Cotton Bowl 2001- Tennessee vs Kansas St

[AlsaceFreak]

Anyone remember this game? I was there in Texas that day and felt the cold weather really changed the outcome of the game. The game was played outside and the temps that day were in the 20's for the entire game but almost no wind. We had Casey Clausen at QB, Travis Henry at RB, and Cedric Wilson at WR. Clausen had one of his worse games in his career going 7-25 for only 120 yds and 3 interceptions. Travis Henry had a MONSTER game rushing 17 times for 183 yards. Our leading receiver- Cedric Wilson only had 3 catches for 54yds. Jason Witten had ZERO catches in the game.
On defense we had Albert Haynesworth, Big John Henderson, Will Overstreet, Andre Lott etc. Not a shabby defense at all.
It just seemed like the cold weather really affected our passing game and our running game could not save the offense that day.
K State won 35-21.
SoCal QB then and now.
Did we just not want to play in the cold weather that day because a National Championship was not on the line? Or did the weather issue really affect Clausen that much?
Thoughts?

 

[vols 30]

Thanks for bringing up terrible memories.

I remember it was Apparent that Clausen wanted to be anywhere but there that day.

 

[DeusExMachina]

Anyone remember this game? I was there in Texas that day and felt the cold weather really changed the outcome of the game. The game was played outside and the temps that day were in the 20's for the entire game but almost no wind. We had Casey Clausen at QB, Travis Henry at RB, and Cedric Wilson at WR. Clausen had one of his worse games in his career going 7-25 for only 120 yds and 3 interceptions. Travis Henry had a MONSTER game rushing 17 times for 183 yards. Our leading receiver- Cedric Wilson only had 3 catches for 54yds. Jason Witten had ZERO catches in the game.
On defense we had Albert Haynesworth, Big John Henderson, Will Overstreet, Andre Lott etc. Not a shabby defense at all.
It just seemed like the cold weather really affected our passing game and our running game could not save the offense that day.
K State won 35-21.
SoCal QB then and now.
Did we just not want to play in the cold weather that day because a National Championship was not on the line? Or did the weather issue really affect Clausen that much?
Thoughts?

Not entirely sure it's the right game (may have been a different one), but I remember reading a story about how someone saw Clausen coming back to the team hotel at 0400 absolutely smashed with about 4 coeds prior to a big game.

That might have been the issue........

 

[Hurley Mooncalf]

We also had lost to LSU in the SEC championship game missing out on playing for a Natty in the Rose bowl. So, the team wasn't excited about a cold bowl game in Dallas. KSU had lost last minute in '98 making them miss out on the spot in the BCS game 2 years earlier that TN got (in their eyes) so they still had a grudge about that.

The team that was more interested in being there showed up and laid the wood.

 

[Hulavol]

That team had about as much interest in that game as they did the peach bowl against Clemson. Those boys were either gone to the NFL in their minds, or still in the North Dallas strip club- or both.
As others mentioned above, once the NC was off the table, they were done.
This has happened countless times to loser of SECCG and etc.

NOT THE CASE this Satdee - we comin’ to WHIP some frozen ASS!

 

[J C Higgins]

Anyone remember this game? I was there in Texas that day and felt the cold weather really changed the outcome of the game. The game was played outside and the temps that day were in the 20's for the entire game but almost no wind. We had Casey Clausen at QB, Travis Henry at RB, and Cedric Wilson at WR. Clausen had one of his worse games in his career going 7-25 for only 120 yds and 3 interceptions. Travis Henry had a MONSTER game rushing 17 times for 183 yards. Our leading receiver- Cedric Wilson only had 3 catches for 54yds. Jason Witten had ZERO catches in the game.
On defense we had Albert Haynesworth, Big John Henderson, Will Overstreet, Andre Lott etc. Not a shabby defense at all.
It just seemed like the cold weather really affected our passing game and our running game could not save the offense that day.
K State won 35-21.
SoCal QB then and now.
Did we just not want to play in the cold weather that day because a National Championship was not on the line? Or did the weather issue really affect Clausen that much?
Thoughts?

