NEO
Eat at Joe's
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It’s absurd to compare Casey Clausen to Peyton Manning but I keep hearing people compare the Florida games as if Casey Clausen played against the same Florida teams as Peyton did. I’m sure Peyton would’ve had a much better record against Florida if he played against 2 Ron Zook coached teams. As for the drain the swamp game, Travis Stephens rushed for more yards than Casey passed for and that's with an offense that had Stallworth, Washington, and Witten.
Now, if you want another counterpoint about Peyton vs Casey just look at how Casey did against Georgia. I’ll never forget when he was hurt in 2002 and we played a close game with James Banks as our qb. Casey said something to the effect of “I would’ve beaten with an arm tied behind my back. In 2003, he proceeded to lose to Georgia 41-14 at Neyland.
Casey was a solid qb and I think the fanbase appreciates him more these days because the last 15 years of Vol football have been mostly disappointing. However, he wasn't anywhere close to Peyton in ability and his "iceman" name was mostly built by getting road wins against teams we were supposed to beat in regulation. People seem to forget what those overtime Arkansas, Alabama, and South Carolina games were like in that era. All three of those games were against unranked opponents that we should've beaten handily in regulation.
This is fair.
I would counter with Casey single season QBR is higher than Peyton and he threw less picks.
You could counter that Peyton threw for more yards and TDs.
I could counter Casey beat Spurrier.
You could counter he lost to Saban in the sec title game.
This is why I think it's a fair debate and not easily decided. It's very close.
Anyone who says its total nonsense is just a Peyton worshiper.