1. Couldn't beat out Scheaffer (Ole Miss's current back up) during the fall practice of freshmen year
2. Had a flash of brilliance in the Florida game of 2004. Becomes starter. Struggles throughout the year against the likes of Ole Miss, Notre Dame and USC. Given longer leash and more chances to make mistakes than Scheaffer.
3. Needed a great play from Scheaffer in the closing minutes of the first half of the 2004 USC game to save his bacon and get Tennessee back in the football game.
4. Injured in the Notre Dame Game after another first half of struggling. Out for the season.
5. Finishes the season with stat lines such as 12-21 150 yds against UGA, 14-30 for 231 yards against lowly Ole Miss, 10-22 for 132 yards against Bama, 9-16 for 109 yards against USC, and 11-18 for 149 against Notre Dame.
6. Ainge and Scheaffer battle in the spring of 2005. Both put up similar numbers during those spring scimmages. Doesn't definitively separate himself from Scheaffer, who later becomes a receiver and second string QB at lowly Ole Miss. Scheaffer is dismissed.
7. Ainge and Clausen battle in the fall practices leading up to the 2005 season. Ainge and Clausen put up similar numbers in the fall scrimmages. Doesn't definitively separate himself from Rick Clausen, an LSU reject with a weak arm.
8. Struggles in the UAB game to open season. Has his bacon saved again, this time by Rick Clausen
10. The coaching staff continues to stroke Ainge's ego in the following game against Florida. Again, he struggles, going 14-29 for 147 yards.
11. 2005 LSU (no need to say anything else)
12. Doesn't play in the next 2 games against Ole Miss and Georgia.
13. Goes 0-2 against Alabama. Normally, a QB that puts up those kinds of numbers after a resume like this would never see the field again (see CJ Leak's 2-4 against UGA in 2003 and Brent Scheaffer's 1-5 and 0-1 stat lines against Auburn and Georgia).
14. The next week, Ainge sees the field in a loss against USC and goes 5-11 and 34 yards (CJ Leak would have been walking back to Charlotte after 2 straight games like this).
15. Randy Sanders falls on the sword for Ainge and Fulmer.
16. 13-32 for 187 against Notre Dame the following week...
17. 14-24 for 209 yards against Memphis
18. Didn't play in our loss against Vandy...
19. 17-25 for 221 against Kentucky (pre-Sanders)
20. No bowl for the Vols. Ainge has yet to win a bowl game (or even play in a bowl game).
21. Cutty comes in and "revamps" the offense. He continues the recent practice of stroking Ainge's ego and rebuilding his confidence
22. A preview of things to come, Cutty opens the season with a string of short passes to one of our few playmakers, Robert Meachem, and Meachem breaks 2 long runs after the catch for touchdowns. Tennessee football is back on track...
23. Ainges 1st 300 yard passing game comes against the the mighty Air Force Falcons who are just a two point conversion play away from upsetting the Vols in Knoxville. The excuse given at the time is that the option is hard to defend... another excuse by this coaching staff, but can't blame Ainge for this effort.
24. Ainge comes back to his normal self as he goes 17/32 for 183 yards (0 TD's and 2 ints) against Florida the following week.
25. A relatively solid effort by Ainge against Marshall as he goes 18-27 for 258 yards.
26. Dismal 1st half against Georgia. Allows a down UGA team to outsmart/outplay him in the first 30 minutes as the Vols go into haltime trailing 24-14. Then Ainge recaptures the same lightning in the bottle that he had in the 2004 Florida game and pulls out his "signature" win at the University of Tennessee as the Vols rally to a 51-33 win over Georgia.
27. Ainges second career 300 yard game against Alabama
28. 21-29 for 254 against USC in a 31-24 dogfight that still was in doubt until the last minute of play with Spurrier, until D. Morley intercepts a 4th and 2 pass and seals the victory for Rocky Top.
29. Ainge is injured again.
30. Against LSU, the coaching staff still hangs on to what faith they have left about Ainge being our best chance of winning and trots him out against LSU as he goes 1-6 for 3 yards. Crompton replaces him and puts up an Ainge-esque performance of 11-24 for 2 TD's.
31. Ainge still injured.
32. Ainge misses Arkansas game as Crompton goes a modest/Ainge-esque 16-34 for 174 yards. Had Ainge put up the same numbers, the coaching staff would have been impressed. But for Crompton, who is making his second start and has had less snaps, it is not good enough.
33. Ainge comes back and puts on a 21-26 performance against a Cutler-less Vandy squad.
34. 19-33 for 240 yards in a dogfight against a Kentucky team with a mediocre defense.
35. The Penn State bowl game loss. Ainge's record in bowl games is now 0-1.
36. Ainge injures meniscus during spring practice.
37. Ainge injures pinky a week before Cal game.
38. Ainge, already limited by his broken pinky, resists being pulled from game (as stated by Cutcliffe) and costs UT a chance at throwing downfield all game and checks out of a pass play on 3rd down approaching two minutes to go in the game. He aggrivates his pinky and injures his shoulder in the closing minutes of the game after a rough tackle by Cal. Tennessee is 0-1 for 2007.
39. 19-36 for 254 against a team that Tennessee should always beat in USM. Did throw the ball more downfield considerably more in this game, but coaching staff blames receivers for inabilty to go down field more often. Meanwhile, Troy St. manages to hang 31 on the Gators...
40. Florida... no downfield passing threats (again) and more excuses and more rhetoric about Ainge giving Tennessee the best shot at winning.
Discuss...