Saturday's victory over Georgia was one of the finest of the Phil Fulmer coaching tenure - a 14 year era that includes a National Championship, multiple conference championships and wins over Michigan, Miami, Notre Dame, Ohio State, UCLA, Texas A&M, California, Florida State and every other member of the SEC.
There have been many wonderful Saturdays like this past one since Fulmer took over the reigns of the Volunteer program. In a time when criticism of Fulmer has reached its highest pitches, let's take a moment to celebrate and debate the top 10 wins of Phil Fulmer's Tennessee coaching career.
10) 1999 Fiesta Bowl (BCS Championship) - Tennessee 23 Florida State 16
This is Fulmer's lone National Championship & deserves to be in the Top 10, but just barely. Florida State was stuck with a back-up quarterback for the biggest game of the year. There was little doubt that Tennessee was the better team, but the game stayed close throughout (which was fairly normal for the 1998 team that always won, just not always by a lot). Peerless Price could not be covered, catching 199 yards worth of balls as well as a touchdown. The play of the game was Dwayne Goodrich's Pick 6 that earned him the Defensive MVP of the game. This was patented-Fulmer football - defense, run the ball, avoid mistakes, hit a few big plays. It won him a National Championship.
9) 2003 - Tennessee 51 Alabama 43 in five overtimes
It took five overtimes to decide this game, a classic in the Tennessee/Alabama rivalry. Casey Clausen led the Vols to the win, though James Banks was the star with three touchdowns and over 100 yards receiving. James Allen ended the nearly five hour game when he knocked away Brodie Croyle's 4th down pass in the fifth overtime. The reason this game does not rank higher on the list is because both teams were down. Tennessee was 4-2 coming into the contest after back-to-back losses to Auburn and Georgia. Alabama was 3-6 after the loss, struggling under NCAA sanctions and the uninspired leadership of Mike Shula. It also ranks above the previous year's six overtime victory over Arkansas because 1) it was in Tuscaloosa 2) beating Alabama is more important than beating Arkansas.
8) 2003 - Tennessee 10 Miami 6
Staying in 2003, the Vols pulled out a miracle in the Orange Bowl with this win over the Hurricanes. The previous season, Ken Dorsey led Miami to an embarrassingly easy win in Knoxville over the injury-riddled and downward-sliding Vols program. Most expected the same in Miami, but thanks to a stingy defense, lots of Miami penalties and a perfectly-timed blitz of Brock Berlin that forced a game-saving interception, the Vols pulled out a memorable win. The offensive numbers were pathetic - Casey Clausen did not throw for 100 yards and no Vol back rushed for more than 45 yards. Classic Randy Sanders offense. The game is probably best remembered for Kellen Winslow's post-game nonsense that included charges that the Vols were gunning for his legs, how he does not care about an injured Vol and comparisons to soldiers at war. For Fulmer, this win took some heat off as Vols fans were becoming restless with the state of the program.
7) 1996 Citrus Bowl - Tennessee 20 Ohio State 14
I tend to think bowl games are over-rated - I'd rather beat Alabama or Florida than Penn State or Nebraska - but this was a big one for Fulmer and the Vols. It was yet another Citrus Bowl for the Vols, which on the surface seems like a good thing, but the Citrus Bowl became a yearly reminder that Spurrier was playing in the Sugar Bowl and Fulmer was not. As the Florida coach once said, "You can't spell Citrus without a U and T." Even if the Vols did not want to be in Orlando yet again, this game was special. Ohio State brought a loaded team that included the Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George. Peyton Manning and Jay Graham led the Volunteer offense and Leonard Little anchored a tough D. The game took on legendary status when Bill Duff and the defensive line stuffed George and the Buckeyes for a memorable goal line stand to preserve the win. Tennessee finished the season ranked #3 thanks to the tremendous win.
6) 1998 Tennessee 28 Arkansas 24
Beating Arkansas is not a big deal, unless you are undefeated at home on your way to a National Championship and down two points late in the game as the Razorbacks are trying to run out the clock. Houston Nutt had his team ready to play this day. They led the Vols by two points late, but QB Clint Stoerner stumbled his way back from center, placed the ball on the ground to brace himself and never got it again as Vol DT Billy Ratliff grabbed the fumble. Did Ratliff push back the lineman to cause the fumble or was it simply a terrible Arkansas mistake? It does not matter now - the Vols scored on the possession, continued unbeaten into the Fiesta Bowl and captured the very first BCS Championship.
