Lot of misinformation in this thread about the championship game vs FSU.
Marcus Outzen was the 2nd string QB behind Chris Weinke, not 3rd string. And he wasn't bad; just inexperienced. When Weinke was injured in the 2nd Qtr against Virginia (FSU's 8th or 9th game of the season), Outzen came into the game and did well, scoring 24 points in the 2nd half after Weinke got 21 in the first half. In one of the following two games, he was hot enough to hit 9 of 10 passes to finish up a game. He was a pretty good QB; just young.
And remember, this wasn't the eventual (2 years later) Weinke who won the Heisman; this was the Weinke who earlier in the 1998 season set an FSU record for interceptions in a single game: six. Six. In one game.
So it wasn't Heisman starter to 3rd string scrub, as some are painting it. It wasn't awesome to weak. More like good to pretty good. Outzen was seen as a capable backup to Weinke, and played fairly well in the last three games of the season. The BIG offensive weapons on the team were RB Travis Minor and WR Peter Warrick. Not the QBs; they were game managers.
Next. The reason--THE reason--Outzen played so poorly in the national championship game against the Vols was because Phillip Fulmer (rightly) anticipated his limited experience might allow him to fall apart if the Vols defense put enough pressure on him. So our lads pinned their ears back and went after Outzen all night long. We kept just enough back to control Travis Minor, and to keep a lid on outstanding wide receiver Peter Warrick, but everything else we had was launched like an unending barrage into Outzen's face.
That's why Outzen looked bad that night. Not because he was incompetent, but because he was not yet seasoned, and Fulmer/Chavis went after him all night long. They literally broke him; don't think anyone ever heard from him since, heh.
...break/break...
My favorite play of the season? The stumble & fumble. Go Vols!