Talk to us about......(version 1.0)

[TheFlash1971]

No idea why I thought of this…. Remember when they introduced the starters and they had pictures of them all dressed as riverboat gamblers? Just completely weird lol.

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I remember that game they ****ed up Vinny Testaverde. Micheal Irvin was Miami WR I believe he was a freshman then . Tennessee came to play.

 

[J C Higgins]

I remember when some of the players were interviewed after the game, they said the defensive coordinator, Ken Donahue, made them run up and down the stadium steps all week long before the game. When Tennessee took the field they were pumped and never tired during the game because of the stamina they had running those stairs.
I remember the highly vaulted QB for Miami, Testeverde, being on his back most of the game as Donahue had so many blitz packages prepared that Miami had no answer.
It was a classic game and ranks as one of our best as hands-down underdogs that prevailed despite the experts predictions.

Donahue installed a specific defense for that game and made the entire defensive team swear to keep it secret. I don't know if the offense knew about it or if it was a secret known only by the defensive team but it destroyed Miami's offense.

 

[HighRockvol]

Yep and when Ga loses you will here how Ga didn’t play their A game read post above

I don’t care what excuse anyone gives I hope Georgia gets there teeth kicked in the whole game, while I enjoy every moment of it.

 

[vols40]

Yep and when Ga loses you will here how Ga didn’t play their A game read post above

95% of the people on this site hope you are right. Count me in that group. Just don't see it

 

[TheFlash1971]

95% of the people on this site hope you are right. Count me in that group. Just don't see it

I’m telling ya if TCU wasn’t a really good team they would have gotten blown out that is a transfer and 4-5 year player team . They play their game the whole game . Duggan is like Teblow with the ability to throw. Sony Dykes will out coach Kirby Smart. Kirby is waaay overrated.

 

[vols40]

I’m telling ya if TCU wasn’t a really good team they would have gotten blown out that is a transfer and 4-5 year player team . They play their game the whole game . Duggan is like Teblow with the ability to throw. Sony Dykes will out coach Kirby Smart. Kirby is waaay overrated.

Ok. I'm done talking about TCU/UGA now let's get this thread back on topic. The Vols beat down of Miami in the Sugar Bowl.

Sorry OP @DeusExMachina

 

[swampfoxfan]

I hadn't been back in the states very long,after a.tour in the mid east. A close friend from Belle glade, fl was spending the holidays with us and we had some friendly banner going on. Neither of us expected what would.happen
Go Vols.

 

[BleedinOrangeinPA]

Great idea OP,, always like reading your content too.

I was also there and will quote myself on an previous post. (Never did that before, so hope it goes right)
I don't post much but do love my VOL Nation Brethren and those "Sugar Vols" are definitely in top 5 of my Big Orange highlights.

Go VOLS!!

Agreed!!

Only had my drivers permit for a few months and my Dad asked me “ Do you wanna drive to New Orleans for New Years Eve?” First thing I asked was “And go to the Sugar Bowl?” Dad’s from NY and never really got into the whole Vols thing but knew my blood was orange.
Couple of things besides the unbelievable A** whooping Vols put on the Canes that I’ll never forget.
1 Had to be 1000 to 1 Tennessee fans over Miami fans. All we saw was Big Beautiful Obnoxious Orange.
2 a 15 y/o can get any drink he wants in the French Quarter on New Year’s Eve
3 the smell of marijuana in the dome at kickoff
4 How loud the Vols fans were in the super dome!!
It was Great!!
Thanks Dad and Go VOLS!!!!

 

[hbjordan]

My recollection on the satellite feed was that , as mentioned, Miami moved right down the field and scored to take a 7-0 lead. During that commercial break either Keith Jackson or Frank Broyles who was doing the color said something like, "Looks like it's going to be a blowout." I didn't get the sense it was anti-Tennessee as much as it was "How are we going to fill these next three hours and keep any kind of audience with Oklahoma and Penn State going in the Orange Bowl over on NBC?" I think ABC thought it might be a blowout, Miami thought it would be a blowout, heck even a lot of Vols fans thought it was unlikely UT could hang with Miami. The Hurricanes were really, really good and really, really talented. Go back and look at how many of those guys played in the pros. That's what made the game and the season so magical. Tennessee was a team of overachievers. A team much better than the sum of its parts. A team that lost its star QB halfway through the season and found a tailback transfer from William & Mary. And, to be honest, a team that benefited from a softer end of the season schedule that allowed the offense to find itself while the D just got better and better and better. No one could be blamed for thinking a blowout might happen. And it did turn into a blowout, just not the one everybody anticipated.

