Tennessee gets back to practice after weekend off

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge had one thought after seeing Auburn beat Florida last weekend to keep the door open for the Volunteers in the Southeastern Conference East division race.<br> <br> ``Go Bulldogs,&#39;&#39; Ainge said Monday. ``We obviously know as long as we take care of business everything will end up good for us.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> ``There&#39;s nothing we can do if Florida keeps winning,&#39;&#39; he said. ``We&#39;re a fan of whoever is playing against the Gators.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Florida, which handed Tennessee its only loss this season, lost at Auburn 27-17. The Gators were the last unbeaten SEC team. The Vols need to win their remaining SEC games and for Florida to lose at least one more time to win the East.<br> <br> Ainge was referring to Georgia, whom Tennessee beat 51-33 on Oct. 7. Florida and Georgia play Oct. 28 in Jacksonville, Fla.<br> <br> The Vols (5-1, 1-1) had last week off during the university&#39;s Fall Break. They host Alabama this week.<br> <br> ``It was good to get a break for our team and have a week for some of our guys to heal up,&#39;&#39; coach Phillip Fulmer said. ``I thought we did a good job of keeping our focus during open week.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The team returned to practice Monday.<br> <br> ``I was ready to get back. I told my mom yesterday I&#39;ve been here too long. I&#39;m ready to get back to work,&#39;&#39; offensive tackle Eric Young said.<br> <br> The week off should have helped offensive lineman Arron Sears, who had a sprained ankle and elbow injury, and receiver Jayson Swain, who also had a sprained ankle.<br> <br> ``Sometimes they come at a real good time. This one did,&#39;&#39; Fulmer said of the open date.<br> <br> ``I like having it here versus maybe some folks have it the last week or the early open date. This is a good time for us in the middle of the year like this. If you&#39;re going to play 12 games it&#39;s good to have them in the middle.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The Vols&#39; next six games are all against SEC opponents Alabama, at South Carolina, LSU, at Arkansas, at Vanderbilt and Kentucky. Tennessee&#39;s offense went into the break leading the league in several statistical categories, and Ainge doesn&#39;t think the team has lost a step.<br> <br> ``I don&#39;t worry about getting the timing back at all,&#39;&#39; he said. ``We&#39;ll come back and have the best week of practice that we&#39;ve had. Everyone will be feeling great and everyone will be ready to go.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Despite not playing last week, Tennessee moved up one spot in the AP poll to seventh.<br> <br> The first week of the BCS rankings put the Vols at No. 11, one spot below California, which lost 35-18 in the opener in Knoxville.<br> <br> Fulmer said he is not concerned about the rankings.<br> <br> After going 5-6 last year, the Vols are glad to be a part of the BCS discussions.<br> <br> ``It&#39;s nice to be worrying about what your BCS ranking is as opposed to being able to win a football game,&#39;&#39; Ainge said. ``We&#39;re not really worrying about the BCS. That&#39;s just kind of something the players might talk about while we&#39;re getting taped or something like that. We all know if we don&#39;t win this weekend, that 11 becomes an 18 and then we&#39;re struggling to get back in it.&#39;&#39;

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