Looking Back at Peyton's Top 10 UT W's

#2
#2
I can understand the rationale; it did secure a SEC championship. However, I would probably have to go with the Citrus Bowl victory over Ohio State, given the Buckeyes' ranking and how loaded they were with talent, particularly on offense. Peyton also had a very impressive individual performance against Northwestern in the Citrus Bowl, so I can't quibble too much about the placement of that victory. For the life of me, I do not believe the Washington State game belongs in the top ten; Peyton played like a true freshman in his first start, completing only 7 of 14 passes for considerably less than 100 yards.

They have it ranked no. 2, so one can't complain too loudly but a strong case can also be made for the '95 victory over Alabama as Peyton's biggest victory, given how thoroughly we dominated them in that game and the fact that it ended a lengthy losing streak to the tidy bowl boys.
 
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#3
#3
Ohio State was probably the toughest opponent other than Florida and '96 Bama. Auburn was good though.
 
#6
#6
Volosaurus rex said:
I can understand the rationale; it did secure a SEC championship. However, I would probably have to go with the Citrus Bowl victory over Ohio State, given the Buckeyes' ranking and how loaded they were with talent, particularly on offense. Peyton also had a very impressive individual performance against Northwestern in the Citrus Bowl, so I can't quibble too much about the placement of that victory. For the life of me, I do not believe the Washington State game belongs in the top ten; Peyton played like a true freshman in his first start, completing only 7 of 14 passes for considerably less than 100 yards.

They have it ranked no. 2, so one can't complain too loudly but a strong case can also be made for the '95 victory over Alabama as Peyton's biggest victory, given how thoroughly we dominated them in that game and the fact that it ended a lengthy losing streak to the tidy bowl boys.
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Hey! Wazzu, son. Go Cougs!
 
#7
#7
No offense intended to the Cougars. Washington State was a good team that year, particularly on defense. However, Peyton really struggled. I suppose that it depends on precisely what criteria one uses in ranking "Peyton's" victories: the caliber of opposition, Peyton's individual performance or a combination of both. I have to downgrade that game simply because it was one in which Peyton really did not play well. Nilo Silvan's 62-yard touchdown on a reverse almost matched Peyton's 79 yards passing (Sports | Vols' Two-Play Offense Hurts Cougars | Seattle Times Newspaper).
 
#8
#8
Volosaurus rex said:
No offense intended to the Cougars. Washington State was a good team that year, particularly on defense. However, Peyton really struggled. I suppose that it depends on precisely what criteria one uses in ranking "Peyton's" victories: the caliber of opposition, Peyton's individual performance or a combination of both. I have to downgrade that game simply because it was one in which Peyton really did not play well. Nilo Silvan's 62-yard touchdown on a reverse almost matched Peyton's 79 yards passing (Sports | Vols' Two-Play Offense Hurts Cougars | Seattle Times Newspaper).
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Wazzou was good and this W proved Peyton could play.
 
#9
#9
The shoot out against Hal mummy and I believe Tim couch was a great individual performance.
 
#10
#10
They got the top three right. The Virginia Tech bowl game was good too. I remember walking out of the stadium happy about the win and some Gator students were outside heckling the Vol fans with a giant sign that said UF - 31 UT - 0 . That was the beginning of the hatred for me even though it was a little funny.
 
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#12
#12
Volosaurus rex said:
I can understand the rationale; it did secure a SEC championship. However, I would probably have to go with the Citrus Bowl victory over Ohio State, given the Buckeyes' ranking and how loaded they were with talent, particularly on offense. Peyton also had a very impressive individual performance against Northwestern in the Citrus Bowl, so I can't quibble too much about the placement of that victory. For the life of me, I do not believe the Washington State game belongs in the top ten; Peyton played like a true freshman in his first start, completing only 7 of 14 passes for considerably less than 100 yards.

They have it ranked no. 2, so one can't complain too loudly but a strong case can also be made for the '95 victory over Alabama as Peyton's biggest victory, given how thoroughly we dominated them in that game and the fact that it ended a lengthy losing streak to the tidy bowl boys.
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Had Nilo Silvan not ran a reverse for a T.D., we would have lost the Washington State game. Peyton didn't play very well that game or Fulmer kept the playbook conservative for him, one of the other.
 
