Countdown to September 2nd vs UVA. (Top 150 Vols wins)

#376
#376
peaygolf said:
48 days…..

#48 - 37-34 vs #5 UCLA (1965)

The first real quarterback for Tennessee football who took every snap behind center, Dewey Warren helped the Vols transition from the single-wing to the T-formation in Doug Dickey’s second year.

In the final regular season game, the 7-1-2 Vols faced of in the “Rosebonnet Bowl” vs UCLA in Memphis.

In a shootout, Warren completed 19-of-27 passes for 274 yards and and two touchdowns. However, his breakout performance in the game came late. With the Vols trailing 34-30 on their own 35-yard line, the legend of Warren the “Swamp Rat” was born.

UT’s sophomore led a 65-yard game-winning drive and got down to the one-yard line. However, the Vols couldn’t get in, and 4th and goal came up. Warren took the ball on an option play and ran in himself for the game-winning touchdown, his second of the day, with 39 seconds. His completions and passing yards were Vol records at the time.

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Great choice. Great game. UCLA was coming off a huge win against USC and headed to the Rose Bowl. Their QB Gary Beban went on to win the Heisman his senior year. It was the first meeting between the schools. Vols hold the series edge 7-6-2.

I used to have a copy of that 1965 UCLA game on video cassette 😂. UTsports sold old games, and I watched it several times. I don't know what happened to my old VCR tapes. I had the 1979 Notre Dame game too.
 
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#377
#377
peaygolf said:
50 days……

#50 - 38-36 vs Vanderbilt (1987)

Most think it’s Notre Dame in 1991. But it’s not. The biggest comeback in Vols history is this game.

A stunned Neyland Stadium crowd (including myself) watched the Vols find themselves on the sad side of a 28-3 score to Vanderbilt. That came at 9:03 of the second quarter when Vandy quarterback Eric Jones scored his third touchdown of the game.

The Commodores led by 25 points.

The Vols entered the season finale 8-2-1, a Peach Bowl bid already in hand. Quarterback Jeff Francis was back after missing a couple games, one a Halloween loss at Boston College.

Vandy, coached by Watson Brown, wasn’t good but was riding a three-game win streak and used a troublesome triple-option offense.

The Commodores jumped to a 20-0 lead before the first quarter ended. Tennessee had run five plays, one an interception.

A Phil Reich field goal got the Vols on the scoreboard. Jones then led an 80-yard drive and it was 28-3. By this time, the crowd of 93,306 was booing the home-team offense.

Touchdowns by Terence Cleveland and Reggie Cobb cut the deficit to 28-18 at the half.

Keith Davis scored to open the second half. UT recovered a Vandy fumble on the kickoff return, setting up a William Howard touchdown. The Vols led 32-28 less with 9:49 left in the third quarter – less than 15 minutes of clock time after trailing by 25.

Two more field goals and a Victor Peppers end-zone interception were good to withstand a late Vandy score.

“The ’87 Vols were nothing if not resilient. They had already rallied for wins over Iowa and Kentucky and a tie with Auburn. They would rally again against Indiana in the Peach Bowl.

Instead of dying at four games, a winning streak over Vanderbilt would grow to 22 straight.

Four years later, the Miracle at South Bend would become iconic, due to the setting and opponent. But this one stands as the biggest comeback ever.”

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Yes, that was the most utterly perfect quarter that I have ever seen or heard a Commode Flusher football team play ... until Tennessee got its ground game untracked. If memory serves me correctly, we reeled off five consecutive touchdowns after the deficit had ballooned to 28-3.
 
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#379
#379
MemphisVol77 said:
Why was it called the "Rosebonnet Bowl" and why did we play them in Memphis?
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UT played games in Memphis annually back in those days as I recall. It was an effort to garner more fans from west Tennessee. Just guessing but since UCLA was heading to the Rose bowl maybe Tennessee was going to bluebonnet bowl. I was in high school and working in a grocery store in Collierville that year and remember listening to that game on the radio.
 
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#383
#383
peaygolf said:
149 days…….

#149 - 10-6 vs Vanderbilt (1916)

On November 11, 1916, Tennessee held it’s first Homecoming. Over 300 alumni, dating back to the class of 1872, attended the festivities. All-Southern back Graham Vowell scored the winning touchdown in the 10-6 victory over Vanderbilt in UT's first Homecoming game. The victory over the highly rated Commodores was considered a huge upset and was the first time that Tennessee had beaten Vanderbilt in Knoxville.

