30 is the magic number

The Vols have scored 30 points or more in five of their six games this season.

Their record? 5-1.

The Vols have hit that magic number in 52 of 80 games during David Cutlcliffe's two stints as offensive coordinator.

Their record? 50-2.

If there's a magic number for Tennessee's offense, it's 30.

"Big games, we know that as good as our defense is, if we can score 30 most of the time we're going to win," UT junior quarterback Erik Ainge said. "You can't score 50 and then score 20. If we score 50, great. But we need to score 30 each week."

This week the No. 7 Vols (5-1, 1-1 SEC) return to action following their lone bye week of the season against Alabama (5-2, 2-2) at 3:30 this afternoon in Neyland Stadium (TV: WVLT).

The Vols are averaging 35.2 points a game, more than a touchdown per game better than every other team except league-leader LSU.

Led by Ainge, the Vols have the SEC's most productive offense.

Ainge himself leads the league in total offense with 269 yards a game.

Robert Meachem is the best receiver -- topping Alabama's DJ Hall by 12 yards -- with 112.5 yards a game.

But numbers have a way of becoming irrelevant the third weekend in October.

"Playing Alabama isn't necessarily one of those games when you throw for 400 and run for 150," Ainge said. "It's where you throw for whatever you need to do to get done."

The teams' recent history proves as much.

Last season, the Vols struggled mightily, giving up three key fumbles and gaining 253 yards of total offense in a 6-3 loss in Tuscaloosa.

In 2004, the Vols ground out a 17-13 victory in Knoxville.

In 2003, the teams combined for 93 points in a five-overtime thriller that lasted nearly five hours and ended in a 51-43 Tennessee victory.

Needless to say, Tennessee wouldn't mind a high-scoring game.

Ainge has thrown for more than 250 yards in each of his last three games with seven touchdowns to one interception.

Senior receiver Jayson Swain is expected to play despite a nagging ankle injury he suffered two weeks ago against Georgia.

He's also been sacked just once over that stretch and an SEC-best five times this season.

The running game has steadily improved with tailback Arian Foster's return against the Bulldogs.

Alabama running back Kenneth Darby has had a resurgence of late, too.

After struggling early, the senior rushed for 277 of his 583 yards this season in the Tide's last two games (Duke and Ole Miss).

Still, the preseason second-team All-SEC back has yet to score a touchdown.

Sophomore quarterback John Parker Wilson is on pace for almost 3,000 yards this season, which would be a school record.

Helping his cause are Hall, who has topped 100 receiving yards in five straight games, and Keith Brown.

Those two have caught 66 passes for 1,116 yards and eight scores this season.

Not only are they productive, they're dangerous.

Hall's average touchdown catch is 39 yards. Brown's career average is 41.7 yards per touchdown catch, although his longest in 2006 is 35.

On defense, Alabama alternates between a three- and four-man front.

That leaves the Tide playing a lot of man-to-man coverage in the secondary, something the Vols have been able to take advantage of.

"What they say is you're not going to be able to consistently throw the ball against our one-on-one coverage," Ainge said. "They change it up and run different coverages, but that's their bread and butter."

Tennessee signature has been the 30-point mark.

To hit that today, the Vols will have to break a streak of six quarters without a touchdown against Alabama.

On Monday, Ainge said Tennessee would change that.

Swain hopes they do it early.

"They're definitely going to challenge us," the Huntsville, Ala., native said. "They'll be flying around, jumping around in the first quarter. We've got to knock that out of them quick."

The Vols are an 11-point favorite against the Tide, but guard David Ligon knows that isn't worth much.

Not in this series, anyway.

"It's close pretty much every year," he said. "Just what kind of game is it going to be? Is it going to be like last year where it's 6-3 or is it going to be like '03 where the score adding up was almost 100 points?"

That's anybody's guess.

But if the Vols hit 30 points, the winner will be a much safer bet.