Fragile Fern – Cystopteris fragilis

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
Arkansas		2	–	6					4	–	7
Alabama		2	–	6					4	–	7
Championship: Tennessee 30, Auburn 29
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions 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.^[1] 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.^[2][3][4] 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.^[5][6] 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.^[7] 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.^[8] 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.^[9][10][11]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 30	7:45 p.m.	Texas Tech*	No. 5	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	ESPN	W 52–17	106,285	[12]
September 6	3:30 p.m.	at UCLA*	No. 3	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	ABC	W 30–24	62,619	[13]
September 20	3:30 p.m.	at No. 1 Florida	No. 4	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL (Third Saturday in September) (College GameDay)	CBS	L 20–33	85,714	[14]
October 4	3:30 p.m.	Ole Miss	No. 10	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	CBS	W 31–17	106,229	[15]
October 11	3:30 p.m.	No. 15 Georgia	No. 10	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	CBS	W 38–13	106,656	[16]
October 18	7:00 p.m.	at Alabama	No. 9	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Third Saturday in October)	ESPN	W 38–21	83,091	[17]
November 1	12:30 p.m.	South Carolina	No. 8	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	JPS	W 22–7	106,301	[18]
November 8	4:00 p.m.	No. 25 Southern Miss*	No. 7	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	PPV	W 44–20	107,073	[19]
November 15	8:00 p.m.	at Arkansas	No. 5	War Memorial Stadium Little Rock, AR	ESPN2	W 30–22	53,235	[20]
November 22	12:30 p.m.	at Kentucky	No. 5	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY (rivalry)	ESPN2	W 59–31	61,076	[21]
November 29	12:00 p.m.	Vanderbilt	No. 3	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	CBS	W 17–10	106,683	[22]
December 6	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 11 Auburn	No. 3	Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA (SEC Championship Game)	ABC	W 30–29	74,896	[23]
January 2	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 2 Nebraska*	No. 3	Pro Player Stadium Miami Gardens, FL (Orange Bowl) (College GameDay)	CBS	L 17–42	74,002	[24]
*Non-conference game Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = 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

1997 Tennessee Volunteers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 24 Shawn Bryson Jr OT 67 Chad Clifton So OL Cosey Coleman WR Jermaine Copeland WR Graff Corby RB Phillip Crosby RB Brian Darden TE Eric Diogu RB Derrick Edmonds OL Mercedes Hamilton RB Travis Henry TE Neil Johnson RB Mark Levine RB Jamal Lewis QB 16 Peyton Manning Sr WR David Martin QB 17 Tee Martin So WR 88 Andy McCullough Sr WR 12 Marcus Nash Sr TE Antron Peebles WR 37 Peerless Price Jr OL Spencer Riley OL Diron Robinson WR 81 Benjie Shuler Sr RB Travis Stephens C 70 Trey Teague Sr WR Cedrick Wilson	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 99 Eric Brown Sr DE 91 Jonathan Brown Sr DL Jeff Coleman DL Bill Duf DE 93 Shaun Ellis So DB 13 Terry Fair Sr DB Cory Gaines DT 60 Matt Goodin Jr DB 23 Dwayne Goodrich So DB Tyrone Graham DB Deon Grant DL Ron Green DL Gerald Griffin DB Steve Johnson DE 1 Leonard Little Sr DB Tori Noel DL Billy Raltliff DE 58 Darwin Walker So DB 30 Cory Gaines Sr DE 22 Corey Terry Jr LB 46 Raynoch Thompson So DL Darwin Walker DB 42 Eric Westmoreland So DB 2 Fred White So LB 27 Al Wilson Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 4 Jeff Hall Jr P 43 David Leaverton Fr	Head coach Phillip Fulmer Coordinators/assistant coaches David Cutcliffe – Offensive coordinator/assistant head coach/quarterbacks Randy Sanders – Running backs/recruiting coordinator Pat Washington – Wide receivers Rodney Garner – Tight ends/offensive tackles Mark Bradley – Offensive line John Chavis – Defensive coordinator/linebackers Dan Brooks – Defensive line Kevin Ramsey – Defensive backs Steve Caldwell – Special teams/defensive ends Kurt Roper – Graduate assistant Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Texas Tech at Tennessee

1 2 3 4 Total Red Raiders 0 3 0 14 17 • No. 5 Volunteers 7 17 21 7 52 Date: August 30 Location: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee Game start: 7:35 pm EDT Elapsed time: 3:20 Game attendance: 106,285 Source: Box score