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It was my honor to get to know George (Bad News) Cafego through my connection to John. George hated Vanderbilt with a righteous hatred. When George was playing, the Vandy Boys took the field by running right through the Tennessee Cheerleaders. Bad News took that very personally. As most know, George was the kicking/Special Teams coach for decades on The Hill under a number of different coaches. One of his Disciples, Fuad Reviez, knew little to nothing about Vanderbilt. He knew nothing of Bad News’ hatred for Vandy. Fuad said that within a week of working with George, he hated Vandy just as much as George. He said that hatred was taught to his own sons, who hate Vandy with the appropriate venom. The locker room, pre-game speeches by Cafego were legendary. It is said that they were laced with so much vitriol and foul language that they would peel paint. He was constantly referring to Vanderbilt as “Harvard make Believe.” You gotta love George. Bless his memory.
 
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#384
#384
47 days…..

#47 - 25-0/24-0 vs Maryville (1892)

The score is debated, but the victory isn’t.

On October 15, 1892, a rag-tag group of students traveled to Maryville to play the first game of the season. The year before, UT played its first game in school history, losing to Sewanee.

Stats are impossible to find, but I did find a newspaper article from the The Journal and Tribune (Knoxville, Tenn.), Oct. 16, 1892.
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The article says 24-0, but the media guide says 25-0. Either way, the victory was the first of over 800 in an amazing history of UT football. It all began here……by these young men.

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#386
#386
Tin Man said:
Majors returned to coach victories against Cincinnati and at LSU. With a 5-0 start, the Vols were ranked #4 by the AP. Majors then lead Tennessee to lose to unranked Arkansas and then #4 Alabama at home, and to unranked South Carolina in Columbia. Though the Volunteers did close out the season with victories over Memphis State, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt, UT bought out Johnny Majors contract directly afterwards. Phab ("Phat") Phil was made HC. Majors declined to coach the Vols in their bowl game, and Fulmer began his stint as HC with a victory over Boston College in the Hall of Fame Bowl.

Edit: Fulmer followed the upset of Georgia in Athens with a victory over then #4 Florida in Neyland. Fans and administrators alike began to sense these Volunteers to be a team of destiny. There was a widely held perception that the three straight losses in the heart of the season were Majors' fault. Though he finished out the season before the administration bought out his contract, I suspect that decision was made after the loss to South Carolina.
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This was my freshman year and I didn’t miss a game. I remember Majors’ departure being announced prior to the home finale vs. Kentucky. He got a standing ovation when he was introduced during the pregame festivities and pumped his fist at the crowd while taking the field.

I also remember a sign hanging from a window on the 10th floor of North Carrick that said, “Johnny Majors is the Anti-Christ.”
 
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#387
#387
46 days….

#46 - 30-28 vs #11 Florida (2004)

One of the greatest things about sports is the opportunity to go from goat to hero in a matter of minutes. No sequence of events better exemplified this than what Tennessee kicker James Wilhoit experienced in Neyland Stadium in 2004. A back-and-forth affair saw Florida leading 28-21 midway through the fourth quarter after Leak found Chad Jackson for an 81-yard touchdown. Ainge would respond, finding sophomore Jayson Swain for a 13-yard score to pull the Volunteers within 28-27 with under four minutes to play. A tie game was assumed, but Wilhoit pushed the extra point wide right. The Tennessee defense forced a punt, with the help of a controversial unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Baker. Ainge drove the Vols to the Florida 33-yard line, setting up a 50-yard field goal attempt, which Wilhoit just pushed over the crossbar for a 30-28 Tennessee victory.

With the win, the Vols were in the drivers seat for the SECE.........which they would win.

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#391
#391
peaygolf said:
I made a huge mistake

2003 game vs UF was already used…….
My apologies…….I will fix shortly…..
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104 days into an INCREDIBLE countdown and recitation of Tennessee Football history and you hit on your first mistake.
I'll take that record any day, every day - keep up the great work my friend !!!
 
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#392
#392
IndianaVol said:
104 days into an INCREDIBLE countdown and recitation of Tennessee Football history and you hit on your first mistake.
I'll take that record any day, every day - keep up the great work my friend !!!
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I marked off the '04 game on my "master list" when I actually posted the '03 game........:rolleyes:
 
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#394
#394
75 was a little before my time. I graduated in 93. I don't know of him specifically but there are quite a few Dockerys around the area. I graduated with a Dockery but his family was from Georgia.
StarRaider said:
Did you know any of the Dockery's? Ricky IIRC was a classmate until he transferred up to CB around 1975.
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#399
#399
StarRaider said:
Rex was from Cleveland - Bradley Central grad. Also played at Tennessee. Tragic end, he is still well remembered by the sports community there.
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I was at a friends house spending the night........the night before the crash. Coach Dockery was at the house having dinner with my friends dad (big MSU booster at the time)
Will never forget that.
 
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