I think Fulmer was 2-1 against Zook. Lost in 02, but won in 03 and 04. Still, losing once is bad enough.
Right you are. I meant that if things went differently in 2004 (there were some officiating shenanigans at the very end with clock stoppage and personal fouls) we lose that game and thus end up 1-2 against Zookerino.
Not really too of a batshit crazy notion. They now have one year under their belt where they didn't fall apart in the second half of the season. Looks like they could be getting a little lucky with in-state recruiting as well. Never remember there being that amount of talent coming out of SC in consecutive years.
Their last 10+ seasons have been under hall of famers (although past their prim), and they have very little to show for it. I don't see them getting a great coach, to be honest. Winning an SEC title would help a lot.
of course....georgia was in the mix back in the day, but not every year. I definitely (sorta) want to see USCe and UGA maintain quality programs, just UT and UF to be a step above both of them. The first step for this game to mean something once again is for the Vols to begin winning again...this is fact.
It was 2002. Wells wasn't snapping right and I remember either he or a guard stomping all over Casey's foot as he came away from center and he fumbled too. I'm not really blaming it all on CC but that whole game just pissed me off.
One of the worst I've ever seen. Remember Rex Grossman dancing like an idiot on the T at midfield at the end of the game...wanted to kick his teeth in.
It happened but the guard pulled and ran into Clausen as he turned to hand the ball off. Ball comes loose and 90+ yards later TD UGA
I also remember Auburn runnign the ball at will about 10 yards a pop the first half of that game as well. Interesting fact is we've not beaten Auburn since 99.
Not necessarily strange, just horribly coached. You see a center or guard step on a QB's foot about 3 times a season (if you watch every game of every team)
That's what ended Eli Manning's hopes of winning the SEC West in 2003. Big comeback drive against LSU, 4th down... trips and falls down right as the ball is snapped. Doh.
I can vouch for the accuracy of this story. Someone should create a blog called "Dumb things I overheard at Neyland Stadium". I have at least two months worth of material alone.
Don't forget the drop his WR had in the endzone on the play before. Eli hit him in the numbers and he just dropped it.
Here's my Clausen theory, and I think justingroves hinted at this earlier. Clausen had about five performances that were exceptionally awful, or he was partially blamed for. In my mind they are: Kansas State Cotton Bowl 2001, LSU 2001 SEC CG, UGA 2003, UF 2002, and Maryland Peach Bowl 2003. Once again, you can't hang it all on him, but he is the QB so he has to take the heat. His bowl record was a ghastly 1-3. He never won an SEC Championship. He also was not a good ole boy, which was mentioned, but he also followed a bunch of good ole boys that won a ton of games: Andy Kelly, Heath Shuler, Peyton Manning and Tee Martin. Vol fans were used to winning. They weren't used to what they perceived as Clausen's "attitude" issues. He also had a father that rubbed people the wrong way if I remember correctly. None of that matters to me or any of us, who will remember him for the 2001 Swamp, 2003 Bama, 2002 Arkansas, 2002 Michigan and so on.