Tennessee football: Top 10 Vols players who never won a championship

Joshua Dobbs and Erik Ainge had phenomenal years with Tennessee football at quarterback. They’re beloved players who didn’t win championships. But Casey Clausen is on another level when it comes to that.

Clausen is literally second to Peyton Manning in every school passing record for a career. He was a leader for the Vols for four years and was one of the most clutch players the school ever had.

The “Ice-Man” went 14-1 on the road as a starter. That the Vols never won an SEC Championship was hardly his fault. He did what he was supposed to do to put them in position. The rest of the team just never delivered.

In 2000, he was supposed to be the starter at the beginning of the year. But he didn’t take over until the team was 2-3. The Vols won out to go 8-3. Had Clausen been the starter the whole time, Tennessee would’ve beaten the Florida Gators that year to win the East and face a very mediocre Auburn Tigers team in the SEC title.

Then he helped carry the team to a 10-1 record and East title in 2001. But with a chance to go to the national championship game, he was part of the worst loss in school history to the LSU Tigers in the SEC title game that year. The Vols still haven’t recovered from that loss. Still, it wasn’t his fault. He didn’t fail to stop Matt Mauck, a backup freshman QB at the time, and he didn’t fumble twice in the fourth quarter.

The injury bug bit in 2002, including hitting Clausen, and he had no receivers or running game in 2003. Still, he willed that team to a share of the SEC East title. As a result, he deserves respect, and despite not winning a title, he’s one of the greatest quarterbacks in Tennessee football history.