98 vs 2001

[MurphyVol]

Tee Martin had his limitations, except for one area -

Tee had that intangible determination to win that I'm not sure Peyton ever had.
Manning was known for his superior preparation and ability to read defenses and, of course, his arm.
But he did not have that iron will to compete and win that Tee Martin had, at least at UT.
I remember Peyton actually panicking under pressure vs Florida in '97 and throwing that killer pick-6 when we were in the red zone.
The '98 game vs Florida in Knoxville was the ultimate test of will between two teams and Martin came out on top.
Obviously, Peyton had much more talent than Martin did - but Tee was mentally tougher.

Had Tee been asked to make 51 attempts against UF how many INTs would you guess he would have thrown? I'm guessing 5+

I appreciate everything Tee did, but if you plug Dobbs or Hooker into that same team they likely win the Heisman and probably don't even play a close game that year.

 

[Rickyvol77]

2001 was just loaded with talent and had their own leader in Casey Clausen. Not sure they had the overall high character that '98 had, which was one reason the '01 team fell in love themselves after beating Florida and was not locked in mentally vs LSU for the SEC title game (my 2nd most painful loss in UT football history). Did that group really return from Gainesville to a celebration at Tom Black Track where the players were walking around with roses clenched in their teeth (for the Rose Bowl where they would have played Miami for the national title) ? Indicates how much they took LSU for granted in the following week's SECCG.

The program was never quite the same after that loss.

The roses were the fault of the boosters, coaches and media.

 

[Rickyvol77]

Tee Martin had his limitations, except for one area -

Tee had that intangible determination to win that I'm not sure Peyton ever had.
Manning was known for his superior preparation and ability to read defenses and, of course, his arm.
But he did not have that iron will to compete and win that Tee Martin had, at least at UT.
I remember Peyton actually panicking under pressure vs Florida in '97 and throwing that killer pick-6 when we were in the red zone.
The '98 game vs Florida in Knoxville was the ultimate test of will between two teams and Martin came out on top.
Obviously, Peyton had much more talent than Martin did - but Tee was mentally tougher.

Oh please. Tee was pouting on the Arkansas bench bitching at his team until the defense made its usual big play. Then tee wasn’t been trusted to complete a pass for the win

 

[Storm Shadow]

I think it killed a lot of sports-writers and broadcasters (Ahem - ESPN) that Tennessee won the first BCS national title game in 98. Even though we were undefeated and undisputed, Tennessee was still ranked #4 in the AP Poll even AFTER the BCS National Championship. No doubt, Tennessee would have gotten royally screwed if it wasn't for the BCS that year. In 2001, we lost a couple of games that we shouldn't have -- Hob-nail boot & Especially to LSU in the SEC Championship. But it was nice giving Michigan a butt-whipping in the Citrus Bowl (45-17)!

Tennessee was not 4th after the title game.

 

[HoptownVol]

Some hiccups in 2001 I believe the 01 team vs 98 01 would win.. Just looking for your opinion

Yes, 01' was a far better team, they would have smoked the 98' squad. Its just too bad coaching incompetence prevented them from winning the title, and it wouldn't have taken 4-5 miracles to make that happen.

 

[HoptownVol]

That’s incorrect. Tennessee held the top spot in the AP Poll from November 9 (when it got to the top of the BCS poll) through the end of the season in 1998.

1998 NCAA Division I-A football rankings - Wikipedia

The problem was the unpredictable nature of the BCS formula, we still needed UCLA and KState to lose, we could have easily been knocked out of that #1 spot had things not gone our way.

 

[NeverWe'llSever]

I’ve watched a lot of old UT games on YouTube. I’m 25, so can you blame me? UT has sucked for the majority of my fandom, it’s refreshing to watch actual UT football. However, I’ve never watched the 2001 SEC Championship and I actually told myself I won’t watch it until after Tennessee wins the SEC and breaks the curse.