"Pandemonium Reigns" as Tennessee Wins BCS National Championship

TEMPE, Ariz. - Top-ranked Tennessee won its first national championship since 1951 by defeating No. 2 Florida State, 23-16, in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

The decisive play for the Vols came when Offensive MVP Peerless Price, who caught four passes for 199 yards, caught a 79-yard scoring pass from Tee Martin. Price also had a 76-yarder to set up another score.

Shawn Bryson caught a 4-yard TD pass from Martin, and Defensive MVP Dwayne Goodrich had a 54-yard interception return for a score.

Jeff Hall added a 23-yard field goal and two extra points.

Martin completed 11 of 18 passes for 278 yards and two scores.

Senior linebacker Al Wilson was in on nine tackles, and Eric Westmoreland logged three tackles for loss. Raynoch Thompson added six stops and two lost-yardage tackles.

Game Notes:

David Leaverton had three punts downed inside the 20, with one at the nine and another at the 1.
Former walk-on Tim Sewell blocked a punt. The last time that happened was Eric Brown's block in the 1997 Arkansas game.
The Vols are 22-17 in bowl games and rank third nationally in all-time bowl wins behind only Alabama and Southern Cal.
It was the Vols' 10^th consecutive bowl game, the longest current streak in the SEC.
The Vols are the third SEC school to win a national championship in the 1990s, joining Alabama and Florida.
Peerless Price broke a Tennessee bowl record for receiving yards, moving past Anthony Hancock's 196 in the 1981 Garden State Bowl.
The Vols won 13 games for the first time in school history.
The Vols are 50-5 in their last 55 games and 45-5 over the last four years, best in the nation.
The Vols evened their Fiesta Bowl record at 1-1 and their series with Florida State at 1-1.
The win was the SEC's first-ever triumph in the Fiesta Bowl.
Rankings (AP/ESPN): Tennessee 1/1, Florida State 2/2

University of Tennessee | Official Athletics Site

"Pandemonium Reigns" as Tennessee Wins BCS National Championship

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