University of Tennessee Athletics
2000 Season Review
December 13, 2000 | Football
Vols Rally to Finish 8-3 after 2-3 Start;
Play Kansas State in 2001 Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl
"It Doesn't Matter How You Start. It's How You Finish." "The Opera Isn't Over 'Til the Fat Lady Sings." "Down, But Not Out."
You have your choice of hoary old clichs that might be the best theme for Tennessee's 2000 football season.
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| John Henderson won the 2000 Outland Trophy as the nation's top interior lineman. |
Facing big holes on both sides of the ball due to graduation and early exits to the professional ranks by several key players from the 1999 season, the Vols struggled early in the year, but found the right stuff in mid-season to win their last six games and finish 8-3. It was a feat that seemed unlikely when a 2-3 record Oct. 7 stared Head Coach Phillip Fulmer and his charges squarely in the face. It was rewarded by a bid to play Kansas State in the 2001 Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl, the first meeting between the two teams and the Vols' fifth appearance in the Dallas Classic.
The Vols' resurgence can be traced to two factors: maturity and leadership. At least that's what Fulmer thought about the progress of his team.
"At nearly every position on the team," Fulmer said, "youngsters emerged and blossomed under the excellent tutelage of our assistant coaches."
But there was more, in the coach's opinion, a tribute to the team's captains.
"The team was encouraged and pushed along by the leadership of one of the best trios of captains I've ever been associated with in my coaching career. They don't come any better than Eric Westmoreland, David Leaverton and Cedrick Wilson, a group that takes special pride in wearing the orange shirt."
When Tennessee wrapped up the 2000 season with a heart-stopping 28-26 victory over Vanderbilt on the banks of the Cumberland River at Adelphia Stadium in Nashville, it was almost forgotten that the Vols were in a tenuous position in terms of wins and losses entering the always crucial game with Alabama.
The Vols were coming off consecutive losses at LSU and Georgia and there was concern about what the next six games might hold. No one said the Vols were at a crossroads, but you do get the idea.
That the Vols came off the mat is a tribute to resiliency of this year's team, its coaching staff and players. The six-game winning streak is now the longest in the Southeastern Conference and presages hope for the future, specifically the 2001 campaign beginning next September.
"It might have been tempting for some of our players to give up when things wouldn't fall into place early in the season," Fulmer said. "The captains would have none of it. They set a standard of excellence and settled for nothing less, first in their own play and then as leaders for the rest of the squad."
The Vols did take some significant steps forward in the 2000 season, beginning with season opener against Southern Miss. The largest home crowd in Tennessee history, 108,064 brought in by the addition of new skyboxes on the east side of Shields-Watkins Field, saw the Vols and Golden Eagles battle to the wire, with Tennessee having enough arrows in its quiver to escape with a 19-16 victory.
The victory was the 700th in Vol history, one of eight schools nationwide to reach the 700 mark. Travis Henry, on his way to becoming the school's first 3000-yard rusher, had 19 carries for 135 yards, while quarterbacks Joey Mathews and A.J. Suggs each had TD passes, to Wilson and wideout Donte` Stallworth, respectively. Will Overstreet had a safety, a sack that was part of the 50 compiled by Vol defenders over the course of the season and which helped set a team record.
The attendance record lasted all of two weeks, being exceeded when Florida came to town for the annual titanic struggle between the Vols and Gators, this time in front of 108,768. The game lived up to all advance billing, but the outcome was disappointing to everyone connected with the Vol program.
The Vols had their chances at the Gators, to be sure, but kicked five field goals instead of scoring touchdowns over the course of the game. That cost a bundle when the Gators scored a hotly-disputed TD with 14 seconds left to leave Knoxville with a key SEC win. Henry was virtually unstoppable, amassing 175 hard-earned yards on 37 carries. Defensive tackle John Henderson, who ended up leading the league in sacks with 12, had eight tackles and two sacks. The Vols had a 16-minute bulge in time of possession.
| "It might have been tempting for some of our players to give up when things wouldn't fall into place early in the season. The captains would have none of it. They set a standard of excellence and settled for nothing less, first in their own play and then as leaders for the rest of the squad." Head Coach Phillip Fulmer |
Homecoming came and went and the Vols sent the old grads home with a 70-3 victory over Louisiana-Monroe. Rookie Casey Clausen, playing in high school this time last season, threw three TD passes in his Vol debut, giving Tennessee fans a glimpse of what was to come in just a few weeks. Foremost was a TD pass on his first throw as a Vol, to David Martin in the first quarter. The points were the most for a Tennessee team in 71 years since a 73-0 win over Carson-Newman in 1929.
