Watching the '98 Arkansas game on SECN

#28
#28
fade route said:
They were ranked higher? A much better QB in McNown than Outzen?
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Ranked higher? As in BCS Rankings? And let's not forget the incredible talents of Cade McNown. Tennessee likely would have forfeited the game if UCLA or Kansas St had made it. I mean that Michael Bishop was lethal. And those K. State linebackers, they would have just destroyed the UT offense, right?
 
#29
#29
Hacksaw said:
They had to replace Weinke and we had to replace Jamaal Lewis. They lost, so naturally they pointed to that as their excuse. But I remember FSU fans saying before the game that they liked their chances better with Outzen in there, since he was more mobile than Weinke. They were very confident about Outzen, particularly after his performance against the Gators (which a lot of FSU fans thought would be a sure loss without Weinke). And a lot of the "experts" picked FSU to win the game against us. So the Outzen thing comes off more like an excuse than a big break for us.

The Syracuse PI call was the right call. It's true that such a call is not always ruled the same way by the refs, so in that sense it was a big break for us. It would have been an even bigger break for Syracuse if they had not called it, since the defender definitely made contact with the receiver before the ball got there. Again, Syracuse fans and NE sportswriters made a big deal out of it, but it was the right call.

Burlsworth said after the game that he got his footwork screwed-up and it was his fault he stepped on Stoerner's foot. Billy Ratliff was pushing Burlsworth back hard from the moment of the snap, so he gets credit for contributing to that. I don't know why anyone would try to deny that he played a part. And without Stoerner's foot being stepped on, the fumble doesn't happen (and LMAO @ "inexplicably").

I would agree that we got our fair share of breaks along the way to that NC, which I think is the point you are trying to make. The fact that other contenders (i.e., Ohio State and UCLA) lost games along the way, while we didn't, certainly falls into that category. All Championship teams need a few breaks along the way and we were no different.
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Don't you know that only UT gets "lucky" breaks. Every other teams earns their wins. Hell, we're lucky to even get to field a team..
 
#30
#30
UT_Dutchman said:
Not so fast my friend, it's called anticipation. Burlsworth had been getting beat by Ratliff and walker. Watch the whole game. He knew what was coming and his reaction showed by stepping on Stoerners foot. Closet hog?
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Not a closet Hog. But he is definitely a Vol self loather. We have several on this site.
 
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#31
#31
fade route said:
You're right on that first point - but they would have been there instead of an FSU that needed that miracle to be there. UCLA would have been a tougher opponent.
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I guess you missed both the 96 and 97 seasons which included wins over UCLA. I would have trusted that 98 defense to get it done.
 
#32
#32
fade route said:
You're right on that first point - but they would have been there instead of an FSU that needed that miracle to be there. UCLA would have been a tougher opponent.
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UCLA had no defense whatsoever that year. They were all offense, and they didn't play a tough schedule. We would have steamrolled them.

They went on to lose in the Rose Bowl to Wisconsin 38-31 in their next game.
 
#33
#33
Vol423 said:
UCLA had no defense whatsoever that year. They were all offense, and they didn't play a tough schedule. We would have steamrolled them.

They went on to lose in the Rose Bowl to Wisconsin 38-31 in their next game.
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Don't you know that we're just lucky when we win?!? The mighty UCLA just had a bad day against Miami. Why they would've killed our toothless redneck team who won by pure luck.
Come on man.
 
#34
#34
fade route said:
All UCLA had to do was beat Miami the last game of the year, which was a makeup game from a Sept hurricane, and they would have played for the NC

The notion that the DL cause Stoerner's fumble is one of the most hilarious myths in college football. In any pass play, which this one was designed to be a play action rollout, the guards and tackles' first step is back - no one pushed an all American like Bullsworth into Stoerner. Furthermore, no Vol forced Stoerner to inexplicably brace his fall with his ball hand. That's on Stoerner.

Thirdly, the rooster was the 3rd string QB if I recall and hadn't played but a few downs of college football prior to that game - I could be wrong on this butI think I'm right.
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We watched the game and somehow saw it differently. :hmm:
 
#35
#35
fade route said:
We were dang lucky to win that natty. Think about how many things went in our favor:

- the 4th down interference call against Syracuse
- Martin throwing a rainbow to Price against UF that should have been an easy pick
- the walk on or freshman kicker that missed the game tying FG by like 3 inches against UF
- Ohio St and UCLA losing gimme games late in the year to push UT to#1
- Wienke getting hurt before the national title game and FSU having to play "the rooster" at QB who was God awful
- andofcourse the Stoener fumble against a Arkansas team that dominated us for 3 quarters
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How about things that went against us? Such as:

1) Losing our leading rusher, Jamal Lewis, for the season vs Auburn. How many National Championship teams have dealt with that?

2) The officials and the CBS announcers for that game Sean McDonough and Terry Donohue missed a crucial call on the snap that went over Arkansas punter Benji Mahan's head in the 4th quarter. He illegally kicked it backward through the end zone. Tennessee should have been given the option of taking the ball half the distance to the goal line from where it was kicked (Tenn would have had a 1st and goal from the 5) but instead Tenn was just awarded a safety. The score was 24-20 at the time. Given the choice, we would have taken the ball, not the safety. The refs blew it.

Your argument about the Peerless TD vs Florida 'should have been an easy pick' is ridiculous. He had his man beaten on a double move.. and Florida's Collins Cooper's missed kick in OT was not even close to the left upright (if that is what you're talking about). Arkansas dominated the 1st half - not the first 3 quarters.
 
