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v t e
1997 SEC football standings
Team	W		L	W		L
Eastern Division
#7 Tennessee ^x†	7	–	1	11	–	2
#4 Florida	6	–	2	10	–	2
#10 Georgia	6	–	2	10	–	2
South Carolina	3	–	5	5	–	6
Kentucky	2	–	6	5	–	6
Vanderbilt	0	–	8	3	–	8
Western Division
#11 Auburn ^x^y	6	–	2	10	–	3
#13 LSU ^x	6	–	2	9	–	3
#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 y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

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 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 over 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 second to Charles Woodson of Michigan.^[10]^[11]^[12]

1 Schedule
2 Players
3 Awards and honors
4 References
5 External links

Schedule [edit]

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	7:45 PM	Texas Tech*	#5	Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN	ESPN	W 52–17	106,285
September 6	3:30 PM	at UCLA*	#3	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA	ABC	W 30-24	62,619
September 20	3:30 PM	at #1 Florida	#4	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL (Third Saturday in September)	CBS	L 20–33	85,714
October 4	3:30 PM	Ole Miss	#10	Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN	CBS	W 31–17	106,229
October 11	3:30 PM	#15 Georgia	#10	Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN	CBS	W 38–13	106,656
October 18	7:00 PM	at Alabama	#9	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL (Third Saturday in October)	ESPN	W 38–21	83,091
November 1	12:30 PM	South Carolina	#8	Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN	JPS	W 22–7	106,301
November 8	4:00 PM	#25 Southern Miss*	#7	Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN	PPV	W 44–20	107,073
November 15	8:00 PM	at Arkansas	#5	War Memorial Stadium • Little Rock, AR	ESPN2	W 30–22	53,235
November 22	12:30 PM	at Kentucky	#5	Commonwealth Stadium • Lexington, KY (Battle for the Barrel)	ESPN2	W 59–31	61,076
November 29	12:00 PM	Vanderbilt	#3	Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN	CBS	W 17–10	106,683
December 6	8:00 PM	vs. #11 Auburn	#3	Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA (SEC Championship Game)	ABC	W 30–29	74,896
January 2	8:00 PM	vs. #2 Nebraska*	#3	Pro Player Stadium • Miami Gardens, FL (Orange Bowl)	CBS	L 17–42	74,002
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from Coaches Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[13]

Players [edit]

The following members of the team went on to play in the NFL:

Shaun Ellis, Defensive End
Terry Fair, Defensive Back,
Jamal Lewis, Running Back
Travis Henry, Running Back
Travis Stephens, Running Back
Leonard Little, Defensive End
Peyton Manning, Quarterback
Peerless Price, Wide Receiver
Trey Teague, Center
Al Wilson, Linebacker
Raynoch Thompson, Linebacker
Deon Grant, DB
Dwayne Goodrich, DB
Chad Clifton, OT
Jeff Hall, K
Bill Duff, DT
Marcus Nash, WR

Cosey Coleman, OL

Awards and honors [edit]

Peyton Manning, consensus first-team All-American
Peyton Manning, Maxwell Award winner
Peyton Manning, Davey O'Brien Award winner
Peyton Manning, James E. Sullivan Award^[14]
Peyton Manning, Johnny Unitas Award winner
Peyton Manning, Best College Football Player ESPY Award winner
Peyton Manning, runner-up, Heisman Trophy

References [edit]

^ "Neyland Stadium". utsports.com. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
^ "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. |accessdate= requires |url= (help)
^ "Tenn. Jumps To No. 3 in Poll". The Washington Post (Washington, D.C.). September 1, 1997. |accessdate= requires |url= (help)
^ "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. |accessdate= requires |url= (help)
^ Rhoden, William C. (September 21, 1997). "Manning's Nightmare Continues". The New York Times (New York City, New York). Retrieved December 24, 2007.
^ "1997 SEC Championship Game Recap". secsports.com. Retrieved December 24, 2007. ^{[dead link]}
^ Fulmer, Phillip (1999). A Perfect Season. Rutledge Hill Press. pp. pp. 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"
^ MacCambridge, Michael (2005). ESPN College Football Encyclopedia. ESPN Books. pp. pp. 1401. ISBN 1-4013-3703-1.
^ MacCambridge, Michael (2005). ESPN College Football Encyclopedia. ESPN Books. pp. pp. 1462. ISBN 1-4013-3703-1.
^ MacCambridge, Michael (2005). ESPN College Football Encyclopedia. ESPN Books. pp. pp. 1402. ISBN 1-4013-3703-1.
^ "The 2005 ESPY Awards – ESPY Awards past winners". ESPN. Retrieved December 20, 2007.
^ "1997 Heisman Trophy". heisman.com. Retrieved February 3, 2008. ^{[dead link]}
^ http://cfreference.net/cfr/school.s?id=341&season=1997
^ http://aausullivan.org/winners_1997.html

External links [edit]

1997 Tennessee Volunteers on College Football Reference

v t e Tennessee Volunteers football

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People	Head coaches

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1997 Tennessee Volunteers football team

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Schedule [edit]

Players [edit]

Awards and honors [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

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