Well, that was refreshing. The early morning rain had cleared the air. The sun was warm and the breeze was cool.

And like the local Bradford Pears and dogwoods awaking from a cold, desolate winter to push out new growth, the Tennessee Volunteer offense was showing signs of life.

Robert Meachem had a banner day, catching a pair of touchdown passes, one of which went for 70 yards. Talk about a sight for sore eyes. Bret Smith was, as is his nature, quietly consistent with seven catches for 47 yards and one touchdown. And lo and behold, the tight ends were catching passes, 10 of them to be exact.

Erik Ainge solidified his position as starting quarterback, completing 14 of 22 passes for a total of 210 yards and two touchdowns. Crompton and Hardegree did fine, together completing 24 of 29 passes for 152 yards and one touchdown. Hardegree did throw one interception.

The emphasis on tempo was evident, as Ainge got his team in and out of the huddle quickly. Crompton, on the other hand, got a Jumbotron tongue-lashing from coach Cutcliffe after calling his third timeout early in the first half. Good news, all of it. Still unanswered, however, is Ainge’s decision-making under duress. That really can’t be tested in a green jersey, and he did in fact give up two (I think) sacks due to not getting rid of the ball quick enough.

The defense had its moments as well. Linebackers Rico McCoy and James Turner each had seven tackles.
Uruk-Hai look-alike Jonathan Wade (that’s a compliment; I think it looks cool) had one interception,
and Robert Ayers and Demonte’ Bolden recovered one fumble a piece.

Fulmer on the quarterbacks:

David Cutcliffe has been great for all of those guys. We were in and out of the huddle, especially early. I thought Erik had a really good game except for the two sacks. I’ve been really impressed with Jonathan Crompton, considering he hasn’t played any football since high school. And Bo has had a really good spring.

Fulmer on the receivers:

The receivers were better out there because they are blocking their rears off and catching it more consistently. They are trying to do more things with the football after they catch it.

Fulmer on the offense in general:

If you don’t drop balls, have turnovers and have silly sacks, you have a chance to be successful because we have enough talent to break a tackle or make a play in the passing game that’s going to give us some points. That’s what we did not do offensively last year.

Fulmer on the defense:

We had a really good spring. We closed ground in some areas. We can’t possibly be as experience as we were last year in the linebacker corps but those guys are just really doing well. They are playing with great attitude.

Justin [Harrell] has played well all spring and Matt McGlothlin has pushed himself into position where we’re going to be counting on him. His play since the spring break has been as consistent as anybody on our football team. And the secondary has been a strength all spring.

Fulmer on spring practice overall:

You could describe the spring as a success for probably one reason and that’s that our kids learned how to work again as hard as they are supposed to. If we will stay that course and make the improvements at the positions where we need to improve, we’ll get there.

We’ve just finished phase two of what we’re trying to get done. I think we’ve made some strides. Sometimes before you really appreciate the peaks — and we’ve been on a lot of peaks — you’ve got to go into the valleys. Basically, that’s how I’ve described it to our football team this year. We’re doing everything we can to fight and scratch and take each little step we can to get ourselves back where want to be and that’s at the peak.

The kids have had a good attitude but our summer program will be one of the deciding factors on what kind of football team we will have. We actually moved spring practice ahead by two weeks to give us a longer summer cycle. I’ve seen young people change their bodies during the summer, particularly the young guys and we’re going to be counting on a lot of young guys next season.

My own slideshow is coming soon. If I don’t mow the lawn today, I’m going to need a bush-hog.

UTSports.com has video highlights and audio interviews with coach Fulmer.

For those lucky or early enough to get into Thompson-Boling Arena for Fan Day, it apparently looked like this. I wouldn’t know, because I was number 12,000 or so in line waiting to go through the single door in Thompson-Boling they had opened for the occasion.

It’s The Question.

It was the question two years ago after former Tennessee Volunteer quarterback Casey Clausen had exhausted his eligibility. Who would replace Clausen? Sixth-year senior C.J. Leak? Or one of the dazzling freshman, Erik Ainge or Brent Schaeffer? And what exactly was Rick Clausen thinking? Did he really expect to play?