Afternoon game..... 29 degrees at kickoff time.....mostly cloudy. My opinion at the time was that we didn't want to be there. For sure Kansas State wanted it more than we did. We had far superior player talent but they had superior coaching. After the game their coach said they had noticed we played all regular season games in relatively good weather and expected we might not perform well under the conditions that day.

cotton bowl 2001

 

[Butch s]

Not entirely sure it's the right game (may have been a different one), but I remember reading a story about how someone saw Clausen coming back to the team hotel at 0400 absolutely smashed with about 4 coeds prior to a big game.

That might have been the issue........

Atta boy

 

[AthensVol2007]

We also had lost to LSU in the SEC championship game missing out on playing for a Natty in the Rose bowl. So, the team wasn't excited about a cold bowl game in Dallas. KSU had lost last minute in '98 making them miss out on the spot in the BCS game 2 years earlier that TN got (in their eyes) so they still had a grudge about that.

The team that was more interested in being there showed up and laid the wood.

That was the 2001 team, they blasted Michigan in the Citrus Bowl. This was the 2000, 8-3 regular season team. Clausen was a FR from SoCal playing his first game in that type of weather (hopefully history doesn’t repeat itself). That KSU team was very good and had the luxury of playing the national champion OU team 2x that year for 2 of their 3 losses. The Big 12 championship game a month earlier in KC was 37/22 and Dallas on that day was 31/27 so one team was better acclimated to it than the other, plus that KSU team was just better than us.

 

[SoFloVFL]

I was there as a 13 years old. Everything from the seats to the parking lot was covered in a 1-2 inch sheet of ice. It got so cold we had to buy more blankets but they were sold out of UT blankets. We opted for the K St blankets they still had. The only game I've been to that rivals that cold was the 2000 Cowboys vs Titans game on Christmas night. Both were miserably cold.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

Anyone remember this game? I was there in Texas that day and felt the cold weather really changed the outcome of the game. The game was played outside and the temps that day were in the 20's for the entire game but almost no wind. We had Casey Clausen at QB, Travis Henry at RB, and Cedric Wilson at WR. Clausen had one of his worse games in his career going 7-25 for only 120 yds and 3 interceptions. Travis Henry had a MONSTER game rushing 17 times for 183 yards. Our leading receiver- Cedric Wilson only had 3 catches for 54yds. Jason Witten had ZERO catches in the game.
On defense we had Albert Haynesworth, Big John Henderson, Will Overstreet, Andre Lott etc. Not a shabby defense at all.
It just seemed like the cold weather really affected our passing game and our running game could not save the offense that day.
K State won 35-21.
SoCal QB then and now.
Did we just not want to play in the cold weather that day because a National Championship was not on the line? Or did the weather issue really affect Clausen that much?
Thoughts?

No!!!!!!

 

[SoFloVFL]

And for the record, that k-state game was the only game we've ever lost in freezing temperatures. If I remember correctly, I believe we are 7-1-1 in games played below freezing.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

Clausen was a freshman and Witten wasn't even playing TE, also a freshman. We were 8-4. Clausen didn't start until the Alabama game

 

[Voltopia]

I mean, yeah, Tennessee lost that game ... so?

 

[Jax_Vol]

Here is my memory from the Cotton Bowl.

Ground Chuck baaaaaaabbbbyyy!!!

 

[northknoxvol]

I remember wiping the snow off my bleacher seat and freezing while the K-State fans celebrated the whole game. That was a long drive back to TN

 

[Volbackhomefromtx]

Remember that game because of the ice. There were 14 of us that went to that game - six adults and 8 kids. Four of the six adults were UT grads. We all lived in the metroplex but in different areas. My family of four traveled to the Cotton Bowl from Arlington and it took almost 3 hours because of the ice. By the third quarter, there were only 3 of us left. The others went back to warm up in the car. I stayed till the bitter end. Not sure any of us wanted to be there. The A&M game a few years later was on a warm day with a far better outcome.

