Underdog Tennessee rises to the occasion to win its first national title since ‘51

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Jan. 5, 1999 | 11:04 a.m.

TEMPE, Ariz. --- After 47 years, the University of Tennessee once again finds itself atop the college football polls.

Make that the Rocky Top.

In what looked like Neyland Stadium West, the Volunteers put the finishing touches on a perfect 13-0 season and laid claim to the school's first national title since 1951 with a hard-fought 23-16 victory over No. 2 rated Florida State Monday night before a record Fiesta Bowl crowd of 80,470 mainly orange-clad fans.

"It's been 47 years since we've brought one of these home," Tennessee head coach Phil Fulmer said after accepting the national championship trophy. "We've got a special place for it."

The Vols defeated seven bowl teams en route to the national title, including longtime nemesis Florida, 20-17, in overtime and upstart Arkansas, 28-24, with the aid of a key fumble by Hogs' quarterback Clint Stoerner in the waning moments of the game. Tennessee also needed a 27-yard field goal by Jeff Hall as time ran out to defeat Syracuse, 34-33, in its season opener at the Carrier Dome.

"All year long we've been called a team of destiny and this team took heart in that," Fulmer said. "During the course of the year, they did everything they had to do to win. It wasn't always perfect, it wasn't always the prettiest. But they found a way to get it done."

The Vols, 5 1/2-point underdogs despite being ranked No. 1 in both major polls, found a way to hand Bobby Bowden only his second loss in his last 15 bowl appearances by winning two key head-to-head matchups.

Junior quarterback Tee Martin (11 of 18, 278 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs), expected to be the weak link of the Vols' offense this season after replacing 1998 NFL No. 1 pick Peyton Manning in the lineup, got the best of Florida State counterpart Marcus Outzen (9 of 22, 145 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs), who looked like a third-string quarterback making just his third college start.

But, surprisingly, an even bigger mismatch turned out to be the head-to-head showdown between Tennessee's all-SEC wide receiver Peerless Price and Seminoles' All-American wideout Peter Warrick.

Both Price and Warrick had 61 receptions for the season heading into the game. But Price caught four passes for 199 yards, including a 79-yard touchdown with 9:17 remaining that proved to be the game-winner, while Warrick was held to just one reception for seven yards.

"They just made more big plays than we did tonight," Bowden said. "They were able to get the ball to their threat. We had a hard time getting the ball to our threat."

Warrick shunned post-game interviews and, according to Outzen, was a very angry camper in the locker room afterward.

"He definitely showed his frustration in the locker room," Outzen said. "He has the right to. He wanted it as much as everybody else did. He didn't get the ball very much. He didn't get the ball enough for Florida State to win the ballgame tonight."

Late in the first quarter, Martin and Price combined on a 76-yard pass that gave Tennessee a first down at the Florida State 12.

Four plays later it appeared the Vols would have to settle for a 24-yard field goal by Hall, but FSU free safety Dexter Jackson was flagged for roughing the kicker when he landed across Hall's ankle while trying to block the kick.

Fulmer decided to take the points off the board and give his team a first-and-goal at the four. The gamble paid off when Martin hit fullback Shawn Bryson in the left flat with a four-yard touchdown pass that gave the Vols a 7-0 lead.

Just 25 seconds later, Tennessee upped its lead to 14-0 when junior cornerback Dwayne Goodrich stepped in front of Warrick on an out pattern and picked off an Outzen pass, returning it 54 yards up the left sideline for a touchdown.

"I knew I had to make a play," Goodrich, who was named the game's defensive MVP despite missing the second half with a bruised left ankle, said. "The ball kind of floated out there. ... I kind of figured they were about to run the out route. I knew just to sit back on the route."

Florida State, which was whistled for 12 penalties for 110 yards and seemed particularly rusty following a 44-day layoff, closed the gap to 14-6 on fullback William McCray's one-yard run with 8:59 left in the first half. The touchdown came just three plays after Seminoles' rover Derrick Gibson picked off a poorly thrown pass by Martin and returned it 43 yards to the Tennessee three.

But on a day when FSU's special teams struggled badly, All-American placekicker Sebastian Janikowski missed the conversion attempt when his kick following a bobbled snap hit the crossbar and bounced straight back.

Janikowski connected on a 34-yard field goal with 1:17 left in the first half to cut Tennessee's lead to 14-9 at intermission.

The score remained that way until the fourth quarter when Martin hit Price on a streak pattern up the right sideline. Price easily ran by Seminoles' junior corner Mario Edwards for the Fiesta Bowl record 79-yard score that put the Vols ahead, 20-9.

When Hall added a 23-yard field goal to make it 23-9 with just 6:01 left in the game, it looked like it was time to start the trophy ceremony.

But Florida State cut the lead to a touchdown, 23-16, on Outzen's seven-yard touchdown run with 3:42 left. Then it looked for a few seconds like the Seminoles would really make things interesting down the stretch when Janikowski appeared to have recovered an onside kick.

However, officials correctly ruled that Janikowski had hit the ball before it rolled the required 10 yards and awarded the ball to Tennessee.

Tennessee then just had to run out the clock after Martin hit Bryson with a 22-yard pass on fourth-and-one at the FSU 33 with 1:36 left. But on the next play, sophomore running back Travis Henry stunningly fumbled and sophomore linebacker Brian Allen recovered for the Seminoles at the FSU 10.

With 1:29 still left and three time outs still in its possession, could Florida State (11-2) find a way to score a tying touchdown and force overtime?

The answer to that question came quickly when on the first play Outzen threw into double coverage for junior speedster Laveranus Coles and was intercepted by Vols' cornerback Steve Johnson.

Time to que up Rocky Top.

"It feels good," Martin said. "I think we'll go down in history. It feels good to have won the first BCS championship game."

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