Tee Martin in 1998

#51
#51
volmandu said:
We all know what that reason is for many.
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I disagree. Tee was a very good player surrounded by an obscene amount of NFL talent. He never had that game where he put the team on his back and crossed the goal line. He had the chance vs Arky twice and blew it both times. He threw a pass in the dirt in front of a wide open PP on 4th down in 98 and made a really bad decision to not run for an easy 1st down and threw a bad pass instead to lose to Arky in 99. He was more of role player not that star.
 
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#52
#52
KoachKrab127 said:
I watched every game in 1998, and frequently revisit all the games. Tee Martin was an excellent leader. He had a wonderful attitide. He had great intangibles. He did not make poor decisions. He played his best under pressure. He is probably the best runner at QB we ever had. However, he was inconsistent with his accuracy. He would often under or overthrow his receivers. He was 9-26 against Syracuse, 7-20 against UF, 5-14 against Auburn, and 10-27 against Arkansas (feel free to check these, because this is from memory, and I believe they are correct).

The coaching staff knew they had an amazing run-blocking offensive line, elite talents in Jamal Lewis, Shawn Bryson, and the Travis boys, and a great runner at QB. They ran the ball a lot, especially early in the season. When Jamal got injured, they started to throw more, (except in the Bama game, where I think they only threw 2 passes in the entire 2nd half, which is just unthinkable today). I believe the coaches played to their strengths extremely well in 1998. Running the ball was definitely the team’s biggest strength that year.
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Best OLine to ever wear orange.
 
#53
#53
volum3 said:
This guy speaks truth and demonstrates wisdom, take note fellow Vols, this is the way.

Tee delivered a fricken Natty....full stop. Best night I EVER had at Cotton Eyed Joes was watching that game.
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Oh Lordt Cotton Eyed Joes..my roommate and I were line dancing there and going to the Lap and the Library around ‘95.. so glad there were no smartphones or evidence
 
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#57
#57
I get tired of this topic. Tee was a great college QB, and a blue chip out of high school. Until Josh Dobbs and Hendon, he was the last Vol QB to be named All SEC. He wasn't the most accurate QB, but he had a cannon and when teamed with Peerless was pretty unstoppable. We became a much more physical team in 1998, which was the key to winning a national championship.

One of Fulmer's downfalls as a coach was that he scrapped what had been successful on offense in 1998 and kept trying to replicate the Manning years. Clausen came out of the gate looking like the 2nd coming but was a lost cause by the end of his senior year and wasn't worth a late round draft pick. When Fulmer did go out and get a qb with wheels (Banks and the Future come to mind), he moved them to WR, or whiffed (Schaeffer).

That's not to knock Peyton or Fulmer. Peyton was a "once in a generation" talent; but how many times did Phil get interviewed on signing day and talk about how this QB reminded him of Peyton Manning. We won a natty by being a physical running team with a QB who could beat you with his legs or throwing deep off play action.

On Tee, his comp % was off his senior year because he played half the year with a seperated left shoulder. Dude got his teeth literally knocked out and who knows how many concussions because we couldn't block Alex Brown against Florida. When he got healthy, he was unstoppable against Notre Dame, Georgia, and Bama. He was SEC offensive player of the week multiple times against Top 10 ranked teams. He wasn't completing 65% of his passes, but he carried us at times that season. We would've been playing in the SEC Championship again and possibly another NC game had Jamal not muffed a screen pass against Arkansas and had it returned for a TD.
 
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#59
#59
perico said:
I get tired of this topic. Tee was a great college QB, and a blue chip out of high school. Until Josh Dobbs and Hendon, he was the last Vol QB to be named All SEC. He wasn't the most accurate QB, but he had a cannon and when teamed with Peerless was pretty unstoppable. We became a much more physical team in 1998, which was the key to winning a national championship.

One of Fulmer's downfalls as a coach was that he scrapped what had been successful on offense in 1998 and kept trying to replicate the Manning years. Clausen came out of the gate looking like the 2nd coming but was a lost cause by the end of his senior year and wasn't worth a late round draft pick. When Fulmer did go out and get a qb with wheels (Banks and the Future come to mind), he moved them to WR, or whiffed (Schaeffer).

That's not to knock Peyton or Fulmer. Peyton was a "once in a generation" talent; but how many times did Phil get interviewed on signing day and talk about how this QB reminded him of Peyton Manning. We won a natty by being a physical running team with a QB who could beat you with his legs or throwing deep off play action.

On Tee, his comp % was off his senior year because he played half the year with a seperated left shoulder. Dude got his teeth literally knocked out and who knows how many concussions because we couldn't block Alex Brown against Florida. When he got healthy, he was unstoppable against Notre Dame, Georgia, and Bama. He was SEC offensive player of the week multiple times against Top 10 ranked teams. He wasn't completing 65% of his passes, but he carried us at times that season. We would've been playing in the SEC Championship again and possibly another NC game had Jamal not muffed a screen pass against Arkansas and had it returned for a TD.
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We were driving at the end of that Arky game with a chance to win. It was 4th down around their 15. Tee had a clear path to run for the first down. He instead threw an incomplete pass. For the life of me I still don’t know why.
 
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#61
#61
Good discussion. And for the couple of guys playing the race card.....Give me a break!

I still can't believe they pulled off that Florida game. Florida QB barely missed the the receiver in OT a couple of times. Amazing how they win with 60 yards passing.
 
