1997 Tennessee Volunteers football team

The 1997 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. Quarterback Peyton Manning had already completed his degree in three years, and had been projected to be the top overall pick in the 1997 NFL Draft, but returned to Tennessee for his senior year.[2] The Volunteers opened the season with victories against Texas Tech and UCLA, but for the third time in his career, Manning fell to Florida, 33–20.[3][4][5] The Vols won the rest of their regular season games, finishing 10–1, and advanced to the SEC Championship Game against Auburn. Down 20–7, Manning led the Vols to a 30–29 victory. Throwing for four touchdowns, he was named the game's MVP, but injured himself in the process.[6][7] The #3 Vols were matched up with #2 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Had Tennessee won and top-ranked Michigan lost to Washington State in the Rose Bowl, the Vols would have been expected to win the national championship.[8] However, the Vols' defense could not stop Nebraska's rushing attack, giving up more than 400 yards on the ground in a 42–17 loss.[9] As a senior, Manning won numerous awards. He was a consensus first-team All-American and won the Maxwell Award, the Davey O'Brien Award, the Johnny Unitas Award, and the Best College Football Player ESPY Award, among others. However, he did not win the Heisman Trophy, finishing runner-up to Charles Woodson, a CB from Michigan, and the only defensive player ever to win the Heisman Trophy.[10][11][12]

1997 Tennessee Volunteers football
SEC champion
SEC Eastern Division champion
Orange Bowl, L 17–42 vs. Nebraska
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionEastern Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 8
APNo. 7
1997 record11–2 (7–1 SEC)
Head coachPhillip Fulmer (5th season)
Offensive coordinatorDavid Cutcliffe
Defensive coordinatorJohn Chavis
Captains
Home stadiumNeyland Stadium
(Capacity: 102,854)[1]
1997 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Eastern Division
No. 7 Tennessee x$  7 –1     11 –2  
No. 10 Georgia  6 –2     10 –2  
No. 4 Florida  6 –2     10 –2  
South Carolina  3 –5     5 –6  
Kentucky  2 –6     5 –6  
Vanderbilt  0 –8     3 –8  
Western Division
No. 11 Auburn xy  6 –2     10 –3  
No. 13 LSU x  6 –2     9 –3  
No. 22 Ole Miss  4 –4     8 –4  
Mississippi State  4 –4     7 –4  
Alabama  2 –6     4 –7  
Arkansas  2 –6     4 –7  
Championship: Tennessee 30, Auburn 29
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 307:45 p.m.Texas Tech*No. 5
ESPNW 52–17106,285
September 63:30 p.m.at UCLA*No. 3
ABCW 30-2462,619
September 203:30 p.m.at No. 1 FloridaNo. 4
CBSL 20–3385,714
October 43:30 p.m.Ole MissNo. 10
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, Tennessee
CBSW 31–17106,229
October 113:30 p.m.No. 15 GeorgiaNo. 10
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, Tennessee (rivalry)
CBSW 38–13106,656
October 187:00 p.m.at AlabamaNo. 9
ESPNW 38–2183,091
November 112:30 p.m.South CarolinaNo. 8
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, Tennessee
JPSW 22–7106,301
November 84:00 p.m.No. 25 Southern Miss*No. 7
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, Tennessee
PPVW 44–20107,073
November 158:00 p.m.at ArkansasNo. 5
ESPN2W 30–2253,235
November 2212:30 p.m.at KentuckyNo. 5
ESPN2W 59–3161,076
November 2912:00 p.m.VanderbiltNo. 3
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, Tennessee (rivalry)
CBSW 17–10106,683
December 68:00 p.m.vs. No. 11 AuburnNo. 3
ABCW 30–2974,896
January 28:00 p.m.vs. No. 2 Nebraska*No. 3
CBSL 17–4274,002

Rankings
See also: 1997 NCAA Division I-A football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Final 
AP 5 (8) 5 (7) 3 (7) 4 (6) 4 (6) 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 5 5 3 3 3 7 
Coaches Poll 5 (8) 5 (8) 3 (10) 4 (5) 4 (6) 10 10 10 9 8 8 7 5 5 3 3 3 8

Roster
1997 Tennessee Volunteers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
RB 24 Shawn Bryson Jr
OT 67 Chad Clifton So
QB 16 Peyton Manning Sr
QB 17 Tee Martin So
WR 88 Andy McCullough Sr
WR 12 Marcus Nash Sr
WR 37 Peerless Price Jr
WR 81 Benjie Shuler Sr
C 70 Trey Teague Sr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
LB 99 Eric Brown Sr
DE 91 Jonathan Brown Sr
DE 93 Shaun Ellis So
DB 13 Terry Fair Sr
DT 60 Matt Goodin Jr
DB 23 Dwayne Goodrich So
DE 1 Leonard Little Sr
DE 58 Darwin Walker So
DB 42 Eric Westmoreland So
DB 2 Fred White So
DE 22 Corey Terry Jr
LB 46 Raynoch Thompson So
LB 27 Al Wilson Jr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 4 Jeff Hall Jr
P 43 David Leaverton Fr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NFL
Main article: 1998 NFL Draft
PlayerPositionRoundPickNFL club
Peyton ManningQuarterback11Indianapolis Colts
Terry FairCornerback120Detroit Lions
Marcus NashWide receiver130Denver Broncos
Leonard LittleDefensive end365St. Louis Rams
Jonathan BrownDefensive end390Green Bay Packers
Trey TeagueCenter7200Denver Broncos
Andy McCulloughWide receiver7204New Orleans Saints
Corey GainesSafety7231Indianapolis Colts

References
  1. "Neyland Stadium". utsports.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2012. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  2. "Nothing to Prove; Manning Made His Decision to Stay at Tennessee, and the Rest Is History". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. September 3, 1997.
  3. "Tenn. Jumps To No. 3 in Poll". The Washington Post. September 1, 1997.
  4. "UCLA Rallies in Second Half Against Tennessee, but Comes Up Short for Second Week in a Row, 30–24". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. September 7, 1997.
  5. Rhoden, William C. (September 21, 1997). "Manning's Nightmare Continues". The New York Times. Retrieved December 24, 2007.
  6. Sallee, Barrett (August 24, 2012). "Classic SEC Football: Tennessee Tops Auburn in the 1997 SEC Championship Game". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on August 26, 2012. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  7. Fulmer, Phillip (1999). A Perfect Season. Rutledge Hill Press. p. 7. ISBN 1-55853-798-8. Peyton had played with a lot of pain in the Orange Bowl because of an injury he had suffered in our SEC Championship victory against Auburn, and his mobility was limited throughout the game against Nebraska
  8. MacCambridge, Michael (2005). ESPN College Football Encyclopedia. ESPN Books. p. 1401. ISBN 1-4013-3703-1.
  9. MacCambridge, Michael (2005). ESPN College Football Encyclopedia. ESPN Books. p. 1462. ISBN 1-4013-3703-1.
  10. MacCambridge, Michael (2005). ESPN College Football Encyclopedia. ESPN Books. p. 1402. ISBN 1-4013-3703-1.
  11. "The 2005 ESPY Awards – ESPY Awards past winners". ESPN. Retrieved December 20, 2007.
  12. "1997 Heisman Trophy". Heisman.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2008.
  13. http://aausullivan.org/winners_1997.html
  14. 2011 Tennessee Football Record Book, p. 102.
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