Top 10 Tennessee Vols football moments since 2008
It's widely accepted that the Tennessee Vols' downfall started with a rough 2008 season. Phillip Fulmer was forced to hire a new offensive coordinator after David Cutcliffe left Knoxville to become the new head coach at Duke. Fulmer hired Dave Clawson and it didn't exactly work out. The "Clawfence" averaged just 17.3 points per game […]
It's widely accepted that the Tennessee Vols' downfall started with a rough 2008 season.
Phillip Fulmer was forced to hire a new offensive coordinator after David Cutcliffe left Knoxville to become the new head coach at Duke. Fulmer hired Dave Clawson and it didn't exactly work out. The "Clawfence" averaged just 17.3 points per game (No. 111 in the nation). As a result, Fulmer was forced out at the end of a lackluster 5-7 season.
Here are the 10 best moments since that fateful 2008 season.
10. Tennessee beats Auburn on the road (2018)
Tennessee hasn't had a lot of success against SEC West teams over the last 15 years which is why this was such a massive win for the Vols. The 30-24 win against the No. 21 Auburn Tigers could be considered Jeremy Pruitt's best win as the Vols' head coach. It was also one of Jarrett Guarantano's best games as Tennessee's quarterback. JG tossed for 328 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.
9. Game-winning field goal against South Carolina (2013)
This was a win the Vols needed badly at the time. Tennessee had suffered three straight losing seasons. And while they would go on to finish 5-7 in 2013, this win against No. 11 South Carolina gave fans some hope in the first year of the Butch Jones era. Tennessee took advantage of Steve Spurrier's misuse of timeouts to set up the game-winning field goal by Michael Palardy.
8. Fourth-quarter comeback against South Carolina (2014)
This was easily one of Butch Jones' most important wins. Tennessee was 3-5 at the time and a loss in this game would've made a bowl game appearance unlikely (UT finished the regular season 6-6 thanks to a late-season loss to Missouri).
The Vols were down 42-28 with less than five minutes to play in this game. Josh Dobbs and Jalen Hurd, however, pretty much put the team on their shoulders and managed to tie the game. Tennessee would win in overtime thanks to an Aaron Medley field goal.
7. The tackle to clinch the win against Kentucky (2019)
This was a tense game that had a thrilling finish.
Kentucky got up big early, leading the Vols 13-0 at the end of the first quarter. Tennessee, however, scored 17 unanswered points to win the game 17-13.
The most exciting play of the game came on the Wildcats' final possession. Down by four, Kentucky's Lynn Bowden tried to run the ball into the end zone to give UK the lead. Vols linebacker Daniel Bituli stuffed Bowden at the line of scrimmage for his 19th tackle of the game.
6. The Gator Bowl comeback against Indiana
The win against Auburn was Pruitt's most important win, but this might have been his most exciting win. The Vols had a rough start to the 2019 season with losses to Georgia State and BYU, but they rallied to win their final five regular-season games to get to 7-5 heading into a bowl game.
Indiana led the Vols 22-9 in the fourth quarter and it looked like a loss was certain for Tennessee. The Vols, however, scored to make it 22-16 and then pulled off a perfectly executed onside kick to get the ball back. Tennessee then took the lead just a couple of plays later thanks to a 16-yard Eric Gray touchdown run.
5. Beating Georgia in 2015
Tennessee had lost five straight games to Georgia before finally beating the Bulldogs in 2015. The Vols' previous four losses to Georgia had all come by eight points or less.
This was the game where it felt like Tennessee was finally going to get over the hump. The 2015 Vols left several wins on the table. Tennessee lost four games that season, but none of their losses came by more than seven points. It was very much a "what could've been" season for UT. The game against Georgia, however, was one of the high points of the year.
Quarterback Josh Dobbs was spectacular in the 38-31 win, throwing for 312 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 118 yards and two touchdowns.
Vols defensive back Brian Randolph made the game-saving pass break up to seal the win for Tennessee.
4. The black uniforms on Halloween against South Carolina (2009)
The Lane Kiffin era at Tennessee didn't last long — only one season — but it provided a decade's worth of content.
The best on-field moment was undoubtedly on Halloween in 2009 when the Vols took the field in black jerseys. Neyland Stadium was absolutely electric when Tennessee's players ran through the T.
That energy continued all game as the Vols beat up on the Gamecocks, winning 31-14 in front of a near-capacity crowd.
3. Beating Florida (2016)
When Tennessee was down 21-3 against Florida at halftime in 2016, I had accepted it was just another UT loss to the Gators.
And then Josh Dobbs and Jauan Jennings happened.
Dobbs and Jennings put on a show in the second half, leading the Vols all the way back to take a 38-21 lead. Tennessee would eventually win 38-28. Dobbs threw for 319 yards and rushed for 80 yards while Jennings caught 3 passes for 111 yards, including a memorable 67-yard touchdown reception.
2. The hail mary against Georgia (2016)
I mean, you already knew this was going to be No. 1, right?
Not only is this the best moment for the Vols since 2008, but it's also one of the best Tennessee moments of all time.
This was a great back and forth game, but Georgia took a late lead thanks to a touchdown pass from Jacob Eason that was the result of a broken coverage. It looked like all hope was lost with just 10 seconds left on the clock after the Bulldogs' late touchdown.
A strong Evan Berry kick return, combined with a penalty, gave the Vols decent field position. It was close enough for Josh Dobbs to heave a desperation Hail Mary, which was caught by Jennings as time expired for the win (he wasn't the intended receiver, by the way).
1. Beating Alabama for the first time since 2006
It doesn't get any better than Tennessee's win against Alabama in Neyland Stadium in 2022.
The Vols' 52-49 win against the Crimson Tide, in what ended up being Nick Saban's last trip to Neyland Stadium, erased 15 years of frustration with a single kick from Chase McGrath (which wouldn't have been possible without Hendon Hooker's two-play drive with just 15 seconds remaining on the clock).
The celebration that night in Neyland was one of the most epic scenes in the history of college football. It was the type of night that's not possible without some "down years".
Like Jason Lee's character said in Vanilla Sky, the sweet isn't as sweet without the bitter.
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