2007 Heisman Watch: Erik Ainge

Erik Ainge is the most accurate single-season passer in Tennessee history, having established a school record by completing 67 percent of his passes in 2006. He served notice for future UT opponents in 2004 by setting a school freshman record with 17 touchdown passes. Perhaps his best performance that year was against Florida, when he came off the bench to lead the Vols on four scoring drives, with three touchdown strikes, in a 30–28 win.

In his second career start as a true freshman, he quarterbacked the Volunteers to a 19–14 win at Georgia, and the following week he led his team on a fourth-quarter comeback to win 21–17 at Ole Miss.

Athlon's 2007 Heisman Watch

Ainge concluded his sophomore campaign with a 17-of-25 outing, including touchdown passes of 32 and 50 yards, to defeat Kentucky 27–8 in the season finale.

His 2006 worksheet shows 233 completions in 348 attempts for 19 touchdowns and just a hair under 3,000 yards, averaging 8.6 per attempt. He threw for four TDs in the season opener against Cal and again at Memphis, both UT victories. He was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week for two separate outings, and National Offensive Player of the Week for his performance at Georgia on Oct. 7.

Tennessee Team Preview

A highly recruited player out of Hillsboro, Ore., Ainge is the nephew of former Boston Celtics player Danny Ainge. Erik has all the confidence in the world in his own abilities, is not easily rattled and, at 6’6”, 220, he can see over the pass rush and dissect a defense. He has accumulated 5,178 passing yards over his first three years in Knoxville, and his career total of 41 touchdown passes ranks third in school history behind only Peyton Manning and Casey Clausen.

Why he’ll be holding the hardware: Ainge will be directing an offense coordinated by David Cutcliffe, a master at his craft. With a stable of tailbacks keeping opposing defenses focused on the running game, opportunities should arise for Ainge to compile huge passing numbers. And Heisman voters dig big numbers.

Why he’ll be left out: The wide receiver corps will be hard-pressed to recover from the early defection of Robert Meachem to the pros and the graduation of Jayson Swain and Bret Smith. That’s 159 catches and 22 touchdown grabs from 2006 — gone. The top three returning pass catchers from last season — tight ends Chris Brown and Brad Cottam, and wideout Lucas Taylor — combined for 59 catches with one touchdown last fall.

Final analysis: With an unproven receiver corps and a powerful, deep running game, Ainge will spend most of his time handing off. Not good for a QB in the Heisman race.
 
2006 Stat Line