The 10 Tennessee Football Games I Loved The Most
Image: usatoday.com
By Cody McClure
Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone.
In honor of the holiday — which is a thing because Saint Valentine was once dragged through the streets, beaten to death, and beheaded by Claudius The Cruel for promoting love — I’m ranking the 10 Tennessee football games I’ve loved the most in my life.
This is all sports, not just football.
And it’s my list. Not yours. So no complaints.
I am a 30-year-old man which means that I was not watching games in the 80s so none of this “but where’s the ‘85 Sugar Bowl” and what not.
I’m sure it was a hell of a great game to watch but I didn’t see it.
And I’m not including 1998 because while I do remember fragments of it, I would be lying if I said I could remember it vividly.
So here’s my list:
10. Tennessee vs. South Carolina 2014
I decided to pick this one from the Butch Jones era simply because I was there and got to experience the rise and fall of the South Carolina fans’ emotions. It was between this one and the win over Carolina the year before for a third Butch game on this list. Looking back, this game meant absolutely nothing. But at the time, it felt like we were finally turning a corner. Josh Dobbs brought the boys back for a 45-42 win despite being down 42-28 with just five minutes to go in the game.
9. Tennessee vs. Arkansas 2007
The 2007 season was a pretty good one for the Vols. It is, of course, the last time we appeared in the SEC Championship Game. There’s other games that one might pick from this season, such as the dominant win over Georgia of the end-of-season clincher against Kentucky. But the Arkansas game was personal for me, having grown up there. I watched the boys get dominated in Fayetteville the year before, so this one was sweet revenge.
8. Tennessee vs. Alabama 2024
Beating Alabama two of the last three years has been a significant accomplishment in the Josh Heupel era. The Tide simply does not win in Neyland these days. I was privileged to attend this past year’s Third Saturday in October after missing the 2022 game. So I got to be a part of that “field storming” that felt a little ridiculous. Should we have rushed the field for beating that Bama team? Probably not but it was still cool. And I was proud to smoke a cigar on this victorious night.
7. Tennessee vs. Clemson 2022
I got to be in attendance for the culmination of the 2022 season in Miami. It’s the only bowl game I’ve ever been to, and it was the biggest one we’ve won in many years. In 2022 the Vols truly returned to the national spotlight and capping it off with a win over Clemson, a program that had taken some of our best in-state players in years past, felt pretty sweet. It was a dominant performance, too. Felt really good to finish with 11 wins.
6. Tennessee vs. Miami 2003
I remember this game like it was yesterday. I was actually playing football on this day too. Me and the boys out there totally dominating the other 4th graders. And I can remember every time I’d go to the sideline, which wasn’t often because I was a two-way starter, I would check the score from the Tennessee game. Somehow my dad knew a phone number to call that would give you the scores. Tennessee won the game 10-6 after Miami botched a punt late in the game. The Vols ended the Hurricanes’ historic home win streak with this big W.
5. Tennessee vs. LSU 2022
This felt like the game where Tennessee really broke through in ‘22. We survived the Pittsburgh game and then returned to Knoxville to punk Florida (I know it was close at the end but really we dominated). But going on the road to beat LSU was really the “we got something for y’all this year” moment. LSU wasn’t even highly ranked or anything but they had some prestige having won a national title just three years earlier. And it was in daunting Death Valley. Singing Rocky Top in Baton Rouge will stick with me forever.
4. Tennessee vs. Georgia 2016
I watched this game with a ton of friends, so many friends, at an off-campus apartment. It was a tremendous day of day drinking. Talk about a swing of emotions here. Tennessee almost surely had lost the game after giving up a deep bomb late in what felt like a dagger into the heart. The UGA faithful was barking viciously. Tennessee was about to take its first loss of the year. But then Dobbs heaved it. All the way to the end zone. And Jauan Jennings leaped above what felt like 12 ‘Dawg defenders to make the miracle grab. Pure elation. We jumped into the pool fully clothed.
3. Tennessee vs. Florida 2016
We finally broke the streak and I got to be in attendance. This felt like the biggest win in almost 20 years when it happened. And it probably was. Jennings became an icon for burning Florida’s Jalen Tabor the way he did. Who would have guessed Jennings would have an even bigger moment just one week later? The Vols hadn’t beaten the Gators since 2004 so this game was huge for the program and the fan base. As it turned out, we underachieved in 2016. But the memories from this day remain.
2. Tennessee vs. Florida 2004
Speaking of 2004 … The drama, man. This one was electric. I can remember being in a living room full of people when James Wilhoit missed an extra point late that would have tied this game at 28. It felt like it was over. All the agony vs. Florida (with still many years of agony to come) felt like it had peaked. 28-27. Another L to the Gators. But after a couple things went our way in the last two minutes, Wilhoit got another shot. And this time he delivered. From 50 yards. 30-28. The living room erupted.
1. Tennessee vs. Alabama 2022
What else could be No. 1 on this list? It was and still is the biggest win Tennessee has had since ‘98. For 15 straight years Nick Saban beat the shit out of Tennessee. Alabama’s greatest years coincided with our worst. And then this happened. The GOAT, who was 15-0 vs. Tennessee, ended the day 15-1. Hendon Hooker and Jalin Hyatt were phenomenal in a back-and-forth affair that saw Hyatt catch five touchdowns. You all know what happened. The Vols had the final laugh with a Chase McGrath walk-off field goal. We took back Dixieland Delight and carried the goal posts into the Tennessee River. It’ll be hard to ever top a regular-season win like this one.