Since 98 what Tenn. team ........

#26
#26
volsgal03 said:
I'll never forget losing that game, I was so angry, we should have one, I started losing hope in Fulmer around that time.
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Yeah, I was at that game and it was very disappointing. I am waiting for hatvol to show up and point out that LSU saved us the embarrassment of being dismantled by Miami.
 
#28
#28
Liper said:
Stephens was a 5th year senior...hardly unknown.

Stallworth was a JR who went pro after the year...hardly an unknown.

Witten had been talked about since the day he came on campus...and he was a Soph and the best TE to ever play at TN.

Washington played in the spring as a 21 year old FROSH who was already being interviewed by the national media.
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Stephens had just come off a redshirt year. I bet Witten and Stallworth didn't have 30 career catches and Washington while intriguing was playing receiver for the first time. The potential was certainly there, but it's not like they had a track record that coming off an 8-5 year made you think they were going to be world beaters.
 
#29
#29
vader said:
Yeah, I was at that game and it was very disappointing. I am waiting for hatvol to show up and point out that LSU saved us the embarrassment of being dismantled by Miami.
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who did Miami play that year in the NC.
 
#30
#30
vader said:
Yeah, I was at that game and it was very disappointing. I am waiting for hatvol to show up and point out that LSU saved us the embarrassment of being dismantled by Miami.
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Thats ok vader, I would have loved to have had an SEC that year, I just felt like we were gonna win that game.
 
#33
#33
GAVol said:
Stephens had just come off a redshirt year. I bet Witten and Stallworth didn't have 30 career catches and Washington while intriguing was playing receiver for the first time. The potential was certainly there, but it's not like they had a track record that coming off an 8-5 year made you think they were going to be world beaters.
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That's a fair assessment. However, it didn't take very many games to establish what we thought could happen might just.
 
#34
#34
The 2001 team was promising. But, unless you were a big orange homer, you weren't projecting them as potential national champions.

The strength of the team was certainly the defensive line. The receivers looked talented, but there were some questions...Stephens was strong, but had been in Henry's and Lewis' shadows for the previous 2 seasons. And Casey was talented, but only a sophomore.

UT was certainly a contender, but they were young. Florida was the favorite in the east. UT really lucked out getting to play Florida in December that year, instead of September....The Vols really gelled over the course of the year, and the offense really developed into one of the more explosive units in the country. They were definitely national title contenders by the end of the year, but few were predicting it in the preseason.
 
#35
#35
VolinArizona said:
Henderson had a good 2000, so I was wrong there.

However, Travis Stephens was an unknown. It's easy to say after the fact how good these players were, but we had tons of questions, and only had NC hopes after Florida.
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Unknown?

Both of the Travis's (henry and stephens) were both highly touted even their freshman year..
 
#36
#36
I don't think there were very many people though that thought Travis Stephens was going to set the single season rushing record in 2001 though.
 
#44
#44
GAVol said:
Well, if they aren't there anymore, you can't really . . . . . . nevermind. I know what you meant. :eek:k:
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I am not really good at sentences because I never had a sentence before like in Iraq, the US Americans should help the Iraqs have sentences. The Asian US americans would need help to. Thanks
 
#47
#47
VolinArizona said:
ROFL

Before the season, what had Washington, Witten, Stephens done? Hell, nobody knew TOO much about Henderson or Haynesworth before 2001.

We were ranked 8th in the 2001 preseason poll, with Florida at #1.
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Easily amused?

The question was which seasons YOU felt Tenn. could win a NC. That's the way I felt about a team ranked 8 preseason. You didn't think that was enough to give them a chance? What was the 1998 team ranked preseason?

Here's a preview I found of UT leading into that season. If you read it and, in retrospect, still don't think there's a chance they could've won a NC, then I'm much more of an optimist than I thought I was.

CNNSI.com - 2001 College Football Preview - Tennessee Volunteers team preview - Tuesday August 07, 2001 02:06 PM

2002 was a big year with high expectations for sure, but don't forget key injuries to the defense heading into the season, including Kevin Burnett and Kevin Simon (I believe), and the loss of all those first-round defensive guys like Henderson, Haynesworth (who, by the way, were already well, well established - don't kid yourself that they weren't.). Also, no Donte, no Travis Stephens (after he tore it up the year before), and some key losses on the O Line if I remember correctly (Fred Weary?). And our schedule added Miami - the same Miami that just won the NC game.
 
#48
#48
I thought the 2001 team was a lock, after the first play when Casey checked off to an audible and went deep to Stallworth, I thought we would play for a National Title. Why, because the team took on an identity, the lunch bag mentality with Bartholomew leading the way.

I had high hopes for the 2003 team.

Overall it was a solid group but they definitely had their question marks.

Furthermore I had high hopes for the 2005 team.

Again, overall it was a solid group but they also had their question marks, specifically a quarterback rotation.
 
#49
#49
OrangeEmpire said:
I thought the 2001 team was a lock, after the first play when Casey checked off to an audible and went deep to Stallworth, I thought we would play for a National Title. Why, because the team took on an identity, the lunch bag mentality with Bartholomew leading the way.

I had high hopes for the 2003 team.

Overall it was a solid group but they definitely had their question marks.

Furthermore I had high hopes for the 2005 team.

Again, overall it was a solid group but they also had their question marks, specifically a quarterback rotation.
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I have high hopes for 2008 - the presidential election, that is. Oops - wrong thread.
 
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