UPDATE: This is Week Eleven. If you’re looking for the latest, see the Animated BCS Race to the Rose Bowl: Final Bowl Selections.

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Only a few weeks left to go, and the Race to the Rose Bowl is tightening:Alabama’s loss to the LSU Tigers left the USC Trojans and the Texas Longhorns as the only remaining unbeaten teams. Miami moves up to the third spot behind the unbeatens, and LSU vaults over the Hokies to the fifth position behind number four Penn State. Georgia dropped out of the top ten after a loss to Auburn and is replaced by Notre Dame.

Games remaining that either will or could impact the Race:

• Texas at Texas A&M, November 25, 2005 (12:00, ABC)
• UCLA at USC, December 3, 2005 (4:30, ABC)

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See the Race to the Rose Bowl from the beginning:

• Week Ten
• Week Nine
• Week Eight
• Week Seven
• Week Six
• Week Five
• Week Four
• Week Three
• Week Two
• Week One
• Preseason

Well, it’s been sort of a chore, but I have located some blogs about that contain some posts about Vanderbilt football. Self-proclaimed football masochist Jaybeascorpus recounts Vanderbilt’s season, from “pretty low” expectations, to the ‘dores four-game moment in the Spotlight, to the disappointing six-game skid.

Other bloggers sometimes posting on Vandy football include Salem’s Lots, Scott Rushing, and Aimlessly Wandering.

The official site of Vanderbilt Commodores Football is VUCommodores.com.

This week’s Uh-Oh Stat:

The Vanderbilt Commodores have scored 85 points in their last two games against the Florida Gators and the Kentucky Wildcats.

The Tennessee Volunteers have scored 73 points in their last five games.

Mike Strange has some rare praise for the Tennessee Volunteer wide receiver and special teams units:

That Rick Clausen’s 39-yard heave into the end zone was actually gathered in by a diving Briscoe was initially startling.

It wasn’t a circus catch. No Espy nomination. But it was the kind of difficult catch that has been rare enough to rate the endangered-species list around these parts.

Clausen’s other TD pass, a 15-yard strike to Fayton, was good execution on both ends.

That qualifies as doubly startling in a season when timing between dual quarterbacks and revolving-door receivers has been more elusive than Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

As for the kicking game, Hefney’s 36-yard return was the headliner. It provided field position for the first scoring drive.

Coverage teams were spot-on. Dustin Colquitt averaged 41.5 yards on six punts and had the directional angle working.

James Wilhoit continues to put kickoffs in the end zone and has quietly gotten in a field-goal groove, hitting eight of his past nine.

John Pennington on Tennessee Volunteer Quarterback Erik Ainge:

I have said for a couple of weeks that UT should turn the season over to Erik Ainge. “Ainge has more upside.” “Ainge will be back next year.” “If UT doesn’t want another QB controversy next year, they’d better see as much of Ainge as they can between now and the end of the season.”

Well, as Gilda Radner used to say, “Nevermind.”

All of the reasons for playing Ainge still hold true. Except for the last one. The coaches, after just 4 passes vs Memphis (and an almost carbon copy of his LSU start) should have already seen enough of Ainge to know what they’re dealing with:

A very fundamentally-flawed headcase.

Poor decisions come with 19-year-old QBs who’ve only started and completed 2 games. That’s part of growing up. Not every Vol QB is going to have Peyton Manning’s learning curve.

But terrible fundamentals on top of the mental errors can’t be accepted. A dumb pass might just be a dumb pass if it’s thrown well. A dumb pass thrown by someone who no longer even tries to set his feet… well, that’s death.

Of Ainge’s 4 passes vs Memphis, three times he failed to set his feet before throwing the ball (this includes the non-interception that was brought back due to a questionable “roughing the passer” call). On the other pass, the long, floating duck-like INT, Ainge had someone laying at his feet. So he couldn’t step into the pass. Rather than realizing this, he relied on that big arm of his and shotput a ball 25 yards down field.

The question remains: Is There Life After Death Valley for Erik Ainge?

Jimmy Hyams says UT must play Rick Clausen, not only in order to win, but to help Ainge recover:

So now what do you do if you’re Fulmer?

You hand the keys to Clausen. He has proven he can beat mediocre teams like Vanderbilt and Kentucky. He did it last year. He did it against Memphis.

You shut down Ainge. If you’ve got the shanks, stay away from the golf course for a few weeks or a few months. Don’t destroy Ainge’s confidence any longer.

Let your new offensive coordinator try to dig Ainge out of his dilemma.

But don’t let Ainge continue to bury himself, his confidence and his team.

But Pennington believes that Clausen won’t be able to beat Vanderbilt or Kentucky unless they’re dumb enough to blitz him.

Indeed, what do you do if you’re Fulmer?