1999 team.....

#26
#26
It was a great year, even if short of the bar set the year before. But yeah, we were definitely spoiled back then. :)
 
#27
#27
CANNONVOLRUN said:
Ark 28...Tenn 24...an exact opposite of the previous season and eliminating any chance of a repeat...
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We wouldn't have had one, even with that win. Both Florida State and Virginia Tech were undefeated going into the Sugar Bowl game (for the national championship) that year.
 
#28
#28
We were rated ahead of Virginia Tech in the BCS rankings until the Arkansas loss. Very well could have had a chance to repeat..
 
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#29
#29
Brave Volunteer said:
They no longer had this guy...

tennessee-vols-al-wilson-o.gif
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This had a lot to do with it.
That team was stacked. It wasn't Al's production they missed, but his leadership.
 
#30
#30
TrueOrange said:
That's pretty much what Nebraska did to more or less everyone in the 90s (you could almost just say "under Tom Osborne")...especially at that point in the mid/late 90s.



See what happened in Florida played them at the end of 1995.
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Actually, you could say that Nebraska had a roughly 35-year, 11-win streak over the SEC. After losing to Alabama 34-7 in the 1967 Sugar Bowl, they won the following bowl games in succession over SEC opponents:


1969 Sun Bowl vs. Georgia. W 45-6.

1971 Orange Bowl vs. LSU. W 17-12.

1972 Orange Bowl vs. Alabama. W 38-6.

1974 Sugar Bowl vs. Florida. W 13-10.

1980 Sun Bowl vs. Mississippi St. W 31-17.

1983 Orange Bowl vs. LSU. W 21-20.

1985 Sugar Bowl vs. LSU. W 28-10.

1987 Sugar Bowl vs. LSU. W 30-15.

1996 Fiesta Bowl vs. Florida. W 62-24.

1998 Orange Bowl vs. Tennessee. W 42-17.

2000 Fiesta Bowl vs. Tennessee. W 31-21.

2002 Independence Bowl vs. Ole Miss. L 24-27.

In short, we had a lot of company among SEC schools losing to Nebraska. Nebraska's Bowl History - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
 
#31
#31
TrueOrange said:
I don't even think most of our fans were upset with that season. Maybe they would have liked to have beaten Nebraska, but they still made a major bowl game and finished in the top 10.

But most seemed fine.
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The seasons I was upset with the most were 2002 and 2005.

And of course the Dooley years...
 
#32
#32
TrueOrange said:
We lost by 10 points (31-21).

Are you sure you're not thinking of the Orange Bowl after the 1997 season (when we lost 42-17)? Because it kind of looks like we did better in this one.
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I watched the game beginning to end.

It wasn't as close as the score.
 
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#33
#33
TrueOrange said:
We lost by 10 points (31-21).

Are you sure you're not thinking of the Orange Bowl after the 1997 season (when we lost 42-17)? Because it kind of looks like we did better in this one.
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Lost by 10, but the majority of the game it didn't really feel all that close. Nebraska jumped out to a 17-0 lead. Vols cut it to 17-14 early in the 3rd. Nebraska scored two TDs late in the third/early in the 4th and put the game away at 31-14. We got another TD late to make the score look better, but it wasn't really close for most of the 4th quarter.

I mean, it wasn't what I'd call a blowout per say, but it was a disappointment in the sense that Tennessee showed they could play far better football than what they did in the Fiesta Bowl. Even the two losses during the regular season were very close games.

Season as a whole wasn't disappointing, but the bowl game was.
 
#34
#34
Titans4Vols said:
Lost by 10, but the majority of the game it didn't really feel all that close. Nebraska jumped out to a 17-0 lead. Vols cut it to 17-14 early in the 3rd. Nebraska scored two TDs late in the third/early in the 4th and put the game away at 31-14. We got another TD late to make the score look better, but it wasn't really close for most of the 4th quarter.

I mean, it wasn't what I'd call a blowout per say, but it was a disappointment in the sense that Tennessee showed they could play far better football than what they did in the Fiesta Bowl. Even the two losses during the regular season were very close games.

Season as a whole wasn't disappointing, but the bowl game was.
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This
 
#37
#37
VFL34 said:
Sometimes you just lose games.
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Pretty much it. Everybody loves to build narratives, but when it comes down to it, the difference between 98 and 99 was a PI call at Syracuse and a freak fumble against Arkansas.
 
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#38
#38
We had some serious debacles in bowl games under Fulmer. Penn State, Nebraska, Clemson, and KState all embarrassed us during Fulmers tenure. With the exception of the 98 NC game and the Michigan beat down, bowl games were not our strong points. Seems like Majors always won his bowl games. Beat Miami, Virginia, Arkansas, and even Minnesota in the lowly Liberty Bowl. It always seemed Majors went to win a game and Fulmer viewed it as a reward to the players. JMO
 
#39
#39
There is one additional factor to consider. 1999 was the year that Travis took his redshirt. It turned out to be a very wise decision, as it allowed him to become the feature back in 2001 and have a season for the ages, one that still ranks as the most productive single season of any running back in Tennessee football history. His 1464 yards remains a school record, led the SEC and was 6th nationally. His 291 carries also led the SEC and were 3rd most nationally. And he most certainly would have won the Doak Walker Award, had voting been delayed until after the Florida game.
 
#40
#40
ManchesterV said:
We had some serious debacles in bowl games under Fulmer. Penn State, Nebraska, Clemson, and KState all embarrassed us during Fulmers tenure. With the exception of the 98 NC game and the Michigan beat down, bowl games were not our strong points. Seems like Majors always won his bowl games. Beat Miami, Virginia, Arkansas, and even Minnesota in the lowly Liberty Bowl. It always seemed Majors went to win a game and Fulmer viewed it as a reward to the players. JMO
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Fulmer at least got us to bowl games. Since Fulmer left we have been to 2 bowls in 6 seasons. Hopefully Butch has us back on track.
 
