| DALLAS (FWAA) – With their 35-18
win over California, the Tennessee Volunteers are the
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week, as selected
by the pollsters of the FWAA's Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll for
games of the weekend of Sept. 2.
 Erik
Ainge threw four touchdown passes, including a pair to Robert Meachem,
as the Vols ended a 6-game home losing streak to teams ranked in
the Top 10 in front of 106,609 fans at Neyland Stadium.
"We all felt disrespected," Ainge said after the game. "This
game tonight wasn't just for Tennessee versus California. It was
for the South versus the West Coast, the SEC versus the Pac-10."
Ainge finished the night 11-for-17 for 291 yards.
Other Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Bowl National Team of the Week nominees
for the weekend of Sept. 2 included:
• Florida (1-0): Chris Leak threw three touchdown
passes as the Gators cruised by Southern Miss, 34-7.
• Montana State (1-0): The Division I-AA Bobcats stunned
Colorado, 19-10, in Boulder.
• Northwestern (1-0): The Wildcats opened the season
with a 21-3 win over Miami (Ohio) in the first game after the
death of head coach Randy Walker.
The FWAA has named a national team of the week since the 2002
season. This is the second season that the award has been sponsored
by the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
The 16 pollsters of the Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll decide the
weekly honor. Each Monday during the 2006 college football season,
the FWAA will name the Tostitos Bowl National Team of the Week through
Nov. 27.
The Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll will resume this season
on Oct. 16. The top-ranked team in the final poll will be awarded
the Grantland Rice Trophy as the FWAA's national champion. The FWAA
has awarded the trophy each season since 1954. Texas is the defending
FWAA national champion and Ohio State is ranked No. 1 in the initial
2006 poll.
Since 1971, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl has hosted five games
that have decided the college football national championship, including
two Bowl Championship Series title games. The 2007 game will be
played on Jan. 1. The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, along with the new Tostitos
BCS Championship Game, moves to the new Cardinals Stadium in Glendale,
Ariz. The BCS title game will be played on Jan. 8.
For more information on the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team
of the Week, go to
www.footballwriters.com
or www.fiestabowl.org.
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