#36
#36
BowlBrother85 said:
How about things that went against us? Such as:

1) Losing our leading rusher, Jamal Lewis, for the season vs Auburn. How many National Championship teams have dealt with that?

2) The officials and the CBS announcers for that game Sean McDonough and Terry Donohue missed a crucial call on the snap that went over Arkansas punter Benji Mahan's head in the 4th quarter. He illegally kicked it backward through the end zone. Tennessee should have been given the option of taking the ball half the distance to the goal line from where it was kicked (Tenn would have had a 1st and goal from the 5) but instead Tenn was just awarded a safety. The score was 24-20 at the time. Given the choice, we would have taken the ball, not the safety. The refs blew it.

Your argument about the Peerless TD vs Florida 'should have been an easy pick' is ridiculous. He had his man beaten on a double move.. and Florida's Collins Cooper's missed kick in OT was not even close to the left upright (if that is what you're talking about). Arkansas dominated the 1st half - not the first 3 quarters.
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Those facts don't support the agenda of the self loathers.
 
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#37
#37
fade route said:
They were ranked higher? A much better QB in McNown than Outzen?
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I think you're trying too hard to establish yourself as the reasonable, objective fan. You've gone beyond that to the point of making unreasonable assumptions about what would have happened in any number of different scenarios. The bottom line is that we won. And it's perfectly alright to feel good about it. Cut yourself some slack.
 
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#38
#38
ReaderVol said:
Those facts don't support the agenda of the self loathers.
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Yeah... and the thing about the '98 Arkansas game that bothers me a little is that people like fade call it luck but if the punt which was kicked backward through the end zone had been officiated correctly, we would not have needed the Stoerner fumble at the end. Nobody (but me) ever mentions this fact on VN.
 
#39
#39
Hacksaw said:
I think you're trying too hard to establish yourself as the reasonable, objective fan. You've gone beyond that to the point of making unreasonable assumptions about what would have happened in any number of different scenarios. The bottom line is that we won. And it's perfectly alright to feel good about it. Cut yourself some slack.
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This is the same guy who has zero respect for the victory we had by blowing out a top 15 bowl game and their higher rank. But you can bet your a$$ he will use a higher ranking to bolster his argument to take some shine off of our NC in 98. That's who he is.
 
#40
#40
Hacksaw said:
I think you're trying too hard to establish yourself as the reasonable, objective fan. You've gone beyond that to the point of making unreasonable assumptions about what would have happened in any number of different scenarios. The bottom line is that we won. And it's perfectly alright to feel good about it. Cut yourself some slack.
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Well said... and Tennessee went undefeated in '98. Winning the National Championship with two losses like LSU did in '07 (including Kentucky) is luck.
 
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#41
#41
BowlBrother85 said:
Well said... and Tennessee went undefeated in '98. Winning the National Championship with two losses like LSU did in '07 (including Kentucky) is luck.
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You will never convince the legion of the self loathers. They seem to relish in finding the few small blemishes instead of enjoying the overwhelming shine that the rest of us see.
 
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#42
#42
ReaderVol said:
You will never convince the legion of the self loathers. They seem to relish in finding the few small blemishes instead of enjoying the overwhelming shine that the rest of us see.
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You keep posting the same thing over and over.
 
#43
#43
ReaderVol said:
This is the same guy who has zero respect for the victory we had by blowing out a top 15 bowl game and their higher rank. But you can bet your a$$ he will use a higher ranking to bolster his argument to take some shine off of our NC in 98. That's who he is.
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What on earth are you even talking about? I set out to make the point that we had some breaks along the way to our natty, as every team does, and suddenly I'm a self loather?
 
#45
#45
Hacksaw said:
The Syracuse PI call was the right call. It's true that such a call is not always ruled the same way by the refs, so in that sense it was a big break for us. It would have been an even bigger break for Syracuse if they had not called it, since the defender definitely made contact with the receiver before the ball got there. Again, Syracuse fans and NE sportswriters made a big deal out of it, but it was the right call
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It was called correctly but still big save for us. I don't think I've seen that play in over a decade but wasn't Lewis basically catching it in the flat on a 4th and 10? He would have had to make an amazing play to get the first.
 
#48
#48
Smokey49 said:
It was called correctly but still big save for us. I don't think I've seen that play in over a decade but wasn't Lewis basically catching it in the flat on a 4th and 10? He would have had to make an amazing play to get the first.
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It was 4th and 7 and the pass would have been beyond the 1st down marker at the spot where he was standing when the Syracuse DB plowed into him from behind. The receiver was Cedric Wilson, btw.
 
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#49
#49
fade route said:
We were dang lucky to win that natty. Think about how many things went in our favor:

- the 4th down interference call against Syracuse
- Martin throwing a rainbow to Price against UF that should have been an easy pick
- the walk on or freshman kicker that missed the game tying FG by like 3 inches against UF
- Ohio St and UCLA losing gimme games late in the year to push UT to#1
- Wienke getting hurt before the national title game and FSU having to play "the rooster" at QB who was God awful
- andofcourse the Stoener fumble against a Arkansas team that dominated us for 3 quarters
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The Arkansas punter illegally kicked a bad snap out of the end zone.

The refs mistakenly ruled a Safety and awarded Tennessee 2 pts. Should have been Vols ball inside the Arky 5 yard line with less than 3 minutes to play.
 
#50
#50
ajvol01 said:
The Arkansas punter illegally kicked a bad snap out of the end zone.

The refs mistakenly ruled a Safety and awarded Tennessee 2 pts. Should have been Vols ball inside the Arky 5 yard line with less than 3 minutes to play.
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Here's Arky's punter after he kicked the bad snap out of the end zone. Just inside the 10
 

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