Ainge unsure he'll be ready

Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge is keeping the faith, but he didn't sound optimistic Monday that his sprained right ankle would be healthy enough for him to play this Saturday against Arkansas.

He tried to play last Saturday against LSU, but lasted just three series. He also ended up injuring his left ankle, but said the most serious was his right ankle.

"Do I go out there and play through it and push through it at the risk of the team just so I can play?" Ainge said. "That would be selfish. If I'm better for the team, if I'm healthy enough ? then I'll play. If I'm not, then I won't."

Ainge didn't practice Monday, and redshirt freshman Jonathan Crompton took the first-team snaps. Coach Phillip Fulmer said a decision would be made earlier than a week ago, and most signs point to Crompton getting his first career start.

He finished 11-of-24 for 183 yards, two touchdowns and an interception after filling in for Ainge in the 28-24 loss to LSU.

Fulmer admitted that it helped in pulling the trigger on Crompton now that the Vols have seen him under fire.

"You never know until a guy takes it and does it, and he did it under very adverse conditions," Fulmer said. "This Saturday will be just as tough, if not tougher, because they're a good defensive team and you've got the road crowd and everything."

Ainge hopes to know more about his availability today, and at the very least, thinks he could help in certain situations.

"It's not about toughness," Ainge said. "It's not about going out there to prove anything. It's about winning football games. If I'm healthy enough that I can go out there and protect myself and put ourselves in the best position to win, then I'm going to be out there. But if I'm only able to do certain things, then it would be better to have me over there ready for a crucial third down and stuff like that."

Linebackers hurting: Senior middle linebacker Marvin Mitchell and sophomore weak side linebacker Jerod Mayo were held out of practice.

Mitchell injured his left shoulder against LSU and missed a large chunk of the second half. Mayo has been playing on a bad ankle and also hurt his hand against the Tigers. He was scheduled to have X-rays on his hand.

"We played a lot of snaps on Saturday," Mayo said of the Vols' defense. "I think they had the ball about 42 minutes. We just have to get healthy and get in the training room and get ready, because it doesn't get any easier."

Vols get commitment: Defensive tackle Donald Langley of Germantown, Md., committed to Tennessee on Monday after also considering Michigan State, Oklahoma, Penn State and Texas A&M.

The 6-foot-2, 267-pound Langley is rated by Rivals.com as the 32nd best tackle prospect in the country. He visited Tennessee officially for the Florida game on Sept. 16.

Langley plans to enroll at UT in January and will be able to go through spring practice. He's the Vols' 17th commitment for the 2007 class.

Rushing woes: Tennessee is averaging just 58.8 rushing yards in five SEC games.

But the statistic that best puts in perspective just how ineffective the Vols' ground game has been is that the last two quarterbacks they've faced (LSU's JaMarcus Russell and South Carolina's Syvelle Newton) have each outrushed the entire Tennessee team.

Russell had 71 yards to Tennessee's 62 last week. Newton had 85 yards to Tennessee's 71 two weeks ago.

Running to glory: Arkansas ranks fourth nationally in rushing offense. The Razorbacks are averaging 238.9 yards, which is nearly 75 yards more than the SEC's second-best rushing team, LSU.

"They have two great backs (Darren McFadden and Felix Jones) that can run the ball real hard," Tennessee linebacker Ryan Karl said. "It's not like they're going to try and run around you. They're going to try and run over you."