Ainge tabbed National Player of the Week

Junior quarterback leads SEC in passing yards and total offense after first week of season Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge was chosen the O’Reilly Auto Parts College Football Player of the Week for his efforts in Tennessee’s 35-18 victory over California last Saturday. The award is a joint effort from The Sporting News and Sporting News Radio.A junior from Hillsboro, Ore., Ainge completed 11-of-18 pass attempts for 291 yards and four touchdowns. He leads the Southeastern Conference in both passing yards and total offense and stands second in Division I-A passing efficiency. Tickets for UT-Air Force nearly gone The Athletics Department announced Wednesday that UT students picked up their full allotment of tickets for Saturday’s game against Air Force. That means only a limited number remained as of Wednesday evening.Tickets can be purchased online at UTSports.com or by calling 656-1200 in the Knoxville area and 800-332-VOLS toll free in the state of Tennessee. The ticket office is located inside Thompson-Boling Arena. ’Tunes for Troops’ collection at UT- Air Force Game Before Saturday’s football game against Air Force, UT in conjunction with “Tunes 4 the Troops” will be collecting used and new CDs, DVDs and books on CD for troops overseas.  “Tunes 4 the Troops” began during the 2005 holiday season when active-duty sailors told Kaylee Radzyminski, a sophomore at Cleveland High School in Cleveland, Tenn., that there was a lack of entertainment for soldiers overseas.Radzyminski began collecting CDs and DVDs from friends and family and sending them to troops stationed abroad. She then began passing out business cards to troops who might be interested in the packages while visiting Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval Hospital at Bethesda, Md.Requests began rolling in for the “Tunes” packages and now she gets two or three requests every other day.Radzyminski has set a goal to deliver 500,000 CDs and DVDs to troops by the 2008 holiday season. Cmdr. Dean T. Nilsen of the USS Tennessee SSBN 734 submarine has been a big supporter of the “Tunes 4 the Troops” campaign and of Radzyminski.  During the month of September, Nilsen and his gold crew will be helping various “Tunes” drives to gain more awareness for the campaign.The UT Athletics Department wants to help make Radzyminski’s goal a reality.  All Vol fans are encouraged to bring their old or new CDs and DVDs to the game and help support the troops.Boxes will be set up at the fan information booths located at gates 1, 10, 21 and 22 and in front of Volunteer Village. Football schedule magnets for first 10,000 fans Saturday The University of Tennessee Athletic Department in conjunction with Image Matters will have 10,000 football schedule magnets available at Saturday’s game for fans who enter the stadium through Gate 10 or Gate 21. Schedule magnets are available on a first-come, first-served basis, with a limit of one per person.