Worst Neyland experience?

Probably 2013(?) home against Vandy. Absolutely freezing. Had to buy my wife a $15 pair of paper think Vols socks to go over the pair she had on (they didn't help but I had no options). Then I thought we stopped them on fourth down in the end only for the challenge flag to be thrown and the call to be overturned, leading to the fake jump pass TD. A big high that turned into a very low low when I realized we were missing out on the postseason again.

Then after the game my mother (who isn't much of a sports fan) was curious about what had just taken place and wanted an explanation. An excruciatingly painful thing to recap to my dear mom as I relived all the details again. She then gleefully told me she had a wonderful time, and I gritted my teeth and agreed (as I died a little on the inside).
 
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2002 Arkansas: 6 Overtime Game

Some douche threw their gum from the upper deck and it landed in my now-wife's hair.

She was a student at UGA at the time. I had to hear about how bad UT fans were for the next half decade until she eventually forgot about it.

Thanks a lot gum guy.
 
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2002 Arkansas: 6 Overtime Game

Some douche threw their gum from the upper deck and it landed in my now-wife's hair.

She was a student at UGA at the time. I had to hear about how bad UT fans were for the next half decade until she eventually forgot about it.

Thanks a lot gum guy.
Aside from gum guy, that game was a blast. Seems like me and my buddy didn't get out of the stadium until 1 in the morning.
 
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2001. It was 17-10. Was that when Fat Albert had the game of his life?

My memory is a little fuzzy on that one, can't remember Fat Albert. Just the cold.

I do remember there was a very elderly lady sitting behind me. She looked like a pile of blankets. True VFL, clapped the whole game and stayed until the end. Hardcore.
 
2014 Florida Game - literally threw up afterward, and had not been drinking.

With you there brother. Had two people sitting on the row that had tickets for other seats but wanted to sit there with friends. They finally moved at half time. Then we blew the game and one Gator fan in the section stood at end and gave everyone the Gator chomp.
 
2012 Missouri vs. UT. My sister and I won tickets in a silent auction. They were great seats and it was my birthday weekend. We drove over from Nashville only to watch Dooley's meltdown and overtime loss.

2014 Florida vs. UT. My dad, sister and I drove over. This was going to be the year we finally beat Florida (like every year), and we couldn't even score a measly TD. I told a Florida fan behind me to shut up, after he repeatedly taunted UT fans with "Third Down for What." I tend to forget I'm small and could easily be drop kicked by a grown man...Fortunately it didn't come to that. Then the "F U Florida" chant started in the student section....
 
2013 Vandy. My wife sprained her ankle going up and down the upper deck. I helped get her out, she insisted that I go back and finish the game. I helped get her in a cab to the hotel. No re-entry allowed, so I buy a ticket in the middle of the third quarter for 20 bucks (rio off but whatever) from some parking lot attendant next to the stadium. Try to get in...turns out the ticket is used. I am heading back to kick the ever-living $hit out of homeboy and his buddy when a member of kpd stops me and offers me his extra ticket so that I won't be going to jail that evening. Get back in find my friends then we lose. Have to hear about it from Vandy fans all year.
 
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Returned from Iraq in late October 2005. My wife works at Vandy as a nurse. We went to the Vandy vs. U.T. game. Ended up losing the game at the last moment. This officially eliminated us from a bowl game that season..........

My friend got back from Iraq and went to a game and he had a panic attack. So many people and he had been conditioned to treat everyone like a threat.
 
Well, I am not going to include the game results. But I sat next to the Fatterson family during a game. The father, mother, son, and daughter, took up six seats instead of four. Da g, that was brutal.

Does that mean they need to join weight watchers(?)!
 
Just thought of two more.

- I think it was Auburn in 1989. A torrential downpour and I pulled my shirt up over my head to create a canopy so, I could see the game and not get my face pelted with wind driven, seemingly quarter sized rain drops.

- UCLA in September 1991 ( I think). It had to be 100+ degrees on field and in the stands. Facing West in the upper deck, no shirt, and got torched. Tommy Maddox was the highly touted UCLA quarterback and I seem to remember that Tennessee shut him down.

