KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee went back to practice Monday upset about losing to LSU but upbeat the team is far better than a year ago.<br>
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The No. 13 Volunteers' 28-24 loss last Saturday ended their chances of competing for the Southeastern Conference championship. Florida clinched the East division title. At 7-2 and 3-2 in the SEC, Tennessee fell too far in the BCS standings to be considered for one of the BCS bowls.<br>
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Now the Vols travel to No. 11 Arkansas, which is still undefeated in the SEC, with questions at quarterback because of injury.<br>
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``Right now it's still kinda hurting a little bit, but we have a tough challenge with Arkansas coming up this weekend,'' offensive guard David Ligon said before practice Monday.<br>
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Quarterback Erik Ainge played the first quarter against LSU but didn't return after being sacked. Redshirt freshman Jonathan Crompton played the rest of the game in his place.<br>
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Ainge sprained his right ankle at South Carolina on Oct. 28. He tweaked his left ankle during the LSU game, but he said Monday it was only a mild sprain that should go away in a few days.<br>
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The Vols watched Ainge practice last week before deciding he could start against LSU.<br>
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``We're going to try to decide sooner than last week, and see where Erik is tomorrow and go from there. I am not unhappy at all with what Jonathan did, but that's where we are,'' coach Phillip Fulmer said before practice.<br>
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Ainge did not practice Monday.<br>
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``I still want to play as much as I did last week obviously. I know I need to get it a little more healthy than it was this Saturday,'' Ainge said. ``You don't want to go in there and have it happen again and have it even worse.''<br>
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After Arkansas, the Vols host Kentucky and then finish the regular season at Vanderbilt.<br>
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Trying to get to a top-tier bowl game is a motivation now. Tennessee finished 5-6 a year ago and missed a bowl for the first time since 1988.<br>
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``We didn't have a chance to go to a bowl game last year. Hopefully we can go somewhere nice this year,'' Ligon said.<br>
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And there's also next season.<br>
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``It's real hard going out there practicing knowing we can't play for the national championship or games like that,'' linebacker Jerod Mayo said. ``But we're doing way better than last year and basically we're playing to set the table for next year. We feel like if we win these next three games we'll be at a good bowl and we'll carry on from there.''<br>
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More wins is another reason to keep playing hard.<br>
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``We had an opportunity to do something great this year and we lost this game, but if we win out we can finish with an 11-win season. A lot of people were thinking we weren't even going to be above .500 this year,'' linebacker Ryan Karl said. ``Having an 11-win season off last year, we'd still be a really good team.''<br>
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