#62
#62
perico said:
I get tired of this topic. Tee was a great college QB, and a blue chip out of high school. Until Josh Dobbs and Hendon, he was the last Vol QB to be named All SEC. He wasn't the most accurate QB, but he had a cannon and when teamed with Peerless was pretty unstoppable. We became a much more physical team in 1998, which was the key to winning a national championship.

One of Fulmer's downfalls as a coach was that he scrapped what had been successful on offense in 1998 and kept trying to replicate the Manning years. Clausen came out of the gate looking like the 2nd coming but was a lost cause by the end of his senior year and wasn't worth a late round draft pick. When Fulmer did go out and get a qb with wheels (Banks and the Future come to mind), he moved them to WR, or whiffed (Schaeffer).

That's not to knock Peyton or Fulmer. Peyton was a "once in a generation" talent; but how many times did Phil get interviewed on signing day and talk about how this QB reminded him of Peyton Manning. We won a natty by being a physical running team with a QB who could beat you with his legs or throwing deep off play action.

On Tee, his comp % was off his senior year because he played half the year with a seperated left shoulder. Dude got his teeth literally knocked out and who knows how many concussions because we couldn't block Alex Brown against Florida. When he got healthy, he was unstoppable against Notre Dame, Georgia, and Bama. He was SEC offensive player of the week multiple times against Top 10 ranked teams. He wasn't completing 65% of his passes, but he carried us at times that season. We would've been playing in the SEC Championship again and possibly another NC game had Jamal not muffed a screen pass against Arkansas and had it returned for a TD.
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And honestly, he shouldn't have. In the conference in 1999 Tee was 5th in completions, 6th in pass attempts, 7th in completion percentage, 4th in passing yards, tied for 1st in yards/attempt, tied for 3rd in adjusted yards/attempt, tied for 6th in passing touchdowns, and was 6th in passing efficiency.

Vs ND: 18 of 32 for 196 yards, 3 TDs. Good TDs, but hardly "unstoppable".
Vs Bama: 11 of 17 for 168 yards, 1 TD. Good %, but not much yards/scores
Vs UGA: 21 of 35 for 283 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs. Solid %, good yards, but the 2 picks.
 
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#64
#64
volum3 said:
This guy speaks truth and demonstrates wisdom, take note fellow Vols, this is the way.

Tee delivered a fricken Natty....full stop. Best night I EVER had at Cotton Eyed Joes was watching that game.
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That was more our Defense and Run Game than it was Tee.
 
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#69
#69
VFL-82-JP said:
We'll have to agree to disagree on this one, Hacksaw. I personally put Tee above Eric Ainge and Tyler Bray, for instance. Love them all. But Tee comes first for me.

If you do nothing but look at single-player stat sheets, Bray and Ainge win. But football isn't tennis; it's not about the individual. Add the team results, the intangibles, the leadership and chemistry and accomplishments--heck, add SEC and National trophies--and Tee comes out on top among those three for me.

My personal top 10 QBs, in no particular order, are: Casey, Condredge, Hendon, Andy, Bobby, Tony, Heath, Peyton, Tee, and Josh.
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I know this is old, but the thread was bumped.

Ainge, I agree. Bray, I don't

All Bray needed was a halfway decent defense.
 
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#70
#70
57% 2167 yards pass 8.5 A/YA 19 TDs 6 INTs
287 yards rushing 2.8 avg 7 TDs

65% 2813 yards pass 8.4 A/YA 20 TDs 5 INTs
299 yards rushing 3.8 avg 7 TDs

One QB gets tons of praise while the other gets almost universally trashed. So which is the better QB?
 
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#73
#73
amstelman said:
I recall that T held the record for completions in a row for a while. However, the passes were rarely over 12 yards. Conservative for sure.

Who remembers which game that was? (Not me)
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SC.

wasnt every offense not called Florida, conservative then?
 
#74
#74
BigOrangePhoenix said:
Despite being a Junior, did he have a hard time grasping the offense early on? They played 'close to the vest' against Florida, and Tee was awful. He was inconsistent against Syracuse, but still made big time plays. He was awful against Auburn but seemed to hit his stride against UGA.

Obviously, I am not complaining, but why was Tennessee conservative with a Quarterback that had been in the system for two seasons plus a fall camp? Need refreshed.
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He was also terrible against Arkansas and meh against Georgia. His teammates bailed him out a lot. When it came time for a clutch drive against Arkansas, he failed. Then the miracle happened, so Cut took the ball out of his hands and ran every play for the winning score.

He was pretty good against Miss State and FSU, though. Not spectacular, but he could hit the deep ball and did so against those two.

To answer your question, I don’t think it was a lack of grasping the offense. He was just an inaccurate QB. He was even less accurate in 1999, completing just 54%. Yes, he set that consecutive completion record, but that was against a 1-11 South Carolina team that went winless in the SEC.

He’s probably the most overrated UT QB of my lifetime due to the NC, but he’s actually proof that football is a team game and it’s foolish to credit QBs with championships. The Vols won a lot of those games in spite of him. Imagine that team if Tim Couch had been the QB (he almost was).
 
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#75
#75
Tee could throw the deep pass very well and had P. Price to get behind the D. Also he was very good when the play broke down and making something happen with his running or passing, ie Dobbs and Hooker. He used his best skills to accomplish a lot.
 
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