ESPN includes 3 Tennessee Vols matchups among the top 100 games of the 2022 season
ESPN's Bill Connelly ranked the top 100 games of the 2022 college football season and the Tennessee Vols had three games on the list, including the best regular season game of the year (two of the College Football Playoff games were listed as the top two games of the year). Connelly had Tennessee's wins over […]
ESPN's Bill Connelly ranked the top 100 games of the 2022 college football season and the Tennessee Vols had three games on the list, including the best regular season game of the year (two of the College Football Playoff games were listed as the top two games of the year).
Connelly had Tennessee's wins over Pittsburgh and Florida ranked No. 76 and No. 75, respectively. And he had the Vols' huge win over Alabama at No. 3.
76. Tennessee at Pittsburgh
75. Florida at Tennessee
From ESPN:
Like Oregon State, Josh Heupel's Volunteers had to survive some September wackiness before scaling to great heights in 2022. First, in a dead-even game at Acrisure Stadium (total yards: Vols 416, Pitt 415), Tennessee went to overtime with the host Panthers, negating an early 10-0 deficit with a 17-0 run but allowing a late Jared Wayne touchdown to tie it. In OT, Hendon Hooker hit Cedric Tillman for a 28-yard score, and a huge Trevon Flowers sack set up the game-winning turnover on downs.
Two weeks later against Florida, the Vols went on a 28-7 run that gave them a 17-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. But Montrell Johnson Jr. scored to make it 38-27, then Ricky Pearsall made it 38-33 with 17 seconds left. All Tennessee had to do was recover an onside kick to survive … but Florida snared it and moved into Tennessee territory before Kamal Hadden sealed the win with a pick.
3. Alabama at Tennessee
From ESPN:
Tennessee secured its first Third Saturday in October win in 16 years and needed every bit of 60 full minutes to do it. The Vols led 28-10 in the second quarter, but Bama charged back to take the lead twice. Jalin Hyatt's fifth touchdown catch of the day (he had six total catches for 207 yards) tied the game at 49, and Bama responded by setting up a 50-yard field goal attempt for Reichard. He missed with 15 seconds left, Hendon Hooker completed two quick passes, and Chase McGrath narrowly cleared the crossbar with a 40-yard field goal. Down went the goalposts.
I was a bit surprised that Tennessee's win against Kentucky in late October wasn't included on the list. The win against the Wildcats was the highest point of the season for the Vols. Tennessee almost looked unbeatable after destroying Kentucky 44-6 on a wild Saturday night in Knoxville. And as a result, the Vols were ranked No. 1 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings.
That win against Kentucky set up a massive showdown between Tennessee and Georgia the next week in Athens. While that game didn't go in the Vols' favor, it received an insane amount of hype in part because of the win over the Wildcats.
While I felt the Kentucky game should've been included, because of the wild atmosphere and what the game meant for Tennessee, it still says a lot that UT had three games included on this list. In past years, there likely would've been zero Tennessee games on this list.
Featured image via Jamar Coach/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
