Ranking all Tennesse football QBs to start for Johnny Majors

As Tennessee football was looking for a new quarterback in 1980, a couple of names came into play. Jeff Olszewski got the nod at the beginning of the season, though, starting against the Georgia Bulldogs. The Vols blew a 15-0 lead that day, losing 16-15 to the eventual national champions, as a freshman running back named Herschel Walker came alive in the second half.

Things didn’t get better from there, as UT was tied with the No. 5 ranked USC Trojans late in the second game and had moved past midfield for a potential game-winning field goal. However, future NFL head coach Jeff Fisher, yes, that Fisher, intercepted a pass to set up a game-winning field goal for USC and send Rocky Top to 0-2.

Olszewski helped UT to rebound after that and win two straight, including a 42-0 upset at the No. 18 ranked Auburn Tigers in which he earned SEC Player of the Week. However, as the Vol were tied with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 10-10 the next week, he was replaced in the fourth quarter of the game, which UT won 23-10.

After that point, though, the Vols stumbled to 5-6, and Olszewski never recaptured his magic. He started the first two games in 1981 and lost both of them in blowout, to Georgia and USC again, which resulted in him going to the bench to never start again.

For his career, Olszewski completed 53.3 percent of his passes for 1,005 yards, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also had 109 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns, making for 12 total touchdowns.