A perfect season and a shot at the inaugural BCS National Championship hung in the balance on December 5, 1998, as top-ranked Tennessee needed a furious fourth-quarter rally to hold off a scrappy Mississippi State squad, 24-14, in front of a sellout crowd of 74,795 at the Georgia Dome. It was a defensive slugfest from the opening whistle, with mistakes proving costly on both sides. Mississippi State struck first when defensive back Robert Bean intercepted a Tee Martin pass and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown, putting the heavily favored Vols in an early 7-0 hole. Tennessee answered before halftime to take a 10-7 lead, but the Bulldogs — playing as roughly two-touchdown underdogs — refused to fold. The game's defining gut-punch came with under nine minutes to go, when Mississippi State's Kevin Prentiss fielded a punt, hesitated along the sideline, then broke free for an 83-yard touchdown return that flipped the score to 14-10 in the Bulldogs' favor. Suddenly, Tennessee's national...