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Tennessee Volunteers: 1998 National Champions

© Chuck Bednar

On April 18, former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Peyton Manning became the top pick in the 1998 NFL draft. The school bid him farewell by retiring his jersey at the halftime of the team's spring scrimmage. A crowd of 12,412 was on hand to honor the legendary Tennessee quarterback.

"I know there are people all over the country who don't realize why I'm standing here on the night I realized my dream of going to the NFL," Manning said during the ceremony. "It's because they have never been in this great place."

And with those words, the Peyton Manning era at Tennessee ended, and the Tee Martin era began.

To say Manning left some rather large shoes to fill would be an understatement. But the feeling amongst Vols fans prior to the season was the school would be in good hands with Martin under the center. Did Tennessee honestly believe the junior quarterback was better than that Manning guy? Absolutely. During the preseason, Martin proved he could throw a better deep ball than Manning and showed coaches his fantastic scrambling ability. But only time would tell if he could emerge from Manning's all-encompassing shadow.

Help for Martin would come in the form of sophomore running back Jamal Lewis, who ran for 1,364 yards in 1997. With the duo of Peerless Price and Jermaine Copeland at wide receiver, and a total of eight starters back on offense, many felt the Vols would not miss a beat in 1998.

They would have a chance to prove themselves early, starting on the road against Syracuse.

Tennessee got on the board first when Price hauled in a 12-yard scoring pass from Martin. After a Syracuse field goal, the Vols extended the gap to 11 with a Martin touchdown run. Tennessee led 14-10 at the half and appeared to be in the driver's seat with a 24-13 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Then the two teams began to trade punches like a pair of championship fighters. Following a pair of Donovan McNabb touchdowns, Syracuse took a 27-24 lead midway though the fourth. Next, Martin hit Price from 7-yards out to regain the lead for Tennessee. After Syracuse kicker Nate Trout hit a 41-yard field goal to move his team within a point, Martin fumbled at the 50. Vernon Banks recovered for Syracuse. McNabb then eluded the rush of linebacker Al Wilson and hit Darryl Daniel with a 46-yard completion to the Tennessee 11. The Vols defense held the Orangemen to a 19-yard Trout field goal with 2:38 remaining.

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