5) 2004 Tennessee 30 Florida 28
The last Tennessee victory over Florida was a controversial one. The game went back and forth as Tennessee alternated freshmen quarterbacks Brent Schaeffer and Erik Ainge against Chris Leak and the Gators. It looked like Florida would leave Knoxville with a win as the Gators attempted to run out the clock, but WR Dallas Baker returned a received head-slap from Vol CB Jonathan Wade with one of his own and he got caught. 15 yards backwards and an incorrect stopping of the clock gave Tennessee a chance with the ball. Vol kicker James Wilhoit sought redemption after missing an extra point to tie the game and got it with a 50-yard game-winner. The Vols went on to the SEC championship game and a thorough thrashing of Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.
4) 2005 Tennessee 30 LSU 27
There were few highlights during the 5-6 2005 season, but this was a great one. Tennessee traveled to Baton Rogue for a Monday game because of Hurricane Rita. The Vols were in the midst of a team-wide quarterback crisis after the coaching staff picked Erik Ainge over the more popular Rick Clausen. This game showed that the team was right - Ainge was awful, throwing a high school JV team interception in his own endzone as the Vols spotted LSU a 21-0 lead. Enter Rick Clausen - the former LSU Tiger. Clausen led the Vols to an improbable comeback that sent the game into overtime at 24-24. LSU opened with a field goal, but couldn't keep Gerald Riggs, Jr. out of the endzone as Tennessee won a thriller in Death Valley.
3) 1992 Tennessee 34 Georgia 31
The game that started it all. Johnny Majors was the Tennessee coach, but an off-season heart attack put Fulmer in charge of the team on an interim basis. Tennessee went to Athens to face an awesome Georgia offense built around QB Eric Zeier, RB Garrison Hearst and WR Andre Hastings. Fortunately, the Dawgs also had an awful coach in Ray Goff, the best thing that ever happened to the Vols short of Ron Zook. Fulmer entered the game with two quarterbacks - Jerry Colquitt and Heath Shuler, both looking to replace the departed Andy Kelly. Shuler took over the game and the job in the 2nd half, matching Georgia score for score. The Dawgs had one last chance, but Andre Hastings was hit from behind on a long gain and fumbled the ball away. Fulmer beat Florida the next week in the pouring rain before Majors returned to lose three straight to Alabama, Arkansas and South Carolina. The writing was on the wall as Majors was replaced by Fulmer at the end of the year.
2) 1996 Tennessee 41 Alabama 14
Before Spurrier became Enemy #1, it was the Crimson Tide that served as a yearly thorn in the Volunteer's side. From David Palmer's 2-point conversion run to the entire Jay Barker era, the third Saturday in October was a painful day for Vol Nation. It all changed on a magical evening in Tuscaloosa, Alabama when Peyton Manning hit Joey Kent for an 80 yard touchdown on the opening play of the game. When the Tide showed some life later in the game, Jay Graham shut the door with a brilliant touchdown run down the sideline. Finally, the Tide's streak of 9 games without a loss to the Vols was broken.
1) 1998 Tennessee 20 Florida 17 in overtime
No doubter in my book. Looking back, there is no way Tennessee deserved to win this one. The Vols gave up tons of yardage on defense, but kept coming up with timely turnovers to keep the Gators off the board. The offense could not move the ball, but made a couple of big plays with Shawn Bryson and a wild Tee Martin to Peerless Price touchdown bomb. The Vols went three and out in overtime, but made their field goal and then benefited when Florida could not do the same. It was ugly, but it was a win. The Vols had been explosive for four years behind Peyton Manning, but it was the grinding ugliness of Tee Martin that actually beat Spurrier.
Beyond being an amazing football game, this did several things for the Vols. First, it was a much-needed win for Fulmer over Spurrier. Many Vols fans thought Spurrier had gotten into Fulmer's head, especially in previous years when Fulmer seemed to coach a completely different style of game against Florida (going on 4th down, abandoning the run). It also put Tennessee into the SEC driver's seat, a position it had not enjoyed since Fulmer's interim coaching year. Finally, it gave the Vols an opportunity for a perfect season - an opportunity Fulmer & Co. turned into a National Championship. All these factors make it the greatest and signature win of the Phil Fulmer era.
There may be debate about these picks or the order, but there is no debate about the legacy Phil Fulmer has left in Knoxville. It is awfully fun to remember the high points of his Volunteer career.
Next week - the worst losses of the Fulmer era. Hope I didn't jinx us in Starkville...
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12 comments:
it's hard to argue with most of these--maybe the order. i think that i would have put last year's cal game on there instead of the '92 georgia game--don't remember that one.
I almost made an honorable mention list, but figured it would be more fun if you, my devoted readers, added those. The Cal win was the last game I left out. Besides being a great win, it made us all so hopeful because of Cutcliffe's return and impact. If it was going to be on the list, I would probably have left out the Alabama 5 OT game.
