Pennington: Ainge's season is adding up with UT's best

"I complain very little because it's better than it was." -- Fastball

Last Sunday on my television show, we received a couple of calls from Vol fans wanting to see Jonathan Crompton play more. I then listened to talk radio this week and heard more of the same. "Why can't we play Crompton more?"

Last week's rough start for Erik Ainge apparently had a lot of folks saying, "Here we go again," before he led the Vols to their winning scoring score.

Now the vast majority of folks realize the kind of year Ainge is having and are happy to have him as their starting QB. But even a few of those people want Tennessee to use Crompton in the same way that Florida uses Tim Tebow.

(Note on Florida: Tennessee doesn't have their offensive line and Crompton doesn't have Tebow's linebacker-sized body.)

During the Casey Clausen era, as much as he was maligned, there was no clear-cut back-up who fans wanted to see. And during Peyton Manning' years, no one was calling for Tee Martin.

So, knowing the statistical start that Ainge has gotten off to, I went back to check how his season is stacking up to the best years of Manning, Clausen, Martin, Heath Shuler, etc.

What I found was that it doesn't compare to most of those guys' best seasons. It's better.

If you break down Ainge's numbers over the first seven games of the season and pro-rate them over a 13-game season (bowl game stats do count in the final record books), you'll find that Ainge is on pace for the second best season in UT passing history. Only Manning's senior year was better.

There have been only two 3,000 plus-yard seasons in UT history, both by Manning. Ainge is on pace to throw for more than 3,600.

There have been only three quarterbacks with more than 25 touchdown passes in a season (Manning, Clausen, and Shuler). Ainge is on pace to throw 26.

The odds of Ainge living up to these pro-rated numbers are 50-50. The weather is turning colder and wetter. Jayson Swain is now a question mark the rest of the way with a nagging ankle injury. And the more the Vols pass, the more their opponents will gear their defenses to stop the air attack.

But even with a slight second half drop-off, Ainge is having one of the best seasons ever. As a quarterback at Tennessee, if your numbers compare to Manning's, you're walking on holy ground.

Crompton will have two years as a starter AFTER Ainge leaves. Crompton can wait. Martin waited behind Manning. And it sure worked out for Tee.

"I like big butts and I cannot lie." -- Sir Mix-A-Lot

Last weekend, I brought in a group of out-of-town buddies (big-time college football fans) to experience The Third Saturday in October. I heard the same comments from them that I always hear when I bring in friends who've attended games across America.

"Great atmosphere." "Loud." "Love the band." "Awesome."

Then there's one other thing that is always said. "This is the most uncomfortable stadium I've ever been in."

People are crammed, literally crammed, into Neyland Stadium. But what if there was a solution that gave fans a chance for bigger seats AND gave UT a chance to make more money (which is the only way they would do something like this)?

Well here's a fun, little plan for what I call "Big Butt Sections" at Neyland.

Seating capacity for fans is currently 102,038. Of those, 91,466 seats are the small, 21-inch bleacher seats spread across 76 total sections.

That's a total of 1,920,786 inches of bleacher seats in Neyland Stadium. And that's an average of 25,273 inches of seats per section, which equals about 1,203 seats per section.

Let's say UT decided to create a "Big Butt Section." In that area, the seats would be expanded by four fabulous inches. Think of it, 25 inches of luxury (OK, I'm playing it up, but still four inches is a lot less of your neighbor's elbow in your ribs).

In that section, 25-inch seats would drop the seating capacity from 1,203 to 1,011. With a big game (Cal, Florida, Alabama, etc) ticket price of $50 per seat, UT would lose 192 seats and $9,600 per game.

But (that's "but" with a single "t"), if the Vols raised the price of a ticket in that "Big Butt Section" to $59.50, they recoup the lost cash. And, just to make it more alluring for the UT Athletic Department, let's say they raise the ticket price an even $10 to $60 per seat. That's an extra $510 per game in the "Big Butt Section."

Now, are there 1,011 people out there willing to pay an extra $10 per ticket just to get four extra inches of seat? Make that 1,010 ... 'cause I'm in.

"You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em." -- Kenny Rogers

Finally, a quick number for the gamblers out there. No one likes the new clock rules in college football. Not even the folks in Las Vegas.

On a recent weekend, 27 of 43 major games came in under the Vegas over/under line. That's a 62.4 percent swing toward the under. That's an edge.

And it's something that big-time gamblers are paying close attention to right now. Will Vegas figure out how the clock rules are affecting scoring? Eventually. But for now, examine the over/under lines closely if you like to wager on college games.