We know how that turned out. Sort of. Ainge and Schaeffer were named “co-starters,” with Schaeffer actually taking the first snap, and the two of them handling the rotation fairly well. Leak switched positions and then barely played. Then Schaeffer was injured against South Carolina, and Ainge was injured against Notre Dame. Behold, Rick Clausen, who saved the season.

It was also the question last year. All of last year. Who would lead the team, Clausen or Ainge?

We know how that turned out as well. Let’s call it . . . um . . . “not good.”

It’s still the question two full years later. Who’s our quarterback? Is there Life after Death Valley for Erik Ainge? Will the promising young Jonathan Crompton overtake Ainge? Will Ahead-to-the-Past offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe work his Manning/Shuler/Martin mojo on either of them?

The Question. Who’s our quarterback?

And while we don’t have The Answer, there are some little “a” answers.

Ainge’s mistakes last year were on display for the Big Orange Nation, but his biggest mistake did not come to light until this past week.

We didn’t learn until after the last snap that Ainge had turf toe much of last season. And while it was apparent that he did not have a solid grasp of what was happening last year, he admitted neither his toe injury nor his confusion to the coaches.

The coaching staff tried to hand the entire playbook to Ainge and let him run with it, but Ainge simply did not understand it all. Said Ainge, “I could tell watching myself that I was confused. I was dropping back and I was confused. Not confused on what route guys were running, but trying to be too precise and too perfect.”

His biggest mistake? Not telling the coaches. So why did he keep it all to himself?

There was a quarterback contest going on. “I felt I had to try and keep pace,” Ainge said. “It would be one thing if I was the guy or the starter and I said this was too much and we need to make it more simple. That would be one thing. But when the whole offense is doing something and there is a quarterback who can handle it, for me to say we need to tone the whole offense down and back down a notch, that is tough. Looking back should I have said some, yeah, but you never know if that would have meant that I would have never played at all. I think it kind of depends on the position of the quarterback. If you are “the” guy then you can say, hey I don’t like that or I want to do more of that. You are kind of like a coach in that setting.”

Well, now that they know, what are they doing about it?

They’re keeping it simple. They’re working on fundamentals. Cutcliffe is breaking Ainge down and re-coaching his mechanics. He’s teaching him to listen. He is explaining why defenses are doing what they are doing rather than just teaching recognition of alignments. Players will not have options. For example, if wide receivers are to run a route, they are to run that route with precision regardless of the circumstances. Said Ainge, “I am going to get him running this route so good that you know he is going to be there.”

As coach Cutcliffe is re-coaching the fundamentals, he is rebuilding Ainge’s confidence. “The way you gain confidence is absolutely knowing you what to do with the ball every time the ball is snapped.”

So who’s the quarterback? Is there Life after Death Valley for Erik Ainge?

It’s too soon to tell, but Coach Cutcliffe’s Reanimation of Erik Ainge project is well underway. And there’s a live one on the shelf just in case.

Florida Gator blog Every Day Should Be Saturday has an excellent year-end award post. WARNING: Some serious Netnanny violations here. My computer was tsk-tsking the whole time I was laughing.

The first installment consists of a list of . . . let’s see . . . paraphrasing here . . . what-in-the-world-happened awards. The Tennessee Volunteers top the list:

Should win the national . . . award for disappointment, blown expectations, and squandered talent on a single 1-A squad. For sum total dysfunction, no team rivaled the toxicity of the Knoxville crew: an off-season straight from the scenes of The Program, top 5 preseason rankings combined with the coach’s very public high expectations for the team, and a mismanaged qb rotation between Casey Rick Clausen and Eric Ainge that became the locus for a season-long offensive catastrophe.

EDSBS said it was so bad that even to Gators fans, “it brought little joy to see the flaming shambles that this program had become by the end of the season.”

Vollum.

Vollum.

Scout.com’s Jimmy Hyams has an excellent article today on the rebuilding of Erik Ainge. Hyams wonders whether David Cutcliffe will mean to Erik Ainge:

• what Galen Hall meant to Penn State’s Michael Robinson;
• what Norm Chow meant to Southern Cal’s Carson Palmer;
• what Al Borges meant to Auburn’s Jason Campbell; and
• what Charlie Weiss meant to Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn.

