Could 1996 have been the year?

#27
#27
That '96 Florida game was terrible. That was supposed to be the year that we break through and they kicked our ass. Largest crowd in the history of college football (at the the time) and we layed a massive egg.
 
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#28
#28
GAVol said:
Sickening thing is, if replay reviews had been around, that Memphis loss probably doesn't even happen.
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Would it have been challenged ? The video replay refs miss alot of calls big time -- Miamis TD runback vs Duke a couple years ago was one for example -- but youre right seeing so many bad/missed calls on some of the old highlights of alot of games makes todays fan wonder ' what might have been'
 
#31
#31
Our offensive line was pure garbage that year. Offensive line play was the reason Peyton never won a national title. If Peyton played behind the 1998 offensive line his last two years he would have won titles both seasons.
 
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#33
#33
doctorchoice said:
Our offensive line was pure garbage that year. Offensive line play was the reason Peyton never won a national title. If Peyton played behind the 1998 offensive line his last two years he would have won titles both seasons.
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The offensive line play was awful in '96. We couldn't run the ball against even average defenses. Against Memphis, Tennessee rushed 49 times for 95 yards. Jay Graham never had a chance on most carries. They finally got around to putting freshman Chad Clifton in at OG after that game but the season was pretty much lost after that.

However, I wouldn't say that the offensive line was a problem in any of the other seasons that Peyton was here.
 
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#35
#35
RTYABHSHTM said:
Spurrier going for it on 4th and 7 from midfield blew fulmer's mind. Tennessee still could have won if fulmer had not started chasing points in the 2nd quarter.
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It blew everyone's mind. Another example of a "mind-blown-Phil-Fulmer is when Saban started the game with an on-side kick in his first yeat at Alabama despite being heavy under-dog. Yes.....Saban won. Another example of a supreme set of "hangers" I'm afraid.
 
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#37
#37
utvols74 said:
Memphis had a stellar defense. They sent several to the combine who were drafted and played in the NFL.
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They had Mike Mckenzie. That's about it. There is no excuse for Tennessee to have struggled the way they did that day. At the time Memphis beat Tennessee they were on a 4 game losing streak vs a really soft schedule and would lose the very next week to East Carolina.
 
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#38
#38
doctorchoice said:
Our offensive line was pure garbage that year. Offensive line play was the reason Peyton never won a national title. If Peyton played behind the 1998 offensive line his last two years he would have won titles both seasons.
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The offense was not the problem in 1996 or 1997. We scored enough points to win all the games those two years. The defense could not keep the other teams from scoring. We did miss Al Wilson when he was injured during the Memphis game, but the no-call on the kick return broke the team's willingless to compete. Put the blame where you wish, but we were not able to overcome that play. When one score over 30 points, we should not lose to any team, but we could not keep Florida from putting 40-60 points on the board.
 
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#42
#42
IknoxvolsI said:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L3lt1xmlUD8

If we hadn't lost to Memphis and with Florida losing to Fla St. at the end of the year, could we have leap frogged Florida and played in the NC game against Fla St? Did the SECCG win over an unranked Arkansas help them that much?

Hindsight is always 20/20 and I remember Fulmer having to answer for all those failed two point conversions. Had he successfully kicked all extra points the score would have been different.

You VN historians think we would have had a chance against Fla St?

What say ye?
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Talk about "WHAT IF'S" Well when Pearl was here and we lost to Michigan State by a few points because of Ramar Smith's missed lay up and the other players AIR BALLS at the free throw line. We could have beaten MSU and then our next opponent would have been the FLorida Gators for the championship.

We all know we could have beaten Florida for a third time that season and been NCAA Champs........


What if.............
 
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#46
#46
IknoxvolsI said:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L3lt1xmlUD8

If we hadn't lost to Memphis and with Florida losing to Fla St. at the end of the year, could we have leap frogged Florida and played in the NC game against Fla St? Did the SECCG win over an unranked Arkansas help them that much?

Hindsight is always 20/20 and I remember Fulmer having to answer for all those failed two point conversions. Had he successfully kicked all extra points the score would have been different.

You VN historians think we would have had a chance against Fla St?

What say ye?
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And team that loses to Memphis does not deserve a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OPPORTUNITY! Even in a driving rain storm.

:-(

TENNESSEEDUKE
 
#48
#48
doctorchoice said:
Our offensive line was pure garbage that year. Offensive line play was the reason Peyton never won a national title. If Peyton played behind the 1998 offensive line his last two years he would have won titles both seasons.
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So, if the offensive lines were garbage in those years, does that mean that Fulmer, himself an ex O-line coach, wasn't a good enough coach to turn things around. Truly won by out-talenting the opposition rather than outcoaching it.
 
#50
#50
VOLINVONORE said:
The offense was not the problem in 1996 or 1997. We scored enough points to win all the games those two years. The defense could not keep the other teams from scoring. We did miss Al Wilson when he was injured during the Memphis game, but the no-call on the kick return broke the team's willingless to compete. Put the blame where you wish, but we were not able to overcome that play. When one score over 30 points, we should not lose to any team, but we could not keep Florida from putting 40-60 points on the board.
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I'm sorry but when you rush 49 times for only 95 yards vs a team which is 3-6 and on a 4 game losing streak and just lost to Louisiana-Lafayette... the offensive line is the problem. Not to mention that Peyton was awful in the '96 Memphis game. He threw an interception in the end zone and threw another one deep in our own end which set up a touchdown.
 
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