to go deep.

In his next start against Arkansas, he was 12-of-18 for 157 yards with an interception. Again, Manning talked about being disappointed he didn't connect on the long ball.

Against Alabama in his third start, Manning hit 10-of-18 passes but he also threw two interceptions. He led the Vols to the Tide's 7-yard-line at the end, but a fourth-down pass fell incomplete. Fulmer noted that Manning threw left to the strong side of the field, but he should have gone to the weak side where a receiver was open.

Ainge isn't perfect. He might make that mistake or worse in a game. However, this might be the most telling remark about him.

"Erik is maybe a little more fearless in making the throws than Brent (Schaeffer),'' Sanders said.

"The guy throws it where he wants to. Rarely does he throw a bad ball. He doesn't necessarily see everything that he will in a couple of years. He might not know quite as much as he will in a couple of years. But he throws the ball where he wants to. Boy, that's a great attribute to have."

The best thing that happened to Tennessee might have been highly touted quarterback Brian Brohm of Louisville Trinity High committing to Louisville.

The thinking at the time was that the Vols would have to "settle" for a less talented quarterback. Who could have predicted then that Ainge would look more impressive than Manning did at this point in his career?

Not a bad start for a guy who wasn't even a top-10 quarterback prospect.

Gary Lundy may be reached at 865-342-6274.