All for Tennessee
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Ranking all Tennesse football QBs to start for Johnny Majors

By Caleb Calhoun

Andy Kelly in action with the ball during a game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Tennessee Volunteers at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.
Andy Kelly in action with the ball during a game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Tennessee Volunteers at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. /
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Pick Analysis. 1980-1981. Steve Alatorre. 9. player. 839. Scouting Report. 8-6

The man who replaced Jeff Olszewski in 1980 was Steve Alatorre, who had transferred to Tennessee football after playing two seasons at Cypress College. Alatorre was the more exciting quarterback and a true dual-threat. His abilities allowed UT to beat that Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets team 23-10 as he came off the bench in the fifth game that season to do it.

As UT got to 3-2 with that win, though, Alatorre hit reality. He wasn’t ready for SEC play and lost four straight games, including getting shut out by the Alabama Crimson Tide and only engineering six points against the Pittsburgh Panthers before suffering a horrendous homecoming loss to the Virginia Cavaliers. Another loss to the Ole Miss Rebels dropped the team to 3-6.

In those four games, UT scored a total of 28 points. They did rebound to beat the Kentucky Wildcats and Vanderbilt Commodores, but entering 1981, Alatorre was moved to third-string, and Olszewski got the start again. After Olszewski was benched with an 0-2 start, Alatorre was moved to second-string.

Alatorre took over in game four against the Auburn Tigers due to an injury and led the only touchdown drive in a thrilling 10-7 win. He was then named the starter the next week and made the most of his second chance, remaining in that role the rest of the year.

Going 6-2 in his final eight starts, Alatorre led the Vols to an 8-4 finish and a 28-21 Garden State Bowl victory in which he was named MVP. That was UT’s first bowl win under Johnny Majors. Alatorre finished his career completing 50.9 percent of his passes for 1,918 yards and 13 touchdowns with 20 interceptions, but he also had 375 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns.

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