what are the biggest what ifs in tennessee football history

#251
#251
butchna said:
If it wasn't Pacific...it would've been Bama

He would've got into heroin instead
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Maybe. That was our luck against them in those days.

It's too bad Cobb liked the powder. He would have been in the running for the Heisman.
 
#252
#252
Rasputin_Vol said:
Wow...
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Obviously I wasn't clear with my "what if". What was going through my head as I wrote it was:

What if Bill Battle had been a successful coach at UT. That would mean he might still be coaching they Vols since he's barely 70, and he'd probably have over 300 wins.

Is that better?
 
#254
#254
Backwards K said:
Clint Stoerner stumbled and fell because Billy Ratliff drove the Arkansas guard (Burlsworth) back causing him to step on Stoerner's foot. The Vols won that game and I hate to see UT "fans" constantly apologizing for it.
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This. Plus, if you look at the time out/field position situation, it is most likely that even if Stoerner doesn't fumble, we still get the ball back with around :50 left on the clock and only needing a field goal. A tough situation, but certainly not an impossible one.
 
#256
#256
oregonvol said:
This. Plus, if you look at the time out/field position situation, it is most likely that even if Stoerner doesn't fumble, we still get the ball back with around :50 left on the clock and only needing a field goal. A tough situation, but certainly not an impossible one.
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Tennessee ended that game on a 25-3 run and they just ran the ball down Arkansas' throat on the last drive. That drive didn't take long.

Tennesee was the better team and they proved it on the field. No one was going to beat the 1998 Tennessee team, NO ONE.
 
#260
#260
knoxvols1 said:
What if we didn't have Tony Thompson?
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You could have plugged any RB with a pulse and they would have had a good season behind that OL. One of the best UT has ever had.

Tony Thompson, though, was a class act. Glad to see him make all SEC.
 
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#262
#262
1972 Grad said:
Here are the stats for 1985.

Robinson 91/143 63.6% 1246 yds 8.7 yds/att 8td 7int
Dickey 85/131 64.9% 1161 yds 8.8 yds/att 10td 1int
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I'm not even close to attempting to knock Dickey--and your point earlier about the team pulling together is a great point.

However--the best QB at UT, and arguably the 2nd best QB to ever play at UT--is TR imho. :salute:
 
#263
#263
Tony was clearly the most physically talented quarterback on that team. We may never have seen him as a starting quarterback at Tennessee, however, if Alan Cockrell hadn't decided to go pro in baseball. Fortunately, we do not have to consider the repercussions of that "what if" scenario in terms of its impact on the 1984-85 Tennessee teams. Incidentally, here is a nice career update on what Cockrell has been up to since he last donned the orange and white (see The Greatest 21 Days: Alan Cockrell, Easy Decision - 475).
 
#264
#264
MikeVol44 said:
I'm not even close to attempting to knock Dickey--and your point earlier about the team pulling together is a great point.

However--the best QB at UT, and arguably the 2nd best QB to ever play at UT--is TR imho. :salute:
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He had a wealth of talent for sure, but he was capable of trying to do too much at times. That is the reason that he threw a fair number of interceptions. I saw him play every home game, and some others on TV.
 
#265
#265
1972 Grad said:
He had a wealth of talent for sure, but he was capable of trying to do too much at times. That is the reason that he threw a fair number of interceptions. I saw him play every home game, and some others on TV.
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I don't disagree...but the level of competition--UCLA (#10), AUB (#1), FLA (#7), and BAMA (#15), compared to Dickey's may have something to do with those increased number of INTs...and the fact that Majors didn't allow Dickey throw the ball around....

Either way--there is no doubt that TR was more athletic, had a stronger arm, and gave the VOLS the best chance to win...

I doubt very seriously the outcomes of those first games with Dickey at QB....:salute:
 
#266
#266
jules-no-ifs-a-s.gif

I don't wanna hear about no **** ifs!
 
#267
#267
MikeVol44 said:
I don't disagree...but the level of competition--UCLA (#10), AUB (#1), FLA (#7), and BAMA (#15), compared to Dickey's may have something to do with those increased number of INTs...and the fact that Majors didn't allow Dickey throw the ball around....

Either way--there is no doubt that TR was more athletic, had a stronger arm, and gave the VOLS the best chance to win...

I doubt very seriously the outcomes of those first games with Dickey at QB....:salute:
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^^^^this^^^^. I'm not sure how one can dismiss the level of competition. And it wasn't even close.
 
#268
#268
MikeVol44 said:
I don't disagree...but the level of competition--UCLA (#10), AUB (#1), FLA (#7), and BAMA (#15), compared to Dickey's may have something to do with those increased number of INTs...and the fact that Majors didn't allow Dickey throw the ball around....

Either way--there is no doubt that TR was more athletic, had a stronger arm, and gave the VOLS the best chance to win...

I doubt very seriously the outcomes of those first games with Dickey at QB....:salute:
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I'm not going to argue the point that TRob wasn't the best qb that we had that year. If he hadn't been, he would have been on the bench and Dickey would have been the starter. I am saying that Dickey did a very commendable job as a backup, and you couldn't have asked for much more.

My point is that the team improved as the year went on and Dickey had good stats. He also played very well against the highest ranked team on our schedule at the end of the season. That was a very good Miami football team. I really don't think that we could have been any better as a TEAM at the end of that year, if John Elway had been the qb.
 
#269
#269
MikeVol44 said:
I don't disagree...but the level of competition--UCLA (#10), AUB (#1), FLA (#7), and BAMA (#15), compared to Dickey's may have something to do with those increased number of INTs...and the fact that Majors didn't allow Dickey throw the ball around....

Either way--there is no doubt that TR was more athletic, had a stronger arm, and gave the VOLS the best chance to win...

I doubt very seriously the outcomes of those first games with Dickey at QB....:salute:
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That Auburn team that was ranked #1 early in the season when we played them finished 8-4. Miami was #2 entering the Sugar Bowl at the end of the season. Georgia Tech finished #19. Also, Dickey played the last quarter of the Alabama game I think.

On the interception stats , you need to look at the number of passes of Robinson versus Dickey. They threw about the same number, so Majors must have let him throw it around some, and the yardage was about the same, so the playbook was probably the same.

Robinson threw 1 interception for every 20 passes. Dickey threw one for every 131 passes. Robinson threw one TD for every 18 passes. Dickey , one for every 13. Don't sell Dickey short. I am not prepared to say that we would have lost the early games against the ranked teams with Dickey as the qb.
 
#271
#271
GAVol said:
What if Johnny Majors had listened to Dr's orders and not rushed back and split the locker room in 1992?
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Tough to say. Very possibly, Phil Fulmer would have moved on to be head coach somewhere else. In some ways, losing to Arkansas and Carolina set us up for huge success for at least a decade.
 
#274
#274
orangesox said:
Tough to say. Very possibly, Phil Fulmer would have moved on to be head coach somewhere else. In some ways, losing to Arkansas and Carolina set us up for huge success for at least a decade.
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Doug Dickey refused to extend Johnny Majors contract. So Johnny would have been on the way out,heart attack or not.
 
#275
#275
Here's one I haven't seen yet, kind of a double. What if Cutcliffe doesn't take the Ole Miss job and Eli Manning comes to UT instead of Ole Miss?
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