The reason we didn't repeat in 1999.

#27
#27
'99 was a preview of how things would go without Cutcliff... Sanders didnt have it, and his worst play calling was in the Ark game, where we were in the RZ 3 or 4 times and came away with zero points, mainly calling deep drops where a sack took us out of FG range... Cut was also the discipline guy on the staff, and the offense started looking sloppy without him. I think we'd have been in another NC rematch with Free Shoes had Cut stayed.

The sad part is you almost never see a coach or coordinator leave before a championship game like Cut did in 98. I think he's a snake and if we had lost to FSU he would be one of the most hated Vol coaches in history
 
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#28
#28
The sad part is you almost never see a coach or coordinator leave before a championship game like Cut did in 98. I think he's a snake and if we had lost to FSU he would be one of the most hated Vol coaches in history

He's pretty much universally cited as the reason Peyton Manning chose to come to school at UT, so I doubt it would have been that bad of a reputation had FSU won (especially when considering how well Manning's liked).
 
#29
#29
The sad part is you almost never see a coach or coordinator leave before a championship game like Cut did in 98. I think he's a snake and if we had lost to FSU he would be one of the most hated Vol coaches in history

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#32
#32
The sad part is you almost never see a coach or coordinator leave before a championship game like Cut did in 98. I think he's a snake and if we had lost to FSU he would be one of the most hated Vol coaches in history

You might be the first person I've seen that has ever said a bad thing about Coach Cut. Even the UNC fans around here like him.
 
#33
#33
The sad part is you almost never see a coach or coordinator leave before a championship game like Cut did in 98. I think he's a snake and if we had lost to FSU he would be one of the most hated Vol coaches in history

Granted, that was not an ideal situation but you're still being a little harsh. During the interview process, Ole Miss insisted that he coach their bowl game - the Independence Bowl on Dec. 28 vs Texas Tech (they won 35-18). Cut was desperate for an SEC head coaching job at that point and he had no leverage to negotiate the matter. Cut did still coach the SECCG after being hired by Ole Miss so it's not like he just dropped everything and ran to Oxford. Fulmer seemed to understand.
 
#34
#34
I was at that game with my parents. Saw and heard things that an 11 year-old should never hear. Still can't believe we ran the ball to Brown's side on fourth and a looooooong two, even though it was Jamal Lewis that was doing the running.
 
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#35
#35
I was at that game with my parents. Saw and heard things that an 11 year-old should never hear. Still can't believe we ran the ball to Brown's side on fourth and looooooong two, even though it was Jamal Lewis that was doing the running.

Should've been a run/ pass option for Tee rolling to the right, not a toss sweep to the short side of the field.
 
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#36
#36
I was at that game with my parents. Saw and heard things that an 11 year-old should never hear. Still can't believe we ran the ball to Brown's side on fourth and looooooong two, even though it was Jamal Lewis that was doing the running.

Agree Dodge, it was brutal. It was a poor, unimaginative playcall. And we still haven't blocked Brown. Ugh.
 
#37
#37
He's pretty much universally cited as the reason Peyton Manning chose to come to school at UT, so I doubt it would have been that bad of a reputation had FSU won (especially when considering how well Manning's liked).

He's also the reason Eli went to Ole Miss instead of UT. How would 00-03 have been with Eli at the helm? Ole Miss hired him to get Eli, once Eli left they fired him one season later. Cut scorned us for a team that didn't even want him as a coach, just as a recruiting tool
 
#38
#38
Agree Dodge, it was brutal. It was a poor, unimaginative playcall. And we still haven't blocked Brown. Ugh.

...and we ran the same damn play the next season against them with Travis Henry on our last possession. We were ahead 23-20 and had a 3rd and 3 around their 45 with under 2 minutes to play as I recall. Same play... same result.
 
#39
#39
...and we ran the same damn play the next season against them with Travis Henry on our last possession. We were ahead 23-20 and had a 3rd and 3 around their 45 with under 2 minutes to play as I recall. Same play... same result.

That game was lost in the first half.

4 FGs in the red zone should have never happened.

The Gaffney no-catch was just salt in the wound.
 
#40
#40
Not using a tight end to help block Alex Brown is one of Top-5 bone head Vols coaching decisions of last 40 years. Ranks above having Ainge attempt bomb on final play of half against Notre Dame. But, just below Johnny Majors punting, instead of taking safety, against Army.
 
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#43
#43
And I know there isn't anyone here that's wants to hear this and will just blow it off.....but.....

there are people who talk about losing to LSU in the 2001 SEC title game and it costing Tennessee the national title who forget about the 2001 Miami Hurricanes.

Well, along those same lines.....the 1999 Florida State Seminoles were really, really good.
 
#45
#45
And I know there isn't anyone here that's wants to hear this and will just blow it off.....but.....

there are people who talk about losing to LSU in the 2001 SEC title game and forget about the 2001 Miami Hurricanes.

Well, along those same lines.....the 1999 Florida State Seminoles were really, really good.

Yeah, 98 FSU sucked.
 
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#46
#46
The sad part is you almost never see a coach or coordinator leave before a championship game like Cut did in 98. I think he's a snake and if we had lost to FSU he would be one of the most hated Vol coaches in history
A snake? He did what he thought was best for himself and his family, just as I suspect you would do as opposed to bowing to the wishes of some dude screaming vawls from his couch.
 
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#47
#47
And I know there isn't anyone here that's wants to hear this and will just blow it off.....but.....

there are people who talk about losing to LSU in the 2001 SEC title game and it costing Tennessee the national title who forget about the 2001 Miami Hurricanes.

Well, along those same lines.....the 1999 Florida State Seminoles were really, really good.

I don't think anyone really forgets that... but Tennessee would have still been in the Rose Bowl and given them a better game than Nebraska did (that was 34-0 in the 2nd quarter).
 
#48
#48
Yep. We tried to block him with Josh Tucker all night. Alex Brown didn't do anything but pick his butt of the ground vs Tennessee in '00 or '01 but for some reason the combo of Fulmer/Sanders decided to let him make 1st team All America that night by never adjusting their blocking schemes. Ridiculous.

AT Florida, Tee got hit after he threw it and slammed out of bounds into some large speakers or metal fans or something and not a damn thang was called by those refs who to this day are enjoying their hard-earned beach houses.
 
#49
#49
I don't think anyone really forgets that... but Tennessee would have still been in the Rose Bowl and given them a better game than Nebraska did (that was 34-0 in the 2nd quarter).
Agree. The SECCG loss that year is still hard to swallow.
 
#50
#50
That was one of the most confounding things I've ever seen in my 40+ years of following football. We were clearly the better football team. But we absolutely REFUSED to make any adjustment on how we went about blocking Alex Brown the entire game and essentially allowed him to the single biggest factor in that unnecessary loss to the Gators. I'm still scratching my head over that one.....and to a much lesser extent the 4th down, Lewis off left tackle vanilla playcall that ended the game.

Early indicator of Randy Sanders genius. Think Cut would have changed up the snap count
 
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