97 vs 98 Vols

[sami]

We were good in '98--but also lucky: Got some big breaks in the Florida game--as I recall the Gators fumbled five times, and lost one of them at our 1 yard line or thereabouts.

And of course the Arkansas fumble late.

There was also the PI flag at Syracuse--but that was a good call.

The '99 team SHOULD have won it all--maybe the most talent we've ever had in the modern era--and we could have won it in 2001 as well.

Agree on '99, but there was something missing from that '01 team. Everything was falling our way ranking-wise, and I can remember thinking that if we beat LSU we're playing for the natty yet it didn't feel like a natty level group. '97 and '99 were both natty level teams.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

Still think Kansas State would have been the worst matchup with that style of offense.

KSU was very impressive that year and I thought they looked like the best team. I really thought that's who we'd end up facing in the championship game until they lost to A&M.

 

[dobre_shunka]

Agree on '99, but there was something missing from that '01 team. Everything was falling our way ranking-wise, and I can remember thinking that if we beat LSU we're playing for the natty yet it didn't feel like a natty level group. '97 and '99 were both natty level teams.

What was missing was coaching. Not to mention any names but if I did Randy Sanders would be first on the list

 

[sami]

What was missing was coaching. Not to mention any names but if I did Randy Sanders would be first on the list

True. And Fulmer just wasn't a very good big game coach, played everything close to the vest and conservative to a fault. Amazing recruiter and developer, but just not great on game day.

 

[Boston Vol]

I don't recall that. They were ranked #2 and played in the Bowl Alliance championship which if they won guaranteed a #1 ranking in the Coaches poll and a national championship.

A win didn't guarantee them the coaches poll title. They had to wait until the wee hours the next morning to find out how the coaches voted. Nebraska received 32 first place votes, while Michigan received 30. Nebraska won the final poll by a total of four points. There's a reason that Osborne announced his retirement after the conclusion of the regular season and why Scott Frost went on a diatribe during the Orange Bowl postgame show. They were trying to sway as many votes as possible.

 

[Boston Vol]

The 1997 team was better than 1998's. Hell, the 2001 team was probably better than 1998's. 1998's needed an amazing run of luck to win the title -

The flag at Syracuse.
Spurrier playing kicker-go-round.
Ratliff making the play of his life to get to Stoerner.
FSU loses their starting senior QB Weinke and had to play the title game with Outzen. (Frankly, I've always thought that if FSU had Weinke we would have been in trouble in this game, with Weinke throwing to Warrick and all).

When you look at it, the amount of good fortune is somewhat stunning. Tennessee was absolutely drowning in talent between 1996-2001. And yet with all that talent, we never really saw Tennessee be THE dominant team -- and it took a lot of luck for them to get to the Fiesta Bowl. Over time, I think that created a growing perception that Tennessee backed into some of its best moments, as opposed to kicking down the door and taking them. 1998 being the luckiest of them all, obviously.

Chris Weinke was a sophmore, not a senior. And the Weinke of 1998 was not the same guy who won the Heisman in 2000 or even the guy who led FSU to the title in '99. He was completing 50% of his passes before he got hurt in early November. He lacked mobility and the Tennessee front seven, which dominated the game, would have teed off on him all night.

 

[05_never_again]

Agree on '99, but there was something missing from that '01 team. Everything was falling our way ranking-wise, and I can remember thinking that if we beat LSU we're playing for the natty yet it didn't feel like a natty level group. '97 and '99 were both natty level teams.

Everything you needed to know about the 01 team happened after the UF win. Guys had roses in their mouths on Florida Field after the win, and when they got back to campus they paraded themselves around like they had just won the national title. They completely, 100% overlooked the SECCG and it was obvious as soon as the UF game ended.

The school made a season in review documentary about the 2001 team, showing them arriving back on campus after the UF win and John Henderson declaring "We're going to win a championship" and then the video just ends. lol

 

[Voltopia]

Chris Weinke was a sophmore, not a senior. And the Weinke of 1998 was not the same guy who won the Heisman in 2000 or even the guy who led FSU to the title in '99. He was completing 50% of his passes before he got hurt in early November. He lacked mobility and the Tennessee front seven, which dominated the game, would have teed off on him all night.

You are correct about Weinke’s year, I got that mixed up - it’s been a hot minute since 1998. I’m still uncertain UT would dominate him as thoroughly as it dominated Outzen. I want to say FSU’s entire WR corps that year ended up in the NFL; maybe they would have made any QB look good, considering the amount of talent. I just think that keeping their starter paired with those players would have made the Fiesta Bowl a lot more challenging than it was.

