Worst Bowl loss

#1
Big Orange Captain

Big Orange Captain

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#1
Well i started a thread with the best bowl win so it’s only right to flip the coin with the worst bowl loss. Mine is the 2002 Peach bowl and i was there guess that makes the experience even worse. We got drilled by Maryland 30-3 and didn’t even show up or look interested in being there at all. There was also some drama in the locker room with a player who was on his cell phone best i remember. We started the 2002 season ranked in the top 5 and were consensus preseason picks to win the SEC and compete for the national title. It ended on a thud in the Peach bowl loss finishing the season 8-5 and unranked. 2002 season was one of the most disappointing ones under Fulmer. My second one would be the 1998 Orange bowl lost 42-17 to Nebraska, going into the game if Washington St beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl then the orange bowl would’ve been the de facto national championship game. Unfortunately we got steam rolled and a less than 100 percent healthy Peyton had one of his worst games the outcome was never in doubt from the first quarter on.
 
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#7
#7
swampfoxfan said:
Orange bowl vs Oklahoma sometime in the 60"s.
Tennessee was ranked#2 Oklahoma #3.
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26-24, following the '67 season. Karl Kremser barely missed a 43-yard field goal with 7 seconds left on the clock. We were down 19-0 at halftime, mounted a ferocious comeback in the 3rd quarter, closing it to 19-14 before Oklahoma returned a 23-yard interception for a touchdown.
 
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#8
#8
Volosaurus rex said:
26-24, following the '67 season. Karl Kremser barely missed a 43-yard field goal with 7 seconds left on the clock. We were down 19-0 at halftime, mounted a ferocious comeback in the 3rd quarter, closing it to 19-14 before Oklahoma returned a 23-yard interception for a touchdown.
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Thank you, that one Has stuck with me, it made butch Jones dumb loses even worse to me.
 
#10
#10
Definitely the back to back MD, Clemson losses to inferior ACC teams. No excuse for losing those two. Also the 3 PSU losses. Paterno outcoached Fulmer even in the last one when I think he was in a wheelchair.
 
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#11
#11
BernardKingGOAT said:
The loss to an unranked Clemson the very next year was about as bad. Maybe worse because we went into the game ranked #6. I believe this game was the one that Fleming was on his cell phone at halftime
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Man the Georgia dome was a house of horrors for us in the early 2000’s , lost three SEC title games and two Peach bowls from 2001-2007
 
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#12
#12
Brave Volunteer said:
The two Penn State losses (one in the early 90's and one in the mid 00's were frustrating because we were clearly the better team in both.

Also, the ass whippings we took from KSU, Clemson, and Maryland were all embarrassing!
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Ohhh I had forgot about the Foster fumble in 06. We were in Gatlinburg and it was 8 degrees out. Technically I guess it was 07 New Year’s Day.
 
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#13
#13
Volizona said:
Definitely the back to back MD, Clemson losses to inferior ACC teams. No excuse for losing those two. Also the 3 PSU losses. Paterno outcoached Fulmer even in the last one when I think he was in a wheelchair.
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Yep the 2007 Outback bowl sucked, Arian Foster fumbled inside Penn. St’s 10 yard line and they returned it for a touchdown it was the difference in the game and 80 year old Paterno coached from the press box. We really had no business losing that game but Paterno had our number in bowl games he was 3-0 against with wins in the 1992 fiesta bowl, 1994 Citrus bowl and 2007 Outback.
 
#15
#15
Brave Volunteer said:
The two Penn State losses (one in the early 90's and one in the mid 00's were frustrating because we were clearly the better team in both.

Also, the ass whippings we took from KSU, Clemson, and Maryland were all embarrassing!
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We lost twice to OSU in the early 90's in bowl games. Fiesta Bowl after 1991 and Citrus after 1993

Edit: PSU
 
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#16
#16
2001 Cotton Bowl loss to Kansas St is up there too. The weather was horrible that day but still we shat the bed. Fulmer got outcoached again. Casey Clausen was one of my favorite Tenn QB’s he had a great record especially in road games but he was just 1-3 in bowl games in his career.
 
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#18
#18
Big Orange Captain said:
Well i started a thread with the best bowl win so it’s only right to flip the coin with the worst bowl loss. Mine is the 2002 Peach bowl and i was there guess that makes the experience even worse. We got drilled by Maryland 30-3 and didn’t even show up or look interested in being there at all. There was also some drama in the locker room with a player who was on his cell phone best i remember. We started the 2002 season ranked in the top 5 and were consensus preseason picks to win the SEC and compete for the national title. It ended on a thud in the Peach bowl loss finishing the season 8-5 and unranked. 2002 season was one of the most disappointing ones under Fulmer. My second one would be the 1998 Orange bowl lost 42-17 to Nebraska, going into the game if Washington St beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl then the orange bowl would’ve been the de facto national championship game. Unfortunately we got steam rolled and a less than 100 percent healthy Peyton had one of his worst games the outcome was never in doubt from the first quarter on.
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I have read that after the Nebraska loss, Tennessee players on both sides of the line, LBs too, felt they lost because Nebraska players were far stronger and more physical than they. The lesson was learned. They determined to be in much better shape for the 1998 season. And we know how that turned out.
 
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#19
#19
albedo33 said:
I have read that after the Nebraska loss, Tennessee players on both sides of the line, LBs too, felt they lost because Nebraska players were far stronger and more physical than they. The lesson was learned. They determined to be in much better shape for the 1998 season. And we know how that turned out.
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Except Nebraska stomped another mud hole in them after the ‘99 season
 
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#22
#22
Cobb-Webb 1989 said:
Can’t remember which year it was, but it’s the bowl that Penn St. tore us up in the second half.
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1992 Fiesta bowl. We blew a 17-7 lead in the second half and imploded. Penn St scored 35 straight and won 42-17. And in the 1994 Citrus bowl we jumped up on them 10-0 and lost 31-13 another bowl loss i attended, maybe im a jinx in the bowl games lol.
 
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#24
#24
Big Orange Captain said:
1992 Fiesta bowl. We blew a 17-7 lead in the second half and imploded. Penn St scored 35 straight and won 42-17. And in the 1994 Citrus bowl we jumped up on them 10-0 and lost 31-13 another bowl loss i attended, maybe im a jinx in the bowl games lol.
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We were/are bad news against Penn State and/or Nebraska.

One year Kansas State smoked us in Cotton Bowl I think
 
#25
#25
Jax_Vol said:
2009 game was a stinker 4 sure.

In Atlanta

against some ACC team......an extremely weak Clemson maybe before Dabo?

My memory blurs...
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VA Tech. I gave up 3rd row tickets to Widespread Panic across the parking lot because there was no way I would miss EBs last game. Kiffin coached like he didn’t want to be there. It was horrible.
 
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