Actually the Bryant-coached Kentucky teams were the most successful in that program's history. And the 1950 Tennessee-Kentucky game was the crown jewel in that rivalry's history. Kentucky was then ranked 3rd in the country and we were 9th (
1950 college football season - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). "Coming into the 1950 game on Nov. 25, Tennessee was 8-1, with the only loss being at Mississippi State during the second week of the season. Coach Bryant, meanwhile, had led his Wildcats to a 10-0 record in what was his fifth year as the Wildcat coach. But he had yet to defeat Gen. Neyland, although the two teams tied 0-0 in 1948. . . . When the Kentucky team flew into Knoxville the Friday before the game, it found a chilly situation and not just from the Tennessee fans.
An unusual-for-November six-inch snowfall took place, and temperatures would fall to 18 degrees by game time. . . . Workers labored hard Friday removing the snow off the field tarpaulin simply with shovels and wheelbarrows, but the situation was not going to be that easy for all the snow in the seating areas. As a result, Gen. Neyland called for understanding among the large crowd still expected to attend.
It will be extremely difficult to remove the snow prior to tomorrows game, he said via the newspaper. It will be utterly impossibly to remove the snow from the 51,000 seats now provided for in the stadium. . . . Sympathetic understanding and cooperation from the immense crowd is requested in order that conditions already bad do not become intolerable. When the game took place, only 45,000 actually attended. But
those who did come enjoyed a game for the ages. Knoxville Journal sports writer Ben Byrd called it perhaps the greatest football game ever played at Shields-Watkins Field (later Neyland Stadium).
In the second quarter. . . . Tennessee tailback Hank Lauricella who would finish second in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1951 -- hit Bert Rechichar on a 27-yard pass for a touchdown. Pat Shires muffed the extra point, but Kentucky was penalized. He then made the second extra point attempt to put the Vols up 7-0. The score would remain that way despite a tense second half, including one Kentucky fumble recovery in Tennessee territory in the fourth quarter. As a result, the Vols had a victory to remember for years along with the equally unforgettable weather."
Incidentally, Kentucky later defeated No. 1-ranked Oklahoma 13-7 in the 1951 Sugar Bowl and UT beat 3rd-ranked Texas 20-14 in the Cotton Bowl. If today's standards were imposed on that season, we almost certainly would have leapfrogged No. 2-ranked Army, which did not go to a bowl, as national champions.
Weather for the 1952 Kentucky game was even worse. It was played in the immediate aftermath of one of the worst snowstorms in Knoxville history.
The snow, which began falling on Friday, was "a record 18.2 inches in 25 hours. The previous high recorded was 15.1 inches way back in 1886. Some 20,000 homes in the Knoxville area were without power, and telephone, rail, airline and public bus service were also crippled.
The game was still scheduled, although some fans could not get to the game, and others had extreme trouble getting there. One Knoxville family even came to the game in a motor-powered canoe. By game time, some 35,000 brave fans had arrived." That game ultimately ended in a 14-14 tie (
John Shearer: The Tennessee/Kentucky Rivalry Dates Back To 1950 - 11/21/2012 - Chattanoogan.com).