Let’s hope.

Dave Hooker and Jeff Jacoby recently interviewed former Tennessee Volunteer wide receiver C.J. Fayton. Some snippets:

I do think the chemistry was a problem this year with the offense. Especially just with the offense. It’s kind of hard going back from quarterback to quarterback. Who’s going to start this game? Who’s going to start that game, to really get in a rhythm. When Rick was in the game, everything just seemed to flow a little bit better. That was obvious from spring to the offseason to the fall workouts. Ainge went in there and started the season off and everything just wasn’t right.

* * * *

You had half the team wanting to go with this guy and half the team thinking that we should go with this guy. Coach Fulmer had to make the decision. That’s what he gets paid for and that’s what he did.

* * * *

I don’t think [it]‘s fair (to say that players harder for the quarterback of their choice). I think we played hard for whoever’s in the game because we all want to win the game. But I think when Rick was in the game, the offense just flowed a little bit better and everything just seemed to go a lot smoother. Rick’s attitude and mentality is so much different from Ainge. He was more laid back, and I think he relaxed a lot of people in the huddle. His personality really came out on the field.

* * * *

Having somebody like Rick over your shoulder doesn’t help at all. I think [Ainge] was just in a tough situation.

We told [Ainge], “We believe in you. We know you can get it done. Just make the plays you’re used to making.”

I think next year he’ll be a lot better by it just being his show. It’s his job to lose.

John Pennington has some advice for Coach Phillip Fulmer:

Run, Forest Foster, run!

And don’t let Ainge throw the ball unless absolutely necessary. When it’s necessary, don’t roll him out, and make him throw quick and short until he gets his confidence. Oh, and pray the receivers catch the thing.

Pennington’s gut is telling him the Vols will win today, but his head is no longer listening.

John Pennington has thoughts on Tennessee basketball, the Beer Barrel, the Cutcliffe hype, Erik Ainge’s earrings, Coach Fulmer’s tenure, and the odds of Tennessee beating Kentucky this weekend.

Jimmy Hyams makes a case (subscription required) for why the Volunteers need to re-hire David Cutcliffe as its Offensive Coordinator:

Cutcliffe is an outstanding coach. He is a solid play caller. He can develop quarterbacks. Each quarterback he had during his Tennessee tenure improved. He is demanding in practice. He is a disciplinarian. He pays attention to detail.

If anyone can get Erik Ainge out of his funk, it’s David Cutcliffe.

Hyams’ main point is that the Vols need Cutcliffe as soon as possible and that they need to get to a bowl game so that Cutcliffe has more time to work his magic.

If the Vols don’t win against Vanderbilt this Saturday and Kentucky the following Saturday, they will not be bowl eligible, and they won’t be able to practice again until March. That would be too late.

Go Vols!

One more game, and the jury is still out on the Is There Life After Death Valley for Erik Ainge question:

Just last week Ainge was telling a circle of reporters how he had come to realize the importance of dumping the ball off to a running back instead of trying to force a pass downfield. Here’s the exact quote:

“Just because they call a play with three verticals (deep routes) doesn’t mean I have to throw one of the verticals. We have a lot of layoffs and stuff. That’s one thing I’ve gotten away from. I’ve been trying to make stuff happen down the field.”

That comment suggested Ainge had seen the error of his ways and would not be throwing any more ill-advised passes like the ones against LSU (Game #3) and Notre Dame (Game #8) that were intercepted and returned for touchdowns.

“That’s not what I’ve been coached to do,” he said. “If it’s not open, throw it to the running back. A lot of times watching the film I’ve seen where we had guys open short and I was trying to stick something in downfield.

“I think that’s the biggest thing (he has learned) now: I’m going to give us a chance to make the big plays but I need to put us position where we’re not relying on those alone to win the game.”

Hearing these comments, you figured Ainge would go out and make sound decisions in Game 9 against Memphis. Instead, he threw an interception on his third pass attempt and another on his fourth.

Calling David Cutcliffe.

Calling David Cutcliffe.

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?