Tennessee football: Vols top 30 players since 1998 national championship

It was really hard to choose between Joshua Dobbs and Casey Clausen in terms of the greatest quarterback since the 1998 national championship. But even with Dobbs’s mobility to spike his stats, Clausen still finished his career with more total yards, nearly as many touchdowns and was just a way more efficient passer.

Clausen also labored under Randy Sanders, who is a solid offensive coach but didn’t have the experience or resume of Mike DeBord. And after 2001, Clausen labored his final two years without any receivers to throw to.

But even through all that, there’s no denying what Clausen was able to do. He would’ve been the starter to open 2000 until a shoulder injury dropped him to third-string. Behind Joey Mathews and A.J. Suggs, Tennessee football fell to 2-3. Clausen came in and helped the Vols win their final six games before losing their bowl game to finish 8-4.

Still, by that point, Clausen showed his clutch gene. He led back to back game-winning drives against the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Memphis Tigers. That was a hint of what would come. Throughout his career, Clausen would go 14-1 on the road.

He also won two games as a double-digit underdog on the road. Clausen notably led six fourth-quarter comebacks alone in 2001, as the Vols won the SEC East and finished 11-2 and ranked No. 4 in the nation.

That year, Clausen did his part to lead two other fourth-quarter comebacks. But David Greene and the Georgia Bulldogs responded with the Hobnail Boot game. Donte Stallworth fumbled in the SEC Championship game against the LSU Tigers as they were driving.

Like the rest of the team, Clausen was hit by the injury bug in 2002 en route to an 8-5 season. That still didn’t stop an epic six-overtime win over the Arkansas Razorbacks and fourth-quarter game-clinching drive to give Phillip Fulmer his 100th victory.

And in 2003 as a senior, Clausen was out of receivers or tight ends to throw to. Somehow though, he managed to will Tennessee football to a 10-2 record and SEC East championship with overtime victories over South Carolina and the Alabama Crimson Tide, along with huge road wins over the Florida Gators, his second in The Swamp, and the Miami Hurricanes.

Finishing his career second to Peyton Manning in pretty much every career statistical category, Clausen threw for 9,707 yards at Tennessee with 75 touchdowns and 31 interceptions. He completed 61 percent of his passes. And if he had just one elite receiver with experience in 2003, his team may have won a national championship.