Tennessee at UCLA

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 3 Volunteers 9 15 3 3 30 Bruins 0 3 3 18 24 Date: September 6 Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California Game start: 3:35 pm EDT Elapsed time: 3:41 Game attendance: 62,619 Source: Box score

^[25]

^[26]

Ole Miss at Tennessee

1 2 3 4 Total Rebels 0 3 6 8 17 • No. 9 Volunteers 0 7 14 10 31 Date: October 4 Location: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee Game start: 3:34 pm EDT Elapsed time: 3:15 Game attendance: 106,229 Source: Box score

Georgia at Tennessee

1 2 3 4 Total No. 13 Bulldogs 3 7 0 3 13 • No. 9 Volunteers 7 17 0 14 38 Date: October 11 Location: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee Game start: 3:41 pm EDT Elapsed time: 3:13 Game attendance: 106,656 Source: Box score

Tennessee at Alabama

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 9 Volunteers 7 14 10 7 38 Crimson Tide 6 0 8 7 21 Date: October 18 Location: Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama Game start: 6:06 pm EDT Elapsed time: 3:06 Game attendance: 83,091 Source: Box score

South Carolina at Tennessee

1 2 3 4 Total Gamecocks 0 0 0 7 7 • No. 9 Volunteers 9 0 3 10 22 Date: November 1 Location: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee Game start: 12:38 pm EDT Elapsed time: 3:04 Game attendance: 106,301 Source: Box score

Southern Miss at Tennessee

1 2 3 4 Total No. 24 Golden Eagles 7 6 7 0 20 • No. 8 Volunteers 6 14 21 3 44 Date: November 8 Location: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee Game start: 4:08 pm EST Elapsed time: 3:10 Game attendance: 107,073 Source: Box score

Tennessee at Arkansas

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 5 Volunteers 7 7 3 13 30 Razorbacks 0 10 6 6 22 Date: November 15 Location: War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock, Arkansas Game start: 7:15 pm EDT Elapsed time: 3:20 Game attendance: 53,235 Source: Box score

Tennessee at Kentucky

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 5 Volunteers 17 7 21 14 59 Wildcats 7 14 3 7 31 Date: November 22 Location: Commonwealth Stadium, Lexington, Kentucky Game start: 12:30 pm EDT Elapsed time: 3:40 Game attendance: 61,076 Source: Box score

Peyton Manning threw for a school-record 523 yards and tied the school-record with 5 passing touchdowns in this high-scoring win over Kentucky. The single-game TD record fell in 2007 and the single-game yardage record stood until 2012. In all, Manning and Kentucky QB Tim Couch combined for 999 passing yards (Couch threw for a then-school-record 476 yards).^[27]

Vanderbilt at Tennessee

1 2 3 4 Total Commodores 0 3 7 0 10 • No. 3 Volunteers 0 10 7 0 17 Date: November 29 Location: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee Game start: 12:12 pm EST Elapsed time: 3:00 Game attendance: 106,683

^[28]

Tennessee vs Auburn

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 3 Volunteers 7 3 13 7 30 No. 11 Tigers 13 7 9 0 29 Date: December 6 Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia Game start: 8:06 pm EST Elapsed time: 3:34 Game attendance: 74,896 Referee: Al Ford Source: Box score

The Vols struck first just over two minutes into the game, but found themselves trailing 20–7 only 48 seconds into the second quarter. Despite six turnovers, Tennessee clawed all the way back. Peyton Manning threw for 373 yards and 4 TD, including a game winning 73-yard touchdown to Marcus Nash.^[29]

Tennessee vs Nebraska

1 2 3 4 Total No. 3 Volunteers 0 3 6 8 17 • No. 2 Cornhuskers 7 7 21 7 42 Date: January 2, 1998 Location: Pro Player Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida Game attendance: 72,385

• 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^[30]
• Peyton Manning, Johnny Unitas Award winner
• Peyton Manning, Best College Football Player ESPY Award winner
• Peyton Manning, runner-up, Heisman Trophy

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Peyton Manning	Quarterback	1	1	Indianapolis Colts
Terry Fair	Cornerback	1	20	Detroit Lions
Marcus Nash	Wide receiver	1	30	Denver Broncos
Leonard Little	Defensive end	3	65	St. Louis Rams
Jonathan Brown	Defensive end	3	90	Green Bay Packers
Trey Teague	Center	7	200	Denver Broncos
Andy McCullough	Wide receiver	7	204	New Orleans Saints
Corey Gaines	Safety	7	231	Indianapolis Colts

• References:^[31]