Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer was very tight-lipped this week about the injury status of one of the Volunteers’ key starters.
Junior quarterback Erik Ainge is listed as questionable to play in Saturday’s game between No. 8 Tennessee (7-1, 3-1) and No. 13 LSU (6-2, 2-2) at 2:30 p.m. on CBS. Ainge sprained his ankle Saturday against the University of South Carolina and practiced Wednesday for this first time this week.
Both junior quarterback Erik Ainge and red-shirt freshman quarterback Jonathan Crompton practiced this week for the Volunteers.
“We’re not sure just exactly how all of this is going to work out,” Fulmer said after Wednesday’s practice.
Ainge or Crompton, LSU coach Les Miles said the Tigers prepared no differently.
“We prepare for their best,” Miles said. “We’ve looked at the few snaps the other quarterback has played. I can imagine if adrenaline and ‘want to’ has anything to do with it, they’ll have [Ainge] ready.”
As the Tigers continued their weekly preparation, there was one factor that several players said was an issue for Saturday’s game.
“We can’t kill ourselves – that’s what we did in [Auburn, Ala. and Gainesville, Fla.],” LSU junior running back Jacob Hester said. “We’ve got to finish. It wasn’t anything their defense did.” Doing the little things, Hester said, could help the Tigers net their first victory this season against a top-25 opponent.
“The way we move the ball, we know we’re capable of finishing,” Hester said. “Like I said, it’s all us – it’s stuff we did. It’s not anything [our opponents] did.”
LSU senior wide receiver Dwayne Bowe echoed Hester’s thoughts, saying many of the Tigers’ miscues this season have been self-inflicted wounds.
“The other games, we felt like we could have done more,” Bowe said. “The coaches keep talking about finishing.”
In LSU’s first road game of the season, the Tigers could not complete a furious, last-minute comeback in Auburn. Junior quarterback JaMarcus Russell’s desperation completion to senior wide receiver Craig Davis came up four yards short of the end zone in the 7-3 loss.
To go along with finishing strong, several LSU players talked about having a short memory when the momentum swings out of LSU’s favor.
“It’s very hard [to forget bad plays] when you come back to the sidelines and the fans are jarring at you,” said Bowe, who hinted that bad plays may have snowballed and contributed to LSU’s loss against the University of Florida.
LSU senior defensive end Chase Pittman said forgetting about bad plays is crucial to a team’s success and the psyche of a player.
“Other teams are going to make big plays,” Pittman said. “We’ve just got to respond to it and don’t get down. When you get down, don’t stay down.”
Miles said he is less concerned about his team’s focus and feels they understand how they must play to be victorious.
“We talked about poise, and we talked about a veteran team that goes on the road and understands that there’ll be swings of momentum,” Miles said. “And that they have to keep their composure. I don’t think that’s a serious issue.”
One way the Tigers can stay focused during the game is to execute effectively.
On defense, Pittman said the Tigers have one goal in place for the Volunteers – pressure Ainge.
“If we can’t sack him, we’re going to try to put him on the ground,” Pittman said. “If we can’t put him on the ground, we’re going to try to get our hands in his face and alter his throw a little bit. Hopefully we can come in Saturday and mess him up a little bit – kind of get him off his rhythm.”
In the 2005 game at home against the Volunteers, LSU consistently pressured Ainge and forced him out the game by halftime.
In the 30-27 overtime loss, Ainge complete 7 of 19 passes for 54 yards and one interception.
Offensively, Hester said establishing a running game would go a long way in taking the pressure off everyone on the field.
“We’ve got to establish [the run] early this game and not have to go to the pass as much,” Hester said.
Miles gave no clues during the week on who will start at tailback.
Regardless of what offensive or defensive game plan the Tigers implement, Hester said he knows Saturday’s game against Tennessee has massive implications.
“We definitely know we need to get this win,” Hester said. “We knew we had to get a win to prove ourselves and save our season.”
—–Contact Kyle Whitfield at [email protected]