 

[Volosaurus rex]

If it hasn't been mentioned previously, we played both Florida and Arkansas at home in 1998. We won those games by 3 and 4 points, respectively. In road games played against the same teams in '99, we lost by 2 and 4 points, respectively. In fact, both games vs. Arkansas resulted in identical scores (28-24). Road games against UF and the hogs in '97 resulted in a 13-point loss to the Reptilian Horde and an 8-point victory over Arkansas. Tennessee Historical Scores

 

[Voltopia]

Everything you needed to know about the 01 team happened after the UF win. Guys had roses in their mouths on Florida Field after the win, and when they got back to campus they paraded themselves around like they had just won the national title. They completely, 100% overlooked the SECCG and it was obvious as soon as the UF game ended.

The school made a season in review documentary about the 2001 team, showing them arriving back on campus after the UF win and John Henderson declaring "We're going to win a championship" and then the video just ends. lol

Boy, I remember clinching up when I saw that impromptu “Rose Bowl” parade at the track after the Florida game. It was weird. Throwing roses around made me squirm. But I bought in. I was young, and drunk on beating Spurrier at home. Turns out, so was the team.

That whole sequence of events taught me the true meaning of the “we’re their Super Bowl” diss. Florida, or Spurrier at Florida anyway, was our Super Bowl, and we were done. Tragic, because that 01 team had the goods to challenge Miami. Just not the focus.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Boy, I remember clinching up when I saw that impromptu “Rose Bowl” parade at the track after the Florida game. It was weird. Throwing roses around made me squirm. But I bought in. I was young, and drunk on beating Spurrier at home. Turns out, so was the team.

That whole sequence of events taught me the true meaning of the “we’re their Super Bowl” diss. Florida, or Spurrier at Florida anyway, was our Super Bowl, and we were done. Tragic, because that 01 team had the goods to challenge Miami. Just not the focus.

I still can’t bring myself to watch the 2001 SEC title game. It’s the worst loss I’ve experienced in my Tennessee fandom. There were some other close ones. Last year vs USCjr is up there, but not nearly as bad as that. Fulmer should’ve brought those guys back down to Earth. I don’t think it helped that we had already beaten LSU earlier in the year. The focus of that team was not always there and we seemed to play down to our opponents a lot that year . Very rarely did we crush anyone.

 

[Volizona]

In a way, we did play for a Natty, but Nebraska beat us. UT and Neb played for the official BCS championship while Mich did their own thing in the Rose Bowl. Had Mich lost and had we beat Nebraska, we would have been National Champs. The Florida loss didn’t have as much of an impact as the bowl matchups at the end of the season. We were able to bypass Florida and still win the SEC. We had our chance but lost to Nebraska. I don’t think any teams were going to beat Nebraska in that 94-97 era. I still feel like they would have beaten Michigan in 97 too b

 

[Volizona]

In a way, we did play for a Natty, but Nebraska beat us. UT and Neb played for the official BCS championship while Mich did their own thing in the Rose Bowl. Had Mich lost and had we beat Nebraska, we would have been National Champs. The Florida loss didn’t have as much of an impact as the bowl matchups at the end of the season. We were able to bypass Florida and still win the SEC. We had our chance but lost to Nebraska. I don’t think any teams were going to beat Nebraska in that 94-97 era. I still feel like they would have beaten Michigan in 97 too b

Nebraska wasn’t going to lose to many, not all teams meant to say. 95 and 97 I don’t think any teams would have beaten them. Funny how both UF and UT got destroyed by Nebraska but followed up with Natties the following years.

 

[Volizona]

UT had a very clear path to play for the Natty in 99 and 01 but both teams got upset by less talented teams that ended the opportunity. Probably would have been underdogs in both Natties but we should have at least played. Agree, Fulmer was not always the best game day coach

 

[Volumnus 2011]

UT had a very clear path to play for the Natty in 99 and 01 but both teams got upset by less talented teams that ended the opportunity. Probably would have been underdogs in both Natties but we should have at least played. Agree, Fulmer was not always the best game day coach

So far in this thread I read that the 95, 97, 99 and 01 teams could have been national title teams if not for "X" circumstance. Whether that's true or not, it's really depressing to have a run like that followed by the decrease that led up to Fulmer's firing in 08, that led to the decade of dysfunction.

 

[Unconditional Surrender]

Peyton Manning. Marcus Nash. Leonard Little. Terry Fair.

