Has Ainge developed too quickly for his own good?

[TBALLVOL]

I mentioned in other posts that I thought Ainge may be too confident at this stage in the game. I noticed in the ALA. pregame warm ups that he appeared to be horsing around with his receivers too much and I questioned if this was his way to expel pregame jitters or was it a sign that he was way too confident for a freshman starting against one of TN's biggest rivalrys. The game didn't turn out to be one of his best and he appeared to be too comfortable and unfocused, just flinging passes out there for his receivers, instead of targeting them or a timed position. I do think that he has the potential to be as good, if not better than Peyton. But I hope that he hasn't got it into his head that he has arrived. The first two or three games he surprised the league with his ability, but he is no longer a surprise, and other teams have figured out that under pressure in tight games he will send passes out with a prayer. That might be why RS called so many running plays when it was obvious the running game was not running anywhere. If he had full confidence in Ainge, don't you think he would have pulled the trigger( except the one from the five yard line that was intercepted, that was a RS prayer). I wouldn't be surprised if Shaffer gets the start against S.C. just to unnerve them, and to show Eric that he doesn't walk on the water yet, and in the meantime, he needs to make sure he knows how to swim.

 

[TitanVol]

I have thought about the whole Schaeffer starting against SC strategy. It does seem that Ainge played better coming off the bench but that could be just because we were playing against inferior opponents. I think if Schaeffer does playyou have to call the plays to his ability. I don't think you can let him hand off or drop back in the pocket. You need to roll him out. Get him on the corner and let him try and make a play.

With that said, Schaeffer scares me a little in that I don't think he protects the football very well.

 

[TBALLVOL]

Yes I agree, Shaffer does have his down side. However he did have some success in those early starts and I would expect (or would hope) that he has learned to protect the ball. I would like to them do some play action passing and like you say, give him some plays designed for his abilities.

 

[Z06Vol]

Nope, no way. Start Ainge.

 

[GAVol]

Start Ainge and make Schaeffer hold the clipboard for Cooter and Clausen.

 

[allvol]

Originally posted by TBALLVOL@Oct 25, 2004 2:11 PM
( except the one from the five yard line that was intercepted, that was a RS prayer).

It is well documented that Ainge did go with the play that Sanders called. The play was supposed to be a fade to the corner of the endzone. With that play call, you either get a touchdown or an incompletion out of bounds. Then you get a shot at a field goal on 4th down if you don't score the touchdown on 3rd down.

After the interception against Ole Miss that turned the game on its end.... that is why I think CPF went with the conservative rushing attack in the 4th quarter and relied on the defense to win the game.

Ole Miss was having trouble moving on the Vols defense... and so was Alabama.

 

[afanalso]

We should continue to start Ainge. If something is working you DON'T change it.

 

[TitanVol]

Originally posted by afanalso@Oct 25, 2004 4:06 PM
We should continue to start Ainge. If something is working you DON'T change it.

So were you for keeping Schaeffer as the starter when that was working? I know many people posted that argument then.

 

[kiddiedoc]

Originally posted by TBALLVOL@Oct 25, 2004 2:11 PM
I wouldn't be surprised if Shaffer gets the start against S.C. just to unnerve them, and to show Eric that he doesn't walk on the water yet, and in the meantime, he needs to make sure he knows how to swim.

Are you suggesting that we bench the starter that led the team to wins over Georgia and Alabama, and rallied a flat offense to a last-minute road win over Ole Miss?

Tell you what, if I told you at the beginning of the season that we would have accomplished what we have thus far if we used a particular QB, would you have said, "well, let's start the other guy."

IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T TRY TO FIX IT!

 

[Gatorhater]

I think Ainge has a better grasp of the offense at this point. That said, I'm not ready to write Schaeffer off yet - he brings too much to the table to simply let him sit on the bench. Schaeffer simply has not led our offense on the type of drives that Ainge has - unfortunately for him, he needs to start soon or he'll get left behind. Ainge is having the kind of freshman year that leads to 3 more years as the starter - Crompton or not. He has shown great accuracy, great arm strength, maturity, and a grasp of the offense - plus, he seems to have the support of his teammates - I do not get the sense of a team divided over this issue.

I feel that while they were 'co-starters' for the first few games, Ainge has made the job his. It's not anything that Schaeffer has/has not done, rather it's everything that Ainge has done - the playing time against SEC opponents has increased his comfort level, making Schaeffer look even more rattled when he does play. I don't know what the answer is - I love BS for coming to UT and giving it his all, but I don't think he should start simply for that reason - Ainge has performed supurbly in his opportunities. Wins over UGA, UA, UF speak for themselves. I guess this is why they pay CPF the big bucks...

Maybe James Banks ruined me - my mental image of Schaeffer isn't too different from Banks showing against UGA last year - running all over the field with no passing game for support. I know he's better than that, I just have to make a conscious point to keep reminding myself of it.

 

[rwemyss]

I don't see Schaeffer getting in this game. SC's defense sees his type of QB play day in and day out, week after week. If anyone knows how to defend a running QB, it's going to be SC. At the same time, I DO think that E's head needs to be deflated a little bit, so putting in Schaeffer would help that... I guess I'll let the coaching staff make the decisions, they see these kids every day.

 

[Volman1970]

The 2 qb system was working and CFP changed it. You have to put both of them at their strenghts.Roll the pocket and use more 4 and 5 wide to open up the offense.Oh by the way...... Don't put Eric on the high horse just yet. He is making alot of bad throws lately and maybe should have double digits in int's. Throw it away and live to fight another day.We had a QB that did the same thing from 1994-1997 and he did the same things and never won the big one. He turned out to be a great QB in the NFL :shakeit: He also did this to a female to :dlol:

 

[Volstorm]

Starting Schaeffer might not be a bad idea. Ainge has shown more focus when his competition is put in. Ainge and the WRs looked very sloppy in the beginning of the game, but at the same time, Fulmer (not Sanders) got away from the game plan we have used all year.

 

[General Jack]

I agree that competition is probably good for Ainge, but we really can't afford to fall behind against SC. I'm afraid we'd have a hard time catching back up. Maybe get Schaeffer in when we have some good field position, but I don't want him out there early and possibly giving momentum to the 'cocks through mistakes.

We need to run the dang ball in this game, and run effectively.

 

[UTVOLFAN]

Schaeffer has been a good QB when he started the game...The thing the UT should do it turn him into an Option QB, instead of letting him just run right everytime..Maybe start some plays with Schaeffer pitching the ball on the run to Yancy.(Yancy was the best RB in the orange and white game...simply dominated)

 

[TBALLVOL]

Well, all the posts on this subject have good points. I'm glad I'm not the coach. I just miss the mystique that we had when we had shaffer in there and he was making plays. True the competition was not as stiff the first few games, but I still think Shaffer has the ability and it would be hard to imagine that he has lost his abilities. I personally believe that the game plans really ahven't been developed with him in mind the past few games and I think they have just been putting him in there to throw him a bone and then when he can't move the team they tell him "See, we gave you the opportunity and you didn't do anything with it. " Now don't get me wrong, Ainge is the real deal and is "The Future"(Hope he remains humble). But it appears that opposing teams are quickly becoming clarivoyant and see the future too. I know Granny is peering down through her her crystals this week and is thinking, "I have seen the future and I am not going to repeat the past."