University of Tennessee Athletics
#Vols50Bowls: Best Players
December 19, 2014 | Football
By Brian Rice
UTSports.com
Tennessee will play in its 50th bowl game this season and as part of that milestone, UTSports.com will count down some of the great bowl memories in Tennessee history.
The series continues with the top five bowl players in Vol history. The rankings are always up for debate, so if you think a player's career is too high, too low or we missed altogether, let me know on Twitter @briancrice.
The countdown:
1. PEYTON MANNING
In four bowl games at Tennessee, Manning finished with a 3-1 record while throwing for 913 yards and seven passing TDs, a Tennessee bowl record.
Manning started his bowl career with a modest performance, at least stat-wise. He completed 12 passes for 189 yards and a TD in a 45-23win over Virginia Tech in the 1994 Gator Bowl. A year later, he was limited to 182 passing yards as UT slogged out a 20-14 win over Ohio State on a wet, muddy day in the CompUSA Florida Citrus Bowl.
In 1997, Tennessee returned to the Citrus Bowl, where Manning set Tennessee single game bowl records for passing yards and total offense with a 27-of-39 performance for 408 yards and four touchdowns. Manning also picked up 8 yards on the ground and ran for another score.
2. CASEY CLAUSEN
Clausen's stats are better than Manning's, but a 1-3 record in bowl games gives Manning the top spot. Clausen holds the UT career bowl records for passing yards (1,139), attempts (151) and completions (87) in his four postseason contests.
His lone bowl victory came as a sophomore in the 2002 Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl. The sophomore accounted for five of the Vols' six touchdowns in a 45-17 thrashing of the Michigan Wolverines. Clausen completed 26 of 34 passes for 393 yards and three touchdowns, two to Kelley Washington and a 64-yarder to Jason Witten. During one stretch in the second half, Clausen completed 10 straight passes.
As a senior, Clausen threw for 381 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to Clemson in the 2004 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Clausen completed passes to 10 different receivers in the final game of his Tennessee career.
3. ANDY KELLY
Kelly started three bowl games as the Tennessee quarterback with a 2-1 record, throwing for 696 yards and four TDs.
In his bowl debut in the 1990 Mobil Cotton Bowl Classic, Kelly completed just nine passes, but two went for touchdowns in a 31-27 win over the comeback-minded Arkansas Razorbacks.
A year later, Kelly helped lead the SEC Champion Volunteers to a dramatic comeback victory over the Virginia Cavaliers in the 1991 USF&G Sugar Bowl. Kelly was 24 of 35 for 273 yards and a fourth-quarter TD pass to Carl Pickens that drew UT to within a score.
4. BOBBY SCOTT
Just as it was with the 1-2 spots, this is another case where the overall record breaks the tie on similar stats. Scott threw for 621 yards and four touchdowns in three bowl games, but was 1-2 from 1969-71.
Scott threw for 159 yards and two second-half scores in a loss to Texas in the 1969 Cotton Bowl. A season later, he was 12 of 34 for 174 yards and a TD as Tennessee dropped the Gator Bowl, 14-13, to Florida.
His final game in orange was his finest in a bowl, leading Tennessee to a bowl-record 24 first-quarter points in a 34-13 rout of Air Force in the 1971 Sugar Bowl. Scott completed 22 of 40 passes for 288 yards and a touchdown to put a bow on his Volunteer career.
5. ANDY KOZAR
Kozar's two touchdowns in an epic 1951 win over Texas earned him a spot in the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame. He carried the ball 20 times for 92 and the all-important scores in the first meeting between the two orange-clad UTs.
After The Longhorns rallied to take a 14-7 halftime lead, Tennessee closed to one point early in the fourth quarter, when Kozar bulled in from the 5. After a Texas fumble, Kozar scored his second touchdown from a yard out and the Vols held off a late Texas charge to win 20-14.
