How Tennessee football QBs who won starting job midseason performed the next year
8. player. 839. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. 1982. Sophomore. Alan Cockrell
174-of-294; 2,021 yards; 12 TDs; 15 INTs; 1 rush TD
Johnny Majors ran three quarterbacks in 1981 as Tennessee football went 8-4 and won the Garden State Bowl, which was his best season yet at the time. After splitting time with Steve Alatorre during the disastrous 1980 season, Jeff Olszewski got the start for the Vols to open the 1981 season, but both saw action.
Well, the Vols were blown out by the Georgia Bulldogs and USC Trojans on the road, falling to 0-2, just as they had fallen to 0-2 in losses to both the previous year. As a result, Alan Cockrell got the nod in the third game, becoming the first true freshman to start in school history, and he led UT to a dominant win over the Colorado State Rams.
Cockrell’s start helped the Vols beat the Auburn Tigers 10-7 the next week, but he then suffered a season-ending injury. Still, he came back and returned as the full-time starter in 1982 with high expectations. Unfortunately for him, coming back from injury, the Vols were wildly inconsistent.
Rocky Top lost to the Duke Blue Devils and Auburn Tigers on the year. They also lost to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and closed the year out with losses to the Vanderbilt Commodores and Iowa Hawkeyes. However, there was one glorious period.
In a two-week span, Tennessee football tied the No. 18 ranked LSU Tigers on the road, and they then shocked the No. 2 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide at home, ending an 11-year losing streak in the rivalry. That was the highlight of the year with Cockrell and proved the program was in good shape with him and Majors. A year later, they went 9-3.