Sports

NO RESPECT AT ALL! NO. 1 VOLS CAN’T BELIEVE THEY’RE UNDERDOGS

TEMPE, Ariz. – The Vols are seething.

They picked up the papers on Dec. 6, the day after the Bowl Championship Series pairings were announced and did a double take: Tennessee was the underdog. Underdog!

Tennessee, the only undefeated team left in the Top 5, saw that Florida State was favored by more than a field goal to win tomorrow night’s Fiesta Bowl. The line now stands at 5 points.

Time out, the Vols screamed! Aren’t we the No. 1-ranked team in the country? Didn’t Florida State get waxed, 24-7 by N.C. State, a middle-of-the-pack Atlantic Coast Conference school? How the heck are the Seminoles favored?

“It puts a chip on our shoulder and makes us go out there and play that much harder,” said Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin. “We face practice every day knowing that we are the underdogs. Being the underdog and not getting the respect that we think we deserve adds an extra chip on our shoulders.”

Reporters tried to explain to the Vols why Florida State was favored. The Seminoles played a tougher schedule, the fifth-toughest in the nation. The Seminoles have finished in the Top 4 the last 11 seasons, and will probably extend that streak this year. The Seminoles have more experience playing in these marquee games.

The Vols players sat and listened and stewed.

“That has made us upset,” wide receiver Jermaine Copeland said, fighting to choke down the anger. “We’re the ones undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the nation. Everybody is doubting us, which has pumped us up. We have a lot to prove.”

The Vols thought they had proved themselves throughout the season. Didn’t they have to replace one of the greatest quarterbacks in college football history in Peyton Manning? Didn’t they have to replace six starters on defense? Didn’t they have to overcome the loss of their best player, running back Jamal Lewis, who blew out a knee early in the season? Didn’t they have to prove they could beat Florida?

The Vols did all that and at the end of the regular season, Tennessee and Tulane were the only undefeated teams in Division I-A. Yet the oddsmakers list FSU as a 5-point favorite, a position they’re quite used to.

“I am surprised, yes and no,” said Florida State coach Bobby Bowden. “No, I am not surprised because we are always favored. The last time we were underdogs, we played Florida in the Sugar Bowl two years ago and they beat us. Ever since then, we have always been favored. But it does surprise me [this time] because they are ranked No. 1 in the nation and they deserve to be No. 1 in the nation. Nobody has proved that they can be beat yet. Somebody has proved that we can be beat.”

N.C. State proved it big time by intercepting quarterback Chris Weinke a school-record six times and scoring a convincing win. Weinke didn’t throw another interception the rest of the season, but his season ended early when he suffered a severe neck injury against Virginia.

That forced FSU to turn to the almost completely inexperienced Marcus Outzen. Outzen did help the Seminoles to a 23-12 win over Florida, although it was FSU’s suffocating defense that did most of the work.

In other words, say the Vols, how in the world is FSU, which will be playing a quarterback making his third career start, still favored?

Some of the Tennessee defensive players are trying to justify this. Their rationalization is that Outzen is surrounded by the level of talent which has established FSU as one of the elite programs in the nation. It’s a neighborhood in which the Vols believe they, too, should reside.

“We want to see our program among the nation’s elite,” said linebacker Raynoch Thompson. “We’ve been on the doorstep over the last four years with 10-plus wins each season and now we’re playing for the national championship. Going into [tomorrow night’s] game, we enjoy being the underdog. In fact, I expected that because it’s been that way all season.”

Certainly there are reasons to question Tennessee. If Collins Cooper’s field goal attempt in overtime hadn’t sailed wide, the Gators might have beaten Tennessee for a sixth straight year. If Arkansas quarterback Clint Stoerner hadn’t fumbled late in the game – without even getting hit – the Vols wouldn’t have scored the game-winning touchdown with 28 seconds left.

“We know there are some doubts about our football team, that we may be lucky and people saying that we shouldn’t be here,” said Martin.

That’s exactly what the oddsmakers are saying. They’re saying FSU has been there, done that. Tennessee hasn’t. They’re saying FSU’s top-ranked defense will stifle the Vols.

First it was Florida, now it’s Florida State. Always, Tennessee has been the underdog.

“We’ve been the underdog for most of the year,” said Vols coach Phil Fulmer. “We set a goal at the beginning of the season. We didn’t necessarily have to be the best team in the country, we just had to be the best team on Saturday.”

Now make that Monday.