One thing that has always stuck in my mind for some reason is Miami Coach Jimmy Johnson either on the pregame or a bowl preview show pleading his case for why Miami should be #1 if Oklahoma beat Penn State in the Orange Bowl. He began listing Miami's accomplishments- they had "beaten Big 8 Champion and Orange Bowl Champion Oklahoma, #10 and Gator Bowl Champion Florida State, and ACC Champion and Cherry Bowl Champion Maryland..." I busted out laughing when he said "Cherry Bowl Champion Maryland" thinking well damn if you beat the Cherry Bowl Champion you sure should be #1. I still chuckle every time I think about that. BTW that shows what winning the ACC used to get you- a hearty handshake and, if you were lucky, maybe a bowl bid. Clemson won the NC and played in the Orange Bowl in 1982 but there were plenty of years where the ACC champ didn't get a bowl bid or wound up in something akin to the Cherry Bowl.

That team really was a "forever" team and they played the best game I ever saw a Tennessee team play.

 

[Volosaurus rex]

In the 56 years I have followed Big Orange pigskinery, we certainly have had more talented teams than the '85 squad. However, the 1986 Sugar Bowl was, quite simply, the most ferocious, 60-minute performance I have ever seen from a Tennessee defense, given the caliber of opponent we played and the relentless pressure we sustained against their quarterback, Vinny Testaverde, whom we sacked, if memory serves me correctly, seven times for a loss of 84 yards. Our defense also generated SIX Miami turnovers. Neyland would have given our defense a perfect score for the game and, if he could have spoken directly to the ’85 team after this victory, he would have informed them, “Finally, you have met the standard we established with the undefeated, untied and unscored upon ’39 team. Well done, men, exceedingly well done.”

A quote from Coach Majors’ pregame speech: “They don't have any respect for you; make them remember you as long as you live, the way you hit and the way you knock them down downfield, and the way you hustle. Attack, attack, attack, always attack…. Carry the fight to Miami and keep it there for sixty minutes."

Incidentally, if you aren’t already familiar with it, there was a remake of the old Johnny Horton song, “Battle of New Orleans,” which was released the week before the game. Entitled “Battle of New Orleans 1986 Sugar Bowl,” the lyrics turned out to be quite prophetic. See

Specific, highly memorable quotes from the game broadcast by Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles:

Frank Broyles: “I repeat, Bennie Blades has world-class speed, but he can’t catch this track man [Jeff Powell] from William & Mary,” who broke Miami’s back with our fourth touchdown on a 60-yard run.

"If this keeps up, I'm going to know the words to Rocky Top," shortly after the Vols scored their 35th unanswered point.

Keith Jackson: “This Tennessee defense has clawed and scratched Miami into a bloody spate, and they have forced another turnover,” after yet another Testaverde sack in which he was sacked from behind and the fumble squirted forward about 15 yards.

 

[dovervolz]

Donahue installed a specific defense for that game and made the entire defensive team swear to keep it secret. I don't know if the offense knew about it or if it was a secret known only by the defensive team but it destroyed Miami's offense.

I've read somewhere before that Donahue caught on to some way that Miami was tipping their plays and the UT defense knew whether each play was a run or a pass.

 

[Fightmaker]

They don’t have the talent Georgia does but I hope they win

Sonny is an incredible coach, and it’s a damn shame that it’s taken this long for the rest of the ignorant world to realize.

 

[DeusExMachina]

Great idea OP, always like reading your content too.

Why thank you!!! Next week should be a good one as well, I have someone in mind that is on (or should d*mn well be on) every single Vol fan's "Mount Rushmore" of Tennessee greats, and I'm excited to hear from those who were there to see this gentleman's exploits while wearing the Orange and White.

 

[HighRockvol]

Thanks for posting this I was born in 86 so never got to see this game before..

 

[feathersax]

I was there along with wife & our 5-year-old son. On a bus load of Vol fans. Had a great time in N.O. Tennessee wasn't supposed to win against the mighty 'Canes, but Coach Johnny Majors & the Vols put a whoopin' on them. Our son later played 4 years in the P.O.T.S. Band from 1998-2002. This trip got him off to a good start. Vinnie Testaverde spent a lot of time on his keester that night at the Superdome.

 

[Coddlecreek1]

Nobody is giving TCU a snowballs chance in hell and that is all the motivation a team needs in a game this magnitude . TCU has the talent .

Boy, I sure hope so. When you see JUCOS, Navy Transfers, medical comebacks, and a bunch of tough, hungry players come together .. could it?

 

[WoodsmanVol]

I can't tell you much of anything. I was a teen who didn't really care about football in general, and didn't really know anything about the Tennessee Volunteers in particular, nor cared. A schoolmate pretty much dragged to Neyland to watch a game, I don't even remember who the opponent was. My schoolmate spent the time telling me about what was happening on the field. Later, over time, he talked about the team, some of its history, players, and whatnot. By the time high school was over and done with, I entered college as a bona fide Vols fan. And that was that.

 

[SobeVol]

I was at gulf shores Alabama watching it on tv. Everyone was saying UT had no chance. That team appeared nearly unbeatable that day. My father cried. I have the commemorative knife with the final score on it he bought for both of us. To me that day felt as amazing as bama ‘22

 

[Post4Vols]

I was not born yet when this game was played but the Vols fans I know reminisce often about that game and the feeling of nirvana afterwards. I’ve watched the replay many many times, and can only hope a similar game is on the horizon.

