Shaping up to be best Ainge ever

Photo by Cathy Clarke
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Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge looks to make a pass against California in last year’s season opener.

For the last few weeks of spring practice, Erik Ainge got a new look at Tennessee football.

For the first time in ages, he was outside the huddle. He stood on the sidelines, reading his teammates’ body language instead of an opposing safety.

He got a bird’s-eye view rarely provided a quarterback from the pressbox next to offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe.

Sure, he missed the last seven practices with a torn meniscus in his right knee that required minor surgery. Through that point Ainge was having a stellar spring. And he’s having a pretty good summer, too.

“He’s in good shape,” says Cutcliffe. “He’s throwing full speed.”

If anyone could make a case for taking it easy, it’s Ainge.

He answered all doubters by completing a school-record 67 percent of his passes for nearly 3,000 yards and 19 touchdowns in his first year under Cutcliffe.

Ainge, who enters his senior season fifth on UT’s career passing list with 5,178 yards, could pass both Jeff Francis and Andy Kelly if he has another season like 2006.

Perhaps for the first time in his college career, Ainge enters the season as a proven quantity. He’s experienced and game-savvy, even if Tennessee’s receivers aren’t.

But rather than rest on his accomplishments from last season, Ainge has packed on a few extra pounds in the weight room. He’s at 225 pounds now, and UT strength coach Johnny Long raved about his work ethic this summer.

Ainge’s spring injury opened the door for more snaps to go to backups sophomore Jonathan Crompton and freshman Nick Stephens. They got those extra plays, but neither player dropped many jaws.

In the final scrimmage and the Orange and White Game, Crompton went 28-for-56 with 254 yards, two interceptions and a touchdown. Stephens threw a combined five picks in the final two scrimmages.

Cutcliffe panned those performances immediately afterward, but after watching film said there were plenty of positive things Crompton and Stephens got done.

With the start of fall camp a little more than three weeks away, Cutcliffe is happy with what he’s heard from summer workouts.

“They’ve had a great summer,” he said. “Hearing them talk and hearing other players talk, it’s been really, really good from a standpoint of leadership and work ethic. I couldn’t be more pleased with what I’m hearing.”

Crompton showed more than second-string talent with gritty performances against LSU and Arkansas.

Those games came with Ainge nursing an ankle injury he suffered on a quarterback draw late in a victory at South Carolina.

And if there’s one uncertainty left about Ainge, it’s durability.

In addition to the ankle injury that caused him to miss most of those two games last season, Ainge missed four games as a freshman after suffering a separated shoulder on the final play of the first half against Notre Dame.

But two of those injuries were probably more a product of playcalls than anything else. Ainge mused in spring that his torn meniscus could date all the way back to high school.

Despite a lighter workload in the spring, Ainge is a proven entity, and that’s not lost on UT coach Phillip Fulmer.

“When you start with a senior quarterback that has played well in this league, that’s a really good feeling,” Fulmer said. “That’s a real comforting feeling for this football team.”

Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.