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#41
#41
A valid point. I tell Georgia fans and LSU fans the same when they start on MR or LM. Careful what you wish for. With that said, I think CPF would have likely continued to go 7-5 or 8-4, but I don't think he ever was getting us back to the top. I could be wrong but we will never know. I only say that because nobody was knocking down his door to hire him afterwards. That told me his time had past. Forgive me for bringing this up as it has been hashed out a million times on here.
 
#42
#42
Volosaurus rex said:
It may be an exaggeration to say categorically that they lacked "drive," but, to answer your question, a host of factors were involved:


(1) Most importantly, a lion that has just gorged itself on a kill is not as hungry for some time. In short, it is much harder to repeat as a national champion than it is to win one in the first place. That is simply human nature. In retrospect, I believe that this may have even impacted recruiting; we did not reap the extraordinary benefits in the '99 recruiting class that one would have expected in the immediate aftermath of having won a national championship.

(2) The extraordinary leadership of Al Wilson was no longer there to galvanize them.

(3) David Cutcliffe had moved on to take the head coaching position at Ole Miss. Fulmer fully trusted Cutcliffe as offensive coordinator; he never relinquished the same degree of control to Randy Sanders.

(4) The close victories over Florida and Arkansas at home in 1998 became extremely close losses on the road in 1999.
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Very well said, sir. Of course, you're privy to insights that most everyone on here is not, and we appreciate that.
 
#43
#43
GAVol said:
Pretty much it. Everybody loves to build narratives, but when it comes down to it, the difference between 98 and 99 was a PI call at Syracuse and a freak fumble against Arkansas.
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And a missed OT field goal by Florida. :good!:
 
#46
#46
GAVol said:
Pretty much it. Everybody loves to build narratives, but when it comes down to it, the difference between 98 and 99 was a PI call at Syracuse and a freak fumble against Arkansas.
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3 forced fumbles by Big Al vs Florida helped too.

He was incredible that night.
 
#47
#47
ManchesterV said:
We had some serious debacles in bowl games under Fulmer. Penn State, Nebraska, Clemson, and KState all embarrassed us during Fulmers tenure. With the exception of the 98 NC game and the Michigan beat down, bowl games were not our strong points. Seems like Majors always won his bowl games. Beat Miami, Virginia, Arkansas, and even Minnesota in the lowly Liberty Bowl. It always seemed Majors went to win a game and Fulmer viewed it as a reward to the players. JMO
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You forgot beating a #5 Ohio State in 1996,

Apparently, the Northwestern team UT beat at the end of 1997 was ranked #9/#11. (Also, as an aside, apparently the Virginia Tech team that an unranked UT beat in the 1994 Gator Bowl was ranked #15/#17, around the same area as the #16 Boston Colloge team that UT beat after 1992).

Majors also looked to have had a really bad loss to Penn State, ones to Maryland and Iowa, and one to Purdue (although to be fair, that was a really good Purdue team, finished ranked in the top 10).

To Majors' credit though - save for the Sugar Bowl win against Miami and the Fiesta Bowl loss to Penn State - Majors' bowl games were all pretty much close games as far as the final scores, win or loss.
 
#48
#48
Titans4Vols said:
Lost by 10, but the majority of the game it didn't really feel all that close. Nebraska jumped out to a 17-0 lead. Vols cut it to 17-14 early in the 3rd. Nebraska scored two TDs late in the third/early in the 4th and put the game away at 31-14. We got another TD late to make the score look better, but it wasn't really close for most of the 4th quarter.

I mean, it wasn't what I'd call a blowout per say, but it was a disappointment in the sense that Tennessee showed they could play far better football than what they did in the Fiesta Bowl. Even the two losses during the regular season were very close games.

Season as a whole wasn't disappointing, but the bowl game was.
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Dan Alexander was a beast in the second half.
 
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#49
#49
GAVol said:
Pretty much it. Everybody loves to build narratives, but when it comes down to it, the difference between 98 and 99 was a PI call at Syracuse and a freak fumble against Arkansas.
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There is a lot of truth to that. All of the analysis in the world does not change the fact that most national championships require having the proverbial breaks go your way at critical times, whether it be in the form of a Clint Stoerner fumble or a fifth down officiating snafu. Very few teams are strong enough to go wire-to-wire and simply annihilate all of their opposition. The three strongest college football teams I have ever seen were Nebraska juggernauts in 1971, 1983 and 1995. They had the advantage, however, of not having to play in a conference that was as strong, top to bottom, as the SEC.
 
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#50
#50
TrueOrange said:
You forgot beating a #5 Ohio State in 1996,

Apparently, the Northwestern team UT beat at the end of 1997 was ranked #9/#11. (Also, as an aside, apparently the Virginia Tech team that an unranked UT beat in the 1994 Gator Bowl was ranked #15/#17, around the same area as the #16 Boston Colloge team that UT beat after 1992).

Majors also looked to have had a really bad loss to Penn State, ones to Maryland and Iowa, and one to Purdue (although to be fair, that was a really good Purdue team, finished ranked in the top 10).

To Majors' credit though - save for the Sugar Bowl win against Miami and the Fiesta Bowl loss to Penn State - Majors' bowl games were all pretty much close games as far as the final scores, win or loss.
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Although our opponent in the 2005 Cotton Bowl, Texas A & M, was not as highly ranked, Fulmer deserves at least some of the credit for the thoroughness with which we defeated the Aggies, 38-7. Unfortunately, I believe that our performance in that game artificially inflated expectations for the '05 season, which turned out to be a distinct disappointment.
 
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