The Vols lost consecutive conference road games for the first time in the Fulmer era, at LSU in overtime and Georgia in the more conventional 60 minutes. The Vols, down 24-6 at the half and 31-15 with 13:43 left in the game, rallied to send the game against the Tigers to an extra period, but couldn't get it in the end zone and saw the goal posts come tumbling down after the first big win of the Nick Saban era in Baton Rouge. The Vols had scored 16 points in the nine minutes of the game to get to overtime, but the Tigers scored on the first play of the extra period and held on for the win. Suggs threw for 319 yards and three TDs and David Martin caught 12 passes to pace the Vol offense.
Georgia held the Vols to 10 points despite five Big Orange trips inside the Bulldog 20 to take their first win over the Vols since 1988. Four Bulldog sacks and a key defensive play or two in the shadow of their goal line were the difference. Eric Westmoreland was in on 12 tackles, with Henderson adding 10 hits, a sack, a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery.
In the open date before the Alabama game, Fulmer and his offensive staff handed the reins of the Vol offense to Clausen, the true freshman from Northridge, Calif., and Casey, given the opportunity, did not disappoint in the least. Not since the days of Jim Maxwell has a quarterback come off the planks and led his team better down the stretch.
His debut was against the Crimson Tide on the "Third Saturday in October" and the result was a 20-10 victory that looked like manna in the wilderness to Vol fans. Wilson caught two TD passes from Clausen, Walls added two field goals and the Vol defenders did the rest. Henderson, who would be an All-America selection at season's end, dominated the line of scrimmage and was named SEC "Defensive Player of the Week."
The next two games saw the Vols rally in the final minutes to defeat rejuvenated South Carolina and cross-state rival Memphis, both games on the road. The Vols trailed 14-10 at Columbia before Clausen led the Vols goalward and Henry got the game-winner with just a few ticks left on the clock. It was part of his 115-yard effort on the day.
On a rainy day in Memphis a week later, in a game which started just after breakfast for normal people, Tennessee trailed 17-16 late in the fourth quarter, when Leonard Scott returned a Tiger kickoff to the Vol 48 and Clausen and mates got the Vols in position for Alex Walls to knock home the game-winner, a 34-yarder, again with just a few seconds to spare. The Vols had a 93-yard TD drive in addition to four field goals by Walls.
Tired of the last-second frantic finishes, the Vols returned home to score 56 points in the first quarter against Arkansas and Kentucky, 35 and 21 points, respectively, en route to impressive triumphs. The Vols took the measure of Arkansas by 70-23 and Kentucky by 59-20 and bowl talk began to surface in Knoxville.
Against the Razorbacks, Clausen completed 16-of-27 passes for 191 yards and a school-record tying five TDs, three to wideout Wilson. Seth Reagan, normally a holder for Walls on placement attempts, turned runner, scored the first touchdown of his life on a fake field goal attempt in the 35-point barrage in the first quarter. DeAngelo Lloyd had a fumble return of 34 yards. Henry had 214 yards rushing.
Against Kentucky, on the day 18 seniors made their last appearance at Neyland Stadium, the Vols continued their offensive assault. Henry scored three times and gained 139 yards rushing. Wilson, Stallworth and Martin all caught TD passes. Travis Stephens had an 80-yard run for a score in the fourth quarter.
The Vols squared off with ancient rival Vanderbilt at a new venue, the Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville, and appeared to have things well in hand, jumping to a 14-0 lead and later leading 21-3, after a 60-yard run by Henry put the Vols in position for their third score early in the third period.
The Commodores, however, rallied to within two points twice in the fourth quarter, but Clausen led a key TD drive to quell one rally, Henry reeled off a 15-yard run to also douse the other comeback bid, and Tennessee escaped with a 28-26 win that was not easy in the least.
Thus the Vols came back from the nothingness of a 2-3 start to finish with a flourish and end up in the Cotton Bowl, their first visit to Dallas since a Jan. 1, 1990, game against Arkansas. The Vols led the SEC in rushing defense, giving up but 74.3 yards per game on the ground. They were third in scoring defense and second in total and total defense.
