What was the biggest all time UT upset win?

#101
#101
Pretty sure it was the time the Mud Dogs won the Bourbon Bowl.

Seriously.... 82 Bama, 85 Auburn, 86 Miami, 2001 UF, take your pick.
 
#102
#102
oldsmokey67 said:
i thought i would mention another big win for the vols.this should be considered an upset since the vols started the season unranked in 85.it was the 2nd game of the year and Tennessee thumped top ranked auburn 38 to 20.
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It certainly was an upset and it remains only our second victory of all-time over a No.-1 ranked opponent. I do not recall what the point spread was for that game.

Identification of our "biggest" upset victory, however, depends on whether you mean most historically significant upset victory or the game in which we were the biggest underdog and actually emerged victorious. If the original poster based his question upon the latter criteria, I simply cannot recall an upset victory in which we were bigger underdogs (roughly 18 or 18.5 points) than the 2001 Florida game.
 
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#103
#103
1985- Auburn is #1 coming into Knoxville, we beat them 38-20.
1991-Notre Dame at South Bend. UT wins 35-34 Probably the biggest COMEBACK win UT history.
 
#104
#104
Volosaurus rex said:
It certainly was an upset and it remains only our second victory of all-time over a No.-1 ranked opponent. I do not recall what the point spread was for that game.

Identification of our "biggest" upset victory, however, depends on whether you mean most historically significant upset victory or the game in which we were the biggest underdog and actually emerged victorious. If the original poster based his question upon the latter criteria, I simply cannot recall an upset victory in which we were bigger underdogs (roughly 18 or 18.5 points) than the 2001 Florida game.
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true.you make a good point.it shocks me that tennessee was that big of a underdog to flarduh that year.
 
#105
#105
oldsmokey67 said:
that is the only thing espn left out of miami's 30 for 30 special.the epic beat down Tennessee put on them.thats when miami was on that great run they had.83,87,89 and 91 national title years.and they played for at least 3 more during that span.
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Every time I watch that I think same thing.
 
#106
#106
i was at two of the games i picked on my list of biggest upset.the 79 notre dame game.and the 85 auburn game.the 79 notre dame game has got to be in the top 3 -5 upsets in school history.based on tennessee lost its homecoming game the previous week to rutgers 13-7.and majors was in year 3 of a huge rebuilding job.notre dame had real good team and a good back named vegas ferguson.hubert simpson outplayed ferguson.simpson had 179-180yds and 4 td's.i don't know who did the sideline reporting for john ward and bill anderson back then.but me and my dad were stuck in traffic and the reporter on the radio interviewed notre dame's coach dan devine and he was just speechless after the ambush he just witnessed.tenn 40 notre dame 18.i was 11 at that time.one of my favorite memories of the vols.
 
#107
#107
orangebloodgmc said:
Yup, I was at that game and we knew before the game that Miami had said, they would score first and take the crowd out of the game. We were determined not to let that last part happen. :) :loco:
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I remember when the Vols were running through the "T", Keith Jackson said, "..and the Vol faithful probably outnumber the Hurricanes, 10 to 1" or something like that
 
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#108
#108
The '82 Bama game and the '85 Aubun game have to be the answer. We were unranked in both games while Bama was #2 and Auburn was #1. But they were both at home.

We were obviously considered a good team in the '86 Sugar Bowl although Miami was the media darling. An element that sort of added to the "upset" quality of the Sugar Bowl was that we were starting Dickey at QB after Touchdown Tony had played a big role in our big wins earlier in the year. But the win itself was not all that shocking - it was that we totally and completely dominated them. We dominated them in a way that perhaps no one dominated Miami for roughly 20 years or so.

As far as on the road - the 2001 Florida game and the 1991 Notre Dame are the only two that come to mind for the last 40 years or so. But there may be something I am overlooking.
Not trying to be cocky, but there really has not been much of a chance to pull off "monumental" upsets by this program except for the past 3 years or so - given that we have generally had an above average team. No doubt, a win this week or even next week would instantly qualify as the biggest road upset for Tennessee in at least a couple of generations.
 
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#109
#109
oldsmokey67 said:
i was at two of the games i picked on my list of biggest upset.the 79 notre dame game.and the 85 auburn game.the 79 notre dame game has got to be in the top 3 -5 upsets in school history.based on tennessee lost its homecoming game the previous week to rutgers 13-7.and majors was in year 3 of a huge rebuilding job.notre dame had real good team and a good back named vegas ferguson.hubert simpson outplayed ferguson.simpson had 179-180yds and 4 td's.i don't know who did the sideline reporting for john ward and bill anderson back then.but me and my dad were stuck in traffic and the reporter on the radio interviewed notre dame's coach dan devine and he was just speechless after the ambush he just witnessed.tenn 40 notre dame 18.i was 11 at that time.one of my favorite memories of the vols.
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I thought of that game, and you are right.
I just remember that Notre Dame really was not that good of a team. Although I guess you could say the same thing for '82 Bamer.
But I do agree with you - that was a big upset.
 
#111
#111
1982 vs Alabama, 35-28 score......Bama was still coached by the Bear, they were 5-0 ranked #2 in the country. We were 2-2-1 including a loss to Duke, a 14 point underdog before the game, plus we had lost 11 games in a row to the Tide. After the game, the field is stormed, Johnny gets carried to midfield for the handshake, the goalposts come down and end up on the Strip all night. No other game compares in terms of upsets!
 
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#113
#113
They were 9-3 in '78, when they beat us, 31-14. Notre Dame was decent in 1979, finishing with a 6-4 regular season record, which included losses to us and Clemson to conclude the season, and then beating Miami (5-6) in the Mirage Bowl (Tokyo, if you can believe that). See Notre Dame Historical Scores.
 
#114
#114
Volosaurus rex said:
They were 9-3 in '78, when they beat us, 31-14. Notre Dame was decent in 1979, finishing with a 6-4 regular season record, which included losses to us and Clemson to conclude the season, and then beating Miami (5-6) in the Mirage Bowl (Tokyo, if you can believe that). See Notre Dame Historical Scores.
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they were 7-4 in 79.just looked it up.sorry about that I was sure they were a better team.still a big win.i was at that game.
 
#116
#116
since I was wrong about the 79 notre dame game.i now will put the 91 notre dame game in my top 5 upsets in Tennessee history.
 
#118
#118
no one has mentioned the 89 auburn Tennessee game.tennessee coming off a 5-6 season in 88.auburn was a preseason top 4-5 team.tennessee wins 21-14 and ran the ball all over the tigers.i forgot how many rushing yards Tennessee had.thats when Tennessee had the cobb webb backfield.
 
#120
#120
oldsmokey67 said:
no one has mentioned the 89 auburn Tennessee game.tennessee coming off a 5-6 season in 88.auburn was a preseason top 4-5 team.tennessee wins 21-14 and ran the ball all over the tigers.i forgot how many rushing yards Tennessee had.thats when Tennessee had the cobb webb backfield.
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We had about 350 yards on the ground. That was one of the most impressive rushing performances by Tennessee against a quality opponent that I have ever seen.
 
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#121
#121
that 89 Tennessee had some stud o-linemen.my favorite was eric still.and big antone davis was a road grader.
 
#124
#124
The remnants of hurricane Hugo I believe. It rained like 5 days straight. Reggie Cobb (or was it Webb?) broke off a long TD run towards the end. When he got to the end Zone he turned, crossed his arms, and waited for the O-line to come celebrate with him. The TV screen was shaking as Neyland was rocking. Those were the days...
 
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