Was at both games. The UCLA game people took turns standing in front of ice machine near entrance tunnel for seats and also During the 1991 UCLA game, Smokey suffered heat exhaustion in the 100+ degree temperatures and was listed on the Vols injury report

My worst was the 90 Bama game. The 9-6 blocked kick at end to set up Bama's winning kick. As I was heading out of Gate 21 I never heard so many f bombs in my entire life. And then a poor older gentleman dropped 5 feet from me walking out having a heart attack
 
Hobnail boot game was misery. Traveling to Athens a year later to watch the game from Sanford Stadium and hearing the Hobnail Boot radio call over and over the entire way there in 2002 sucked also.

Pre-satelite radio days were tough during away games.

Very tough in the pre-satellite days. I interrupted my time at UT for three years in the Army. I was overseas during the '68 and '69 seasons, and the best you could do was hope AFRTS got around to scores. There was finally one UT game that was going to be broadcast but was cancelled at the last minute because some baseball clown was going for a record. If I hadn't already despised baseball, that was the kicker.

I returned, graduated in the 70's, and moved to VA. All you could reliably find on the radio were VA teams. Sometimes I'm still amazed that you can now watch almost all UT games on live TV - and with the clarity to see faces - not blobs in the stands. For someone who was spoiled by John Ward, all broadcasters are pathetic, but as long as the game is there - well, that's all that really matters.
 
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The 2004 Auburn game. The only game in my life that I couldn't buy a ticket on the street. Went home and caught my wife with another man. We got divorced. On second thought, that was my best experience at a UT game.
 
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Had a first date for a home game and walked from Lambda Chi Alpha house at end of Fraternity Row to Neyland. Didn't know poor gal had a slight disability so the walk took twice as long and by the time we were in the stadium, her poor feet were all bloody and stockings were ripped. Waited for stadium to empty before we made long journey back. We won the game though thank goodness!
 
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Loss to Georgia Bulldogs when we had them beat in early 2000's season. Also swapped two good seats for three seats in the middle of UGA fan base so I could sat with my brother and cousin. Both whom have since departed.
 
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UF 2002 monsoon, 2003 UGA fumble to end the half, 2004 Barn game blowout and I got tossed for having mini bottles by KPD, double whammy.

This was my choice too. We fumbled 6 times that day and I have never been in so much rain. That game is what led me to buy a goretech knockoff rain coat and rain pants. I vowed to never get caught with only a poncho in that kind of rain again.
 
In sticking with the OP's request to not include the game results (which is hard to do because the result of the game has a ton to do with the experience) here are my 3:

1) 1991 UCLA. It was miserably hot that day. I think Smokey had a stroke and eventually died.

2) 2006 Bama. It was just a boring game. Neither team could get anything going.
 
While working security next to the Arkansas Cheerleaders I got hit in the head with a liquor bottle from an Arkansas fan. I believe it was 2000, Tennessee beat Arky pretty bad. The Arkansas fans were even pointing to the fan who through the bottle.....
Yes, the bottle was a 3rd of the way full plus it didn't break when it hit my head...
It did hurt.......
 
Pretty sure the year was 2009 when the Ohio Bobcats came to play us in Knoxville. Lots of torrential rain that day so I bought a couple of really nice parkas for the walk to and from stadium. I had seats in those "box" sections you see in the concourse as you start into the lower bowl so I knew I'd be dry and comfy once I made it inside Neyland seated underneath upper level.

Not so fast. There was a water leak from underneath the upper level that dripped on me the entire game. Literally every ten seconds 'plop plop plop." Had to wear parka with the hood up the entire time.

To make it even worse the drip landed right on my head if I raised my head to look at the field. After that experience I totally understood how effective dripping water could be as a war torture device.

If all of that wasn't enough, there was a guy dressed like Larry the Cable guy -- no shirt and overalls -- in my section calling out defensive coverages and dissecting every offensive play. Every single penalty called on Tennessee was the "worst call ever made" and this dude made sure we all knew it. Oh, and he had coached "plenty of ball" to know he was right about everything. Plus, sitting only a few seats away from me, he was completely dry.

To cap it all off just right, at some point in the second half the PA announced that if you were parked at a certain location, the water was rapidly rising and flooding was likely. Left the game early in fear that with my luck that day my car had floated away already. Car was fine but did have to drive through water raging over top of a bridge to get back home.

All said, it prolly wouldn't have been as bad if I didn't have to listen to Larry the Cable guy wannabee.
 
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When I was a student, my bottle of Jack Daniels fell out of my coat pocket and broke while I was making my way to my seat. Very sad.
 
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