 

[apevol]

i was a kid, the bleachers had ice on them and since that day my feet never felt cold again. I thought I was gonna lose my toes

 

[Batman1948]

Anyone remember this game? I was there in Texas that day and felt the cold weather really changed the outcome of the game. The game was played outside and the temps that day were in the 20's for the entire game but almost no wind. We had Casey Clausen at QB, Travis Henry at RB, and Cedric Wilson at WR. Clausen had one of his worse games in his career going 7-25 for only 120 yds and 3 interceptions. Travis Henry had a MONSTER game rushing 17 times for 183 yards. Our leading receiver- Cedric Wilson only had 3 catches for 54yds. Jason Witten had ZERO catches in the game.
On defense we had Albert Haynesworth, Big John Henderson, Will Overstreet, Andre Lott etc. Not a shabby defense at all.
It just seemed like the cold weather really affected our passing game and our running game could not save the offense that day.
K State won 35-21.
SoCal QB then and now.
Did we just not want to play in the cold weather that day because a National Championship was not on the line? Or did the weather issue really affect Clausen that much?
Thoughts?

I was at that game and K-State just whipped our a$$. Yes, it was cold, but it was cold for them also. Their fans outnumbered our fans by probably 5 to 1.

 

[chadch72]

I was there. Miserable driving to the game in the ice. Miserable sitting in the cold. Miserable watching us get crushed.

But Go Vols Anytime Anywhere against Anyone!

 

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

Anyone remember this game? I was there in Texas that day and felt the cold weather really changed the outcome of the game. The game was played outside and the temps that day were in the 20's for the entire game but almost no wind. We had Casey Clausen at QB, Travis Henry at RB, and Cedric Wilson at WR. Clausen had one of his worse games in his career going 7-25 for only 120 yds and 3 interceptions. Travis Henry had a MONSTER game rushing 17 times for 183 yards. Our leading receiver- Cedric Wilson only had 3 catches for 54yds. Jason Witten had ZERO catches in the game.
On defense we had Albert Haynesworth, Big John Henderson, Will Overstreet, Andre Lott etc. Not a shabby defense at all.
It just seemed like the cold weather really affected our passing game and our running game could not save the offense that day.
K State won 35-21.
SoCal QB then and now.
Did we just not want to play in the cold weather that day because a National Championship was not on the line? Or did the weather issue really affect Clausen that much?
Thoughts?

Guys like Casey and Witten were true freshmen. That was also a really good era for K State. It was a rebuilding year for us after losing the core of the championship team.

 

[KriegerVOL]

Couple or 3 things there, as I was a freshman at UT then.

1. Wasn't the weather, we beat KY in the snow in Knoxville that year. Cold as all get out but pretty much the same conditions.

2. That was the era where we just couldn't match up with option offenses. Chavis for whatever reason couldn't deal with mobile qbs.

3. Probably an unpopular opinion, but Casey never had the team behind him. He was an a$$ on campus, he was entitled as a player. There's a reason the student section booed him.

 

[adam.vol]

3. Probably an unpopular opinion, but Casey never had the team behind him. He was an a$$ on campus, he was entitled as a player. There's a reason the student section booed him.

Unpopular or not, Clausen would rather throw the ball out of bounds than take contact for his team. Aside from the return of Cutcliff for one season, 2000 was the beginning of the “decade of dysfunction” for TN.

Even Ron Zook beat Clausen in Neyland.

 

[BigOrangePhoenix]

I remember Stallworth being caught from behind before he could score.

 

[Boston Vol]

K-State was just a better team. Two of their three losses were to eventual national champion Oklahoma, by a combined 13 points.

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

Anyone remember this game? I was there in Texas that day and felt the cold weather really changed the outcome of the game. The game was played outside and the temps that day were in the 20's for the entire game but almost no wind. We had Casey Clausen at QB, Travis Henry at RB, and Cedric Wilson at WR. Clausen had one of his worse games in his career going 7-25 for only 120 yds and 3 interceptions. Travis Henry had a MONSTER game rushing 17 times for 183 yards. Our leading receiver- Cedric Wilson only had 3 catches for 54yds. Jason Witten had ZERO catches in the game.
On defense we had Albert Haynesworth, Big John Henderson, Will Overstreet, Andre Lott etc. Not a shabby defense at all.
It just seemed like the cold weather really affected our passing game and our running game could not save the offense that day.
K State won 35-21.
SoCal QB then and now.
Did we just not want to play in the cold weather that day because a National Championship was not on the line? Or did the weather issue really affect Clausen that much?
Thoughts?

It can definitely effect things when you are out there and it is so cold you don't even want to take your hands out of your pockets. There have been alot of cold, cold Cotton Bowls over the years.