Checking In With Erik

#1
orange+white=heaven

orange+white=heaven

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#1
A conversation with our senior QB is this morning's offering from TFP's Gentry Estes. This article tends to support what we've been hearing throughout the offseason; Erik has finally become the leader of his football team. Good things happen when a team's leadership has it's priorities straight...

tfpOnline:Saving his best for last

Life changed again for Tennessee's starting quarterback when he officially became a senior. A sense of grave responsibility is driving Ainge into the final quarter of a career that while not always positive, has certainly never been boring.

Looking back on the past three seasons, Ainge conceded it has gone too fast. He said the wide-ranging experiences -- "more good than bad" -- have shaped him into who he is now, the unquestioned leader of a young team that needs one.
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He has recovered from minor knee surgery and feels 100 percent heading into preseason practice. At first, it scared him to hear the recovery time for his meniscus tear could drag into late summer. But the removal of the tissue was simple, and Ainge was moving around within days.

"I haven't missed throwing once because of it," Ainge said. "Last summer, I got in a car wreck and missed a week-and-a-half of throwing. I haven't had anything like that this summer. I'm stronger than I was last year."
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As UT coach Phillip Fulmer noted, "Erik has taken charge of our team."
And everyone is all for that. This is Ainge's squad. He now carries a presence, demanding respect that underclassmen seldom earn. When Ainge speaks, the Volunteers listen, be it on the field, weight room or meeting rooms.

"Of everybody that's changed the most, I would say Erik has," UT center Josh McNeil said. "What he's done this summer, the leader he's become, everybody on this offense knows Erik is the leader of our offense. There's no question."
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Ainge has been throwing twice a week to the new receivers. He has also been pulling 12-hour days, going in at 7 a.m. and leaving at 7 p.m., making sure the rookies know what do on each play so time won't be spent teaching basics.
It's what offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe envisioned all along.
"You've got to have seniors play like seniors," Cutcliffe said, "and that's what I've challenged him with. That means all the time, everything he does."
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"There's a lot things that you're playing for," Ainge said. "But ultimately, it's playing for the guys right next to you, the ones that have been sweating with you, bleeding with you, and winning and losing with you for three years."
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Have a great weekend friends...
 
#2
#2
Thanks. If Ainge can just stay healthy all season then I feel we will be in Atlanta come the first week of December.
 
#3
#3
I dunno. The East is stacked this year. Florida is obviously very good, I think Georgia will be good again, and South Carolina only continues to get better under Spurrier. Not to mention Kentucky's actually a .500 program at the moment.
 
#6
#6
I don't know why but I have a really good feeling about this season.

The comments I read lead me to believe that the work ethic and chemistry is there for a SEC title run. And as much as all the experts are picking us to lose all our big games, I look at those games and no team looks any better than us. I honestly, if given the chance to pick any team in the east's situation with players, I would pick ours.
 
#7
#7
Ericvol2096 said:
I don't know why but I have a really good feeling about this season.

The comments I read lead me to believe that the work ethic and chemistry is there for a SEC title run. And as much as all the experts are picking us to lose all our big games, I look at those games and no team looks any better than us. I honestly, if given the chance to pick any team in the east's situation with players, I would pick ours.
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It sure would be nice if we had an offensive line, a defensive line, and at least a single returning wide receiver with over 10 catches last season. Ainge will play well this year. The question is whether wide receivers will run the correct routes and actually catch the ball when it hits them in the hands.
 
#8
#8
It's kind of like the '98 season....no one just overwhelimingly the face of the team but just an all around good chemistry in the making...
 
#9
#9
Id really be worried if it was like 05 when everyone had us ranked 2 or 3 and talked as if it was the best team to come out of Knox.
 
#10
#10
CSpindizzy said:
It's kind of like the '98 season....no one just overwhelimingly the face of the team but just an all around good chemistry in the making...
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You guys saying stuff like this are just insane. Did we have questions about EITHER our offensive or defensive lines going into the 98 season? NO. Did we have returning wide receivers with a lot of experience? YES. Did we have the worst producing running back corp in the past 40 years at UT returning to our team in 98? NO.

You're right. It looks SO MUCH like the 98 squad.
 
#11
#11
Vol423 said:
It sure would be nice if we had an offensive line, a defensive line, and at least a single returning wide receiver with over 10 catches last season. Ainge will play well this year. The question is whether wide receivers will run the correct routes and actually catch the ball when it hits them in the hands.
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These things you say we do not have, we do have.
What is missing is that you have not seen this year's unit perform yet. I understand the doubts, just don't write off that which you have not seen as nonexistent...
 
#12
#12
orange+white=heaven said:
These things you say we do not have, we do have.
What is missing is that you have not seen this year's unit perform yet. I understand the doubts, just don't write off that which you have not seen as nonexistent...
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The last time our offensive and defensive lines took the field in a game, they proved that they suck. Until they prove that's changed on the field, they still suck. These wide receivers haven't really even seen the field. They're total question marks.
 
#13
#13
Vol423 said:
The last time our offensive and defensive lines took the field in a game, they proved that they suck. Until they prove that's changed on the field, they still suck. These wide receivers haven't really even seen the field. They're total question marks.
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You can take comfort in the knowledge that a great many hereabout share your concise opinion.

Me, I believe each year's team is it's own animal.
The offensive line specifically, I expect to show the vast improvement that will be needed to run the ball again.

Call my optimism what you will...
 
#14
#14
The east is not stacked this year. Florida and Georgia have major questionmarks, particularly on defense. South Carolina looks to be quite impotent on offense, and KY? Please..... their defense is the worst in the east. They are one major injury away from being 4-8.
 
#15
#15
Vol423 said:
You guys saying stuff like this are just insane. Did we have questions about EITHER our offensive or defensive lines going into the 98 season? NO. Did we have returning wide receivers with a lot of experience? YES. Did we have the worst producing running back corp in the past 40 years at UT returning to our team in 98? NO.

You're right. It looks SO MUCH like the 98 squad.
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And to add a bit of irrelevant trivia I saw the other day... 98 was the last time we opened up on the road.
 
#16
#16
I love "quote of the day":

"The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised. " - George F. Will
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#20
#20
Vol423 said:
The last time our offensive and defensive lines took the field in a game, they proved that they suck. Until they prove that's changed on the field, they still suck. These wide receivers haven't really even seen the field. They're total question marks.
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How did the 1998 team look their last time on the field before the Syracuse game?
 
#22
#22
And no, before he replies and claims that I'm putting the 1998 and 2007 UT football teams on equal ground, I'm not... just saying, though.
 
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