#14
#14
ManningBerry#1 said:
The win against Florida was my favorite. Ummm...wait... Darn
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The 1st Sgt that I had in the Army about 6 years ago was complaining about Peyton not being able to beat Florida during his college career. So, I asked him, " In the mid 90's, what team was beating Florida, except Nebraska"

Of course, he couldn't answer that one. Bama wasn't! Florida State wasn't! UGA wasn't! LSU wasn't! For us to lose to them, didn't mean that we were a weak team, hell nobody was beating them...
 
#16
#16
ajvol01 said:
^this x 1,000,000

ended their streak and started ours
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When Jay Graham broke the long run that ended all doubt their home crowd was so quiet. Our fans talk about our fans leaving early. We aren't the only ones. All I could hear was Rockytop the rest of the night.
 
#17
#17
thebjd said:
They got the top three right. The Virginia Tech bowl game was good too. I remember walking out of the stadium happy about the win and some Gator students were outside heckling the Vol fans with a giant sign that said UF - 31 UT - 0 . That was the beginning of the hatred for me even though it was a little funny.
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That game also featured a deep pass completion along the sideline to, I believe, Joey Kent, that was one of the most spectacular diving catches I have ever seen.
 
#19
#19
Rudy123 said:
The 1st Sgt that I had in the Army about 6 years ago was complaining about Peyton not being able to beat Florida during his college career. So, I asked him, " In the mid 90's, what team was beating Florida, except Nebraska"

Of course, he couldn't answer that one. Bama wasn't! Florida State wasn't! UGA wasn't! LSU wasn't! For us to lose to them, didn't mean that we were a weak team, hell nobody was beating them...
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I'm pretty sure FSU more than held their own against UF.

FSU was 7-4-1 in the 1990's against UF. They played every year in the regular season and had 2 bowl match-ups, thus 12 games.
 
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#20
#20
jimallvol said:
I think the 96 Bama win was probably his best win in his TN career
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No way! The 1995 win was a dominating performance from start to finish.

The 1996 game was just plodding along until he was able to hit Kent on a quick move that resulted in a TD. The game was in doubt until Graham took it to the house for 75-76 yards...followed by a huge hit by Little on Kitchens.
 
#21
#21
For me, the tOSU game was the glimpse of brillance that Peyton now accomplishes on a weekly basis against top tier offenses and defenses. I would choose the Northwestern game as all Peyton as he dismantled the Wildcats. I lived in Chicago at the time and Northwestern fans feared what might happen and it did. For excitement and enjoyment, the '95 bama game.

I suspect the '97 Auburn game was the most important just because of what it represented. For some reason, I've always felt that Peyton had to overcome expectations of the receivers that Peyton would always hit them on the numbers and that they did not have as much focus as they should have had. There seemed to me too many dropped balls. Maybe that was not the case but only my frustration at the Vols not being able to be ahead in that game until the very end when it counted. That game seemed to go on forever due to the pass happy offenses of both sides. I needed lots of Jack Daniels to calm me down. For that one, I was in Frisco, Texas at a sports bar watching with the UT Alumni Club. The only trouble with that location was it was also the TV watching location of Auburn fans. Tennessee fans numbered maybe 150 and were matched by Auburn, a mini-mini version of what was going on in Atlanta.
 
#24
#24
Rudy123 said:
The 1st Sgt that I had in the Army about 6 years ago was complaining about Peyton not being able to beat Florida during his college career. So, I asked him, " In the mid 90's, what team was beating Florida, except Nebraska"

Of course, he couldn't answer that one. Bama wasn't! Florida State wasn't! UGA wasn't! LSU wasn't! For us to lose to them, didn't mean that we were a weak team, hell nobody was beating them...
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I thought FSU beat them 50/50 in the 90s?

EDIT - looked it up, FSU won in 90, 92, 93, 95, 96, 98, 99
 
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