28TH ANNUAL TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL
Jan. 4, 1999 |
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Peerless is defined as “without equal; matchless.” On Mon-day, January 4, in the first Bowl Championship Series championship game, Tennessee’s Peerless Price proved worthy of his name.
The senior wide receiver caught four passes for a career-high 199 yards, including a 79-yard game-clinching touchdown reception in the fourth quarter, to lead the Volunteers to a 23-16 victory over Florida State.
The win gave Tennessee the school’s second national championship of all-time – the first came in 1951 – and lifted the Vols to a 13-0 record, the best in school history.
With thousands of orange-wearing, “Rocky Top”-singing Tennessee fans among the Fiesta Bowl record crowd of 80,470, the Volunteers jumped ahead 14-0 with two touchdowns in a 25-second span in the second quarter.
The first touchdown was set up by a 76-yard pass from Volunteer quarterback Tee Martin to Price to take the ball to Florida State’s 12-yard line. Four plays later, Martin hit fullback Shawn Bryson out of the backfield for a four-yard touchdown pass. On the Seminoles’ next possession, Tenn-essee cornerback Dwayne Goodrich intercepted a pass and returned it 54 yards for a touchdown.
Florida State came back with nine unanswered points on a 1-yard touchdown run by William McCray and a short field goal by Sebastian Janikowski to cut the lead to 14-9 at halftime.
After a scoreless third quarter, Martin threw a perfect pass down the right sideline that Price caught and ran the distance for a 79-yard touchdown reception. Jeff Hall added a 23-yard field goal for Tennessee, and Florida State quarterback Marcus Outzen ran seven yards for a touchdown for the final margin.
Price set Fiesta Bowl records for longest reception (79 yards) and highest average per catch (49.7 yards). He was named the offensive player of the game, while Goodrich was honored with the defensive player of the game, despite missing the second half with an ankle injury.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Tennessee |
0 | 14 |
0 | 9 |
23 |
| Florida State |
0 | 9 | 0 |
7 |
16 |
HOW THEY SCORED
| FSU | TENN | |
| 0 | 7 | Shawn Bryson 4 yard pass from Tee Martin (Jeff Hall Kick) |
| 0 | 14 | Dwayne Goodrich 54 yard interception return (Hall kick) |
| 6 | 14 | William McCray 1 yard run (kick failed) |
| 9 | 14 | Sebastian Janikowski 34 yard field goal |
| 9 | 20 | Peerless Price 79 yard pass from Martin (kick failed) |
| 9 | 23 | Hall 23 yard field goal |
| 16 | 23 | Marcus Outzen 7 yard run (Janikowski kick) |
YARDSTICK
| FSU | TENN | |
| 13 | First Downs | 16 |
| 41-108 | Rushes-Yards | 45-114 |
| 145 | Passing Yards | 278 |
| 9-22-2 | Passes | 11-19-2 |
| 120 | Return Yards | 108 |
| 9-39.8 | Punts | 5-38.0 |
| 4-1 | Fumbles-Lost | 3-2 |
| 12-110 | Penalties-Yards | 9-55 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – FLORIDA STATE: Marcus Outzen 18-(-1), Travis Minor 15-83, William McCray 4-9, Laveranues Coles 2-4, Peter Warrick 1-11, Lamarr Glenn 1-2. TENNESSEE: Travis Henry 19-28, Travis Stephens 13-60, Tee Martin 10-19, Shawn Bryson 3-7.
PASSING – FLORIDA STATE: Marcus Outzen 9-22-2-145. TENNESSEE: Tee Martin 11-18-2-278, Travis Henry 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING – FLORIDA STATE: Ron Dugans 6-135, William McCray 1-11, Peter Warrick 1-7, Travis Minor 1-(-8). TENNESSEE: Peerless Price 4-199, Shawn Bryson 3-34, Jeremaine Copeland 1-15, John Finlayson 1-14, Travis Henry 1-9, Cedrick Wilson 1-7.
