Bucking the Trend

The SEC held its Media Days this week and the press picked Tennessee to win the SEC East and the SEC Championship. At first glance this seems a solid pick, but I looked a little deeper at the winners of the SEC Championship Game over the last 10 years and found an interesting common denominator among the former Champions, experience at the quarterback position. Of the 10 SEC Champs since 1995, half were led by senior QB’s (Wuerffel in ’96, Manning in ’97, Martin in ’98, Davey in ’01 and Campbell in ’04). Two Juniors captured titles (Wuerffel in ’95 and Mauck in ’03), as did two red-shirt sophomores (Zow in ’99 and Greene in ’02) and finally one red-shirt freshman (Grossman in ’00).

What does this all mean? Only one team won the SEC with a second year player as the quarterback, Florida in 2000 with Rex Grossman. Who is Tennessee’s starting QB this season? True sophomore Eric Ainge will be under center when UT opens up at home versus UAB. Senior Rick Clausen took over last season after Ainge went down with a shoulder injury and played well capping off the 2004 season with a big win over Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl. But it appears that Ainge is the clear #1. If Ainge remains the starter, the Vols will be bucking history in their quest for their first SEC Championship since 1998.