FYI - Jeff Powell is an attorney in Nashville. Great guy.

 

[GAVol]

I was not born yet when this game was played but the Vols fans I know reminisce often about that game and the feeling of nirvana afterwards. I’ve watched the replay many many times, and can only hope a similar game is on the horizon.

FYI - Jeff Powell is an attorney in Nashville. Great guy.

It’s hard to make people understand just how much Jeff Powell came out of nowhere. In the 80s, we were still lucky to get 5 or 6 games on TV and Powell came on late in the year. He probably didn’t have more than 300-400 yards rushing for the season and was still a little bit off a mystery by the bowl game.

 

[Dr H Lecter]

My recollection on the satellite feed was that , as mentioned, Miami moved right down the field and scored to take a 7-0 lead. During that commercial break either Keith Jackson or Frank Broyles who was doing the color said something like, "Looks like it's going to be a blowout." I didn't get the sense it was anti-Tennessee as much as it was "How are we going to fill these next three hours and keep any kind of audience with Oklahoma and Penn State going in the Orange Bowl over on NBC?" I think ABC thought it might be a blowout, Miami thought it would be a blowout, heck even a lot of Vols fans thought it was unlikely UT could hang with Miami. The Hurricanes were really, really good and really, really talented. Go back and look at how many of those guys played in the pros. That's what made the game and the season so magical. Tennessee was a team of overachievers. A team much better than the sum of its parts. A team that lost its star QB halfway through the season and found a tailback transfer from William & Mary. And, to be honest, a team that benefited from a softer end of the season schedule that allowed the offense to find itself while the D just got better and better and better. No one could be blamed for thinking a blowout might happen. And it did turn into a blowout, just not the one everybody anticipated.

One thing that has always stuck in my mind for some reason is Miami Coach Jimmy Johnson either on the pregame or a bowl preview show pleading his case for why Miami should be #1 if Oklahoma beat Penn State in the Orange Bowl. He began listing Miami's accomplishments- they had "beaten Big 8 Champion and Orange Bowl Champion Oklahoma, #10 and Gator Bowl Champion Florida State, and ACC Champion and Cherry Bowl Champion Maryland..." I busted out laughing when he said "Cherry Bowl Champion Maryland" thinking well damn if you beat the Cherry Bowl Champion you sure should be #1. I still chuckle every time I think about that. BTW that shows what winning the ACC used to get you- a hearty handshake and, if you were lucky, maybe a bowl bid. Clemson won the NC and played in the Orange Bowl in 1982 but there were plenty of years where the ACC champ didn't get a bowl bid or wound up in something akin to the Cherry Bowl.

That team really was a "forever" team and they played the best game I ever saw a Tennessee team play.

Wasn’t it fun to listen to the live feeds before they caught on that many people had satellite dishes and could hear them? You’d get to hear them cussing, talking politics, whatever. It was almost as entertaining as the programming. But this Miami-UT game was especially fun. Truth be to, I thought we were in for a thrashing too.

 

[GAVol]

Another random thing I remember…. This is the only time I’ve ever seen the opposing team literally inside the T taunting us as we ran onto the field. An early look at what would become typical behavior from “the U”.

 

[1Big_Orange_Fan]

I was 14 years old and don't think I saw it live but saw all the highlights and full game since. I didn't start watching every game until I was 16 when a friend and his dad took me to Neyland the first time. Anyway, the summer after the SugarVols won I went to Black Mountain, NC to a Fellowship of Christian Athletes football camp. One of the guest attendees there was a Vanderbilt football player. I do not recall his name but he played WR for them the year before and I remember how fast he was. I spoke to him and told him I was a UT fan and one of us brought up the game. He swore that UT had a copy of Miami's playbook and said that UT had a good team but there was no way they were 28 pts better than Miami. Anyone ever heard that rumor before?

 

[GAVol]

I was 14 years old and don't think I saw it live but saw all the highlights and full game since. I didn't start watching every game until I was 16 when a friend and his dad took me to Neyland the first time. Anyway, the summer after the SugarVols won I went to Black Mountain, NC to a Fellowship of Christian Athletes football camp. One of the guest attendees there was a Vanderbilt football player. I do not recall his name but he played WR for them the year before and I remember how fast he was. I spoke to him and told him I was a UT fan and one of us brought up the game. He swore that UT had a copy of Miami's playbook and said that UT had a good team but there was no way they were 28 pts better than Miami. Anyone ever heard that rumor before?

I’ve never heard that, but I’m not sure why it would even matter. There’s film on everybody; especially by Bowl season.

 

[Berry4Heisman14]

I was born in 93 and just watched this game for the first time this morning and enjoyed every second. Was Dickey any good here?