Tennessee football: Vols top 30 players since 1998 national championship

Erik Ainge doesn’t have the four-year accomplishments of other Tennessee football quarterbacks on this list. He started only a third of the games in 2004, as they won the SEC East. It is his horrendous 2005 performance that forced us to knock him down here.

Nevertheless, Ainge was a very good quarterback for the Vols. Despite very limited mobility and not a lot of arm strength, he developed into one of the best decision makers that this team ever had. His clutch gene was amazing.

In his freshman year, Ainge showed it early with a game-winning field goal drive to beat the Florida Gators. He then played efficient enough to upset the Georgia Bulldogs and had another game-winning drive at the Ole Miss Rebels.

His sophomore year was the known disaster in which he split time with Rick Clausen and never got anything going, which resulted in Randy Sanders resigning. David Cutcliffe arrived as offensive coordinator and changed everything.

Over the next two years, Ainge became the most accurate passer in the SEC. He helped Robert Meachem set the single-season record for career receiving yards in 2006, while setting a school record in completing 67 percent of his passes. That came despite no running game.

However, 2007 was even more impressive. Ainge lost his top three wide receivers and still managed to have an amazing year. He threw for 3,522 yards and 31 touchdowns to only 10 interceptions, while completing 62.6 percent of his passes.

Ainge also used an insanely quick release to limit his sacks to four that whole year, which makes his efficiency numbers all the more impressive. He helped the Vols win the SEC East with two overtime victories and a game-winning drive against the Vanderbilt Commodores on Senior Day. His clutch play and everything he had to deal with are why he belongs on this list.