| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 Tennessee Volunteers Football | |||
| National Champions SEC Champions SEC East Division Champions | |||
| 1999 Fiesta Bowl, W 23-16 v. Florida State | |||
| Ranking | |||
| Coaches | #1 | ||
| AP | #1 | ||
| 1998 record | 13-0 (8-0 SEC) | ||
| Head coach | Phillip Fulmer | ||
| Offensive coordinator | David Cutcliffe (Randy Sanders took over as Offensive Coordinator for the Fiesta Bowl after Cutcliffe accepted the Head Coaching job at Ole Miss following the regular season.) | ||
| Defensive coordinator | John Chavis | ||
Seasons
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Tennessee entered the 1998 season coming off an 11-2 record (7-1 SEC) in 1997. The Volunteers were given a preseason ranking of #10 in the AP Poll.
The Vols won their sixth national title after defeating Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl. The 1999 Fiesta Bowl was the first BCS National Championship Game. The 1998 Tennessee Volunteers are ranked #2 all-time by computers.
Tennessee was expected to have a slight fall off after their conference championship the previous season. They had lost QB Peyton Manning, WR Marcus Nash and LB Leonard Little to the NFL. Manning had been the first pick overall in the 1998 NFL Draft. They were also coming off of a difficult 42-17 loss to Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, and were in the midst of a 5 game losing streak to their rivals the Florida Gators. Instead of having a fall off though, they ended their campaign in Tempe, undefeated, becoming only the fourth school in modern college football history to complete a 13-0 season (BYU 13-0 1984, Alabama 13-0 1992, Nebraska 13-0 1971, 1994 & 1997 - in 1894 Yale went 16-0 after going 13-0 in 1888, 1891 & 1892, while the University of Penn went 14-0 in 1895 and 15-0 in 1897).
Schedule[]
| Date | Time | Opponent | UT Rank# | Site | TV | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 5, 1998 | 12:30 PM | @ #17 Syracuse | #10 | Carrier Dome · Syracuse, NY | ESPN | W 34-33 | ||
| September 19, 1998 | 8:00 PM | #2 Florida | #6 | Neyland Stadium · Knoxville, TN | CBS | W 20-17 (OT) | ||
| September 26, 1998 | 7:00 PM | Houston | #4 | Neyland Stadium · Knoxville, TN | Videoseat PPV | W 42-7 | ||
| October 3, 1998 | 3:30 PM | @ Auburn | #3 | Jordan-Hare Stadium · Auburn, AL | CBS | W 17-9 | ||
| October 10, 1998 | 3;30 PM | @ #7 Georgia | #4 | Sanford Stadium · Athens, GA | CBS | W 22-3 | ||
| October 24, 1998 | 3:30 PM | Alabama | #3 | Neyland Stadium · Knoxville, TN | CBS | W 35-18 | ||
| October 31, 1998 | 12:30 PM | @ South Carolina | #3 | Williams-Brice Stadium · Columbia, SC | JP Sports | W 49-14 | ||
| November 7, 1998 | 7:00 PM | UAB | #2 | Neyland Stadium · Knoxville, TN | Videoseat PPV | W 37-13 | ||
| November 14, 1998 | 3:30 PM | #10 Arkansas | #1 | Neyland Stadium · Knoxville, TN | CBS | W 28-24 | ||
| November 21, 1998 | 3:30 PM | Kentucky | #1 | Neyland Stadium · Knoxville, TN | CBS | W 59-21 | ||
| November 28, 1998 | 3:30 PM | @ Vanderbilt | #1 | Vanderbilt Stadium · Nashville, TN | JP Sports | W 41-0 | ||
| December 5, 1998 | 7:30 PM | #23 Mississippi State SEC Championship Game | #1 | Georgia Dome · Atlanta, GA | ABC | W 24-14 | ||
| January 4, 1999 | 7:30 PM | #2 Florida State Tostitos Fiesta Bowl | #1 | Sun Devil Stadium · Tempe, AZ | ABC | W 23-16 | ||
| Home Away Neutral Site | ||||||||