Rocky Top Talking Points: Tuesday

by Joel Hollingsworth on Sep 12, 2006 7:39 AM EDT in Tennessee Volunteer Football

As Sunday Morning Quarterback astutely observes, this weekend is College Football Nirvana, (best read with John Facenda, aka "the Voice of God," in mind) with several huge national games and traditional rivalries. Let's see, we have LSU at Auburn, Florida at Tennessee, Michigan at Notre Dame, Clemson at Florida State, Miami at Louisville, Nebraska at Southern Cal, and more. All this weekend.
Vol fans, go to the Pontiac web site and vote for Xavier Mitchell's game-saving play against Air Force for this week's Pontiac Game Changing Performance. Voting ends at midnight Wednesday, I believe. I couldn't get the video to work in either IE or Firefox, but the vote link works.
Erik Ainge leads the nation with an impressive 226.63 passing efficiency. Ainge is 35 of 47 for 624 yards and seven TDs after only two games. According to UT's media guide, Ainge was 66 of 145 for 737 yards and five TDs. He has improved his efficiency rating a whopping 136.69 points, up from 89.94 last season. Ainge was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week. Ainge appears to have perspective as well: he's not focusing on his lofty stats, but on the interception that could have cost the Vols the game.
Receiver Robert Meachem ranks second among all NCAA Division I-A players with a total of 297 receiving yards, an average of 148.5 per game. His four TDs tie him for ninth on the D-IA scoring list. Meachem had 29 catches for for 383 yards and two TDs all last season.
The defense: Oy. Brian said it best. "Holy bipolar, batman!"
Quote of the week, from UT linebacker Jerod Mayo:

"Those guys never quit. I'm glad they're in our military. They played until the fourth quarter. We were up two touchdowns, and those guys kept coming after us. They had a wonderful scheme."

(emphasis mine).
Bad. Bad. Bad. Just awful. Defensive tackle Justin Harrell won't play the rest of the season. Cornerback Inky Johnson may never play again.
Corn from a Jar explains the close win over Air Force.