Irish knock off ninth-ranked Vols

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Brandon Hoyte’s tackle might have changed the course of the season for Notre Dame. It altered ninth-ranked Tennessee’s outlook Saturday night.

Tennessee lost the second member of its heralded freshman quarterback duo and the Fighting Irish capitalized with an interception return for a touchdown, then held on to win 17-13.

Erik Ainge separated his right shoulder on the final play of the first half when he recovered his fumble and was tackled by Hoyte for a 14-yard loss.

Ainge didn’t return and the game was not the same afterward.

“You don’t just hit people to tackle them,” Hoyte said. “You tackle them so they won’t get back up. I say that respectfully. … We had a great opportunity. We’ve lost a lot of close games and we needed to prove what type of team we are. I think that happened tonight.”

Ainge’s injury came a week after Brent Schaeffer broke his collarbone.

Junior Rick Clausen, the younger brother of former Tennessee quarterback Casey Clausen, replaced Ainge in the second half and immediately made a big mistake.

Clausen was being sacked by Derek Landri when he let the ball go. Notre Dame’s Mike Goolsby caught it and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown and a 14-10 lead. The Irish (6-3) never trailed again.

The Vols (7-2) have a week off to regroup. Wins over also-rans Vanderbilt and Kentucky later this month would send Tennessee to the SEC championship game.

Brady Quinn was 12 of 23 for 118 yards and a touchdown for Notre Dame, which had 216 yards of total offense.

Notre Dame took its first lead, 7-3, in the first quarter on Quinn’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Fasano, ending a drive that featured Darius Walker’s 32-yard run.

Tennessee got back in it in the second quarter when Ainge dumped off the ball to Cedric Houston, who beat Dwight Ellick to the end zone for a 56-yard touchdown.