 

[Voltopia]

So far in this thread I read that the 95, 97, 99 and 01 teams could have been national title teams if not for "X" circumstance. Whether that's true or not, it's really depressing to have a run like that followed by the decrease that led up to Fulmer's firing in 08, that led to the decade of dysfunction.

Oh, it's reasonably true. From 1996 to 2001, Tennessee sent 45 players to the NFL. Mid-to-late-90s Tennessee was a recruiting juggernaut.

To your point though, it also contributed to the decline in perception Tennessee suffered. All that talent - and it was quite the pool of talent - and only 2 SEC titles and 1 national title to show for it. Then Richt came on the scene, followed quickly by Urban Meyer, (and then Saban near the end). The final nail in the coffin was Cutcliffe's two year stint back at offensive coordinator -- during which Tennessee was suddenly much more organized on offense, reaching the SECCG in 2007. In a lot of folks minds, seeing Tennessee be competitive again raised a lot of questions about just who was (and wasn't) responsible for Tennessee's success -- and raised doubt about the staff keeping up with UF, UGA, and ALA after Cutcliffe left to go to Duke.

 

[ENGRVOL]

The 97 team can be summed up by what happened in the sec title game. Turned the ball over 6 times yet found a way still to win. The team just all season except maybe in the Georgia game never played up to their potential. A lot of penalties and turnovers but had so much talent that they could almost sleepwalk through the season and win a sec championship. The 98 team was tougher and the defense was so much better despite losing a lot of good defensive players like Fair and Little

 

[franklinboy]

The breaks went our way in 1998
1) We played Florida at home
2) A flag at Syracuse
3) a fumble against Arkansas

Meanwhile, the 97 team played basically one bad regular season half on the road at Florida.

97 defense was almost as good as 98. 97 offense was a lot better.

I agree with everything you said but the rushing game in 98 was absolutely phenomenal

 

[Volumnus 2011]

Oh, it's reasonably true. From 1996 to 2001, Tennessee sent 45 players to the NFL. Mid-to-late-90s Tennessee was a recruiting juggernaut.

To your point though, it also contributed to the decline in perception Tennessee suffered. All that talent - and it was quite the pool of talent - and only 2 SEC titles and 1 national title to show for it. Then Richt came on the scene, followed quickly by Urban Meyer, (and then Saban near the end). The final nail in the coffin was Cutcliffe's two year stint back at offensive coordinator -- during which Tennessee was suddenly much more organized on offense, reaching the SECCG in 2007. In a lot of folks minds, seeing Tennessee be competitive again raised a lot of questions about just who was (and wasn't) responsible for Tennessee's success -- and if the staff could keep up with UF, UGA, and ALA after Cutcliffe left after those two years.

Cutcliffe's second stint was bookended by the 05 and 08 offenses, which really shined a light on how valuable he was.

 

[KoachKrab127]

The competition..... football seasons don't happen in a vacuum. The competition changes year to year along with you. Was the 97 Florida team better than the 98 Florida team? What about Bama? Georgia?

The ‘98 Florida team was better than the ‘97 Florida team, but the ‘98 Florida team made several costly mistakes against Tennessee.

 

[livefaith]

In 97, Florida had nuttin' to do w that, except PM winning the Heistman. We were on a collision course w Nebraska either way. That was not a matchup that we were ready for 11-1 or 12-0.

 

[perico]

We were good in '98--but also lucky: Got some big breaks in the Florida game--as I recall the Gators fumbled five times, and lost one of them at our 1 yard line or thereabouts.

And of course the Arkansas fumble late.

There was also the PI flag at Syracuse--but that was a good call.

The '99 team SHOULD have won it all--maybe the most talent we've ever had in the modern era--and we could have won it in 2001 as well.

The problem with the 99 team was that Fulmer didn’t recruit anyone to immediately step in to replace Peerless and Copeland. We had a #3 as our go to guy, and an overgrown TE at #2. Stallworth was there but couldn’t run a route so got little PT until the last games.

 

[perico]

You forgot to mention both Kansas State and UCLA losing on the last Saturday of the season. Without that, UT may not have even been in the championship game.

UCLA wasn’t on our level. Kansas State was dangerous but we would’ve matched up well with them

 

[perico]

Chris Weinke was a sophmore, not a senior. And the Weinke of 1998 was not the same guy who won the Heisman in 2000 or even the guy who led FSU to the title in '99. He was completing 50% of his passes before he got hurt in early November. He lacked mobility and the Tennessee front seven, which dominated the game, would have teed off on him all night.

Yeah people tend to forget that the week before the SEC Championship, Florida was the top ranked 1 loss team but FSU beat them… with Outzen at QB.