The 1992 UGA game is one you ought to check out - it was actually on ESPN Classic last week. Garrison Hearst was totally unstoppable that day, but so was Heath Shuler. It really was a classic game.
Yeah, I caught that '92 UGA game last week. I forgot how great Heath was-- too bad he couldn't beat Bama.
I had the exact same reaction. I have a list of rainy day blog article ideas and, after watching that game, wrote, "Why doesn't Heath Shuler get more Vol love?" It is in the works.
heath doesn't get much vol love because, unlike peyton, he bolted college early and then became one of the biggest draft busts in nfl history. i can't say i blame him for leaving, though. i would say that after peyton dismantled the tide in '95 (i was happy to see that game on your list, by the way) the memories of shuler started to fade. then when peyton made the announcement that he was staying, that pretty much shut the door. heath was unbelievably good and he should get more love, but peyton showed up right after him and did two things heath couldn't/wouldn't--beat bama and stay 4 years. not to mention the fact that he is on his way to becoming the greatest quarterback in nfl history--perhaps another blog?
Peyton couldn't beat Florida though.
true, but beating florida wasn't that big of a deal during shuler's reign--not as big as bama anyway.
This discussion is pretty much killing the Shuler entry at this point. I think you hit most of my nails on the head - 1) did not beat Alabama 2) left early 3) NFL bust. #3 shouldn't hurt his standing among Vol fans, but it does. It was embarrassing to watch him be so bad in the NFL. We disowned him.
I'll add more reasons - no SEC championships or Sugar Bowls, Peyton's immediate emergence (we had no time to appreciate him because we already had someone better) and the achievements of the next few years made his era seem less than it was. Remember - Shuler's teams did not have the type of stud defensive units that Peyton's had - no Al Wilsons, Leonard Littles, Raynoch Thompsons, Terry Fairs, etc.
It may also have something to do with their styles. Tennessee has never loved the athletic, mobile QB. We like a pure pocket passer like Andy Kelly, Peyton, Casey Clausen and Erik Ainge.
It might also have something to do with the disappointment of his Heisman campaign. This was the first time Vol fans got excited for a possible trophy winner (I wore my "You must be 21 to win the Heisman" t-shirt proudly), but he never exploded as a junior the way we all thought he would, especially by not beating Alabama.
In the end, though, I really think it mostly has to do with his NFL career. He was such a monumental bust.
Latimer said: "True, but beating florida wasn't that big of a deal during shuler's reign--not as big as bama anyway."
And beating Bama in Peyton's day wasn't that big a deal either.
CC said: "It may also have something to do with their styles. Tennessee has never loved the athletic, mobile QB. We like a pure pocket passer like Andy Kelly, Peyton, Casey Clausen and Erik Ainge."
Now there's a topic for discussion! Why the hell have we never embraced a running QB. We won a national title with one for crying out loud (Tee beat both Bama and Florida!).
whoa now. beating bama in '95 was a huge deal! 9 years of frustration huge. i understand that florida meant more from a division standpoint, and still does, but fulmer cemented his legacy at tennessee by ass stomping bama for 7 years in a row.
The first college football game I ever went to was in Birmingham in 1985. Me and a buddy were the only two fools in the Bama student section rooting for the Vols. Every time Bama scored we'd get pelted by crimson pom poms. We won though, I would not have that feeling of elation for awhile. Believe me I know how big a deal beating Bama was 1995.
I'm with Latimer on this one - beating Alabama became an obsession there for a while, even more than beating Florida. I remember the 1994 game when Manning missed an uncovered Little Man Stewart on 4th and goal to give another one to Jay Barker & Co. It felt like we would never beat them.
I really think they are pretty much equivalents - beating Stallings in the early 90s = beating Spurrier in the late 90s. The biggest difference was that Stallings was classy and Spurrier rubbed it in your face (see 1996 in the Swamp).
As for the lack of running QB in UT history, that is an interesting topic. The fans have always loved them - do you guys remember how people were begging for Brandon Stewart over Peyton Manning? Sterling Hinton was another one - people wanted him over Andy Kelly. And Brent Schaeffer over Erik Ainge. It doesn't fit Fulmer's style, even though he loves to run the ball. I think Fulmer has always loved the big arm that forces the defense to play deep. That is the only thing that can explain his loyalty to Erik Ainge in 2005 over Rick Clausen.
Back to the original topic, the other honorable mentions were the UGA game last Saturday, the Michigan bowl win, the 1993 Florida game in the rain and the Auburn SEC championship victory.
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