Most surprising Vol loss

Most surprising loss

  • ‘19 Georgia State

    Votes: 113 50.4%

  • ‘96 Memphis State

    Votes: 92 41.1%

  • ‘01 LSU

    Votes: 8 3.6%

  • Other

    Votes: 11 4.9%
  • Total voters
    224
  • Poll closed .
#26
#26
SGMVols said:
I don’t even put GA State on the Mount Rushmore of worst UT losses tbh. That team at least went to a bowl game.

1956 Chattanooga
1975 North Texas State
1996 Memphis
2008 Wyoming

Are all worse IMO.
Click to expand...
I agree, but I'll have to take your word on that 1956 Chattanooga game. That one was before my time. When we lost to Georgia State, but the Vols team was horrific at the time, that isn't one of the worst losses in program history. The worst losses in program history result from a very good to great Vol team losing to a poor team.
 
#27
#27
SGMVols said:
I don’t even put GA State on the Mount Rushmore of worst UT losses tbh. That team at least went to a bowl game.

1956 Chattanooga
1975 North Texas State
1996 Memphis
2008 Wyoming

Are all worse IMO.
Click to expand...
I would agree with you. Unfortunately, I saw all of the games mentioned.
 
#28
#28
VOLINVONORE said:
The refs missed the call on the kick return. The runner was down. In addition, Al Wilson missed a good portion of that game with an injury. We were sitting with his mother and she was extremely upset because she did not know the extent of his injury. A very unfortunate day in Tennessee football history.
Click to expand...
The game shouldn’t have been anywhere near close enough for the missed call to matter. That Memphis team was 3-8.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gnm53108, VolinMC and volsknx
#29
#29
BigOrangeTrain said:
The 1996 Memphis game should be the only choice. Georgia State was a bad loss. However we weren’t a top 10 team that had tons of NFL talent, Peyton at QB and Cutcliffe as OC for the GS game.

The Memphis loss was the worst loss in modern program history.
Click to expand...
BigOrangeMojo said:
The Memphis loss is the correct answer but that was still a fluke. Memphis likely doesn't win without the blown call. Georgia State just flat out whipped us. And the worst coached game may have been UT vs UK in 2011. Dave Hart showed how awful he was by not firing Dooley on the spot after that game.
Click to expand...

Fulmer was always good for one or two close games every year where we played down to the competition, usually Vandy or Kentucky or another similar type team. He relied on luck and the other team eventually laying down.

That Memphis State game was different. Even with the punt return for a TD, there was still plenty of time to put that game away but Memphis didn't lay down.

A side note, I talked to Larry Porter a couple of years after that game when he was the RB coach at my college (I played on defense) and he told me the runner wasn't down (LOL) and he stated that going into that game they knew they were going to win and that they were up for that game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vol423
#30
#30
kbear01 said:
No way in Hell Memphis should've even been close. Should've been a damn blowout!! I still can't figure out what the Hell happened, even to this day!!
Click to expand...

I voted for Georgia State but you know what, you're right! In terms of sheer talent disparity, that Memphis game was utterly ridiculous. Georgia State had no business beating us, but we were an average team that year. For the Memphis game, we were at the zenith of team talent back in that era. That should've been a 44-7 blowout. I too would love to know what the hell happened on that day!
 
#32
#32
At the time, 2001 was the most surprising. In the long twenty years of ash that have followed, 2001 was utterly unsurprising.
 
  • Like
Reactions: oz615
#33
#33
volsknx said:
To coincide with the most surprising Vol win, what has been your most surprising loss to date?

I view the Ga St loss the equivalent as the ‘96 Memphis St loss. Reason being is that although Memphis St was a lowly program, they were better than Ga St two years ago and, we were much better back then as well.

I know some may say the LSU SECCG of ‘01 but they had won the West.
Click to expand...

It's a little hard to compare because things had changed since then but I don't agree with this.

Memphis in 1996 was 3-6 and lost their next game 2 weeks later at home to East Carolina and then had only been to 1 officially sanctioned bowl game in history and that had been 25 years ago. Georgia St. was coming off a 2-10 season but the season before they had won the Cure Bowl.

Also that 1996 Tennessee team was leaps and bounds better than the 2019 team. They started the year as the SEC favorite and were headed to a major bowl before that loss.
 
  • Like
Reactions: oz615
#34
#34
ptcarter said:
Wouldn't have happened if video replay exited. This as well as Gafney TD catch.
Click to expand...
Still doesn't make sense how Fulmer and Cutcliffe weren't able to get the offense to just blow them out.

I see they had a tough defense, but 17 points??? That shouldn't have been possible for the talent that they had.

Just horrible coaching.
 
#35
#35
volsknx said:
A side note, I talked to Larry Porter a couple of years after that game when he was the RB coach at my college (I played on defense) and he told me the runner wasn't down (LOL) and he stated that going into that game they knew they were going to win and that they were up for that game.
Click to expand...

The guy was full butt down (nevermind arm) on the turf with a ref looking right at it unobstructed.

ScreenHunter_5815 Jun. 14 13.52.jpg

However there's no getting around, as others have stated, that this game should have never been close enough for this play to have mattered.
 
#36
#36
utvolford said:
North Texas State - 1975
Click to expand...
This. I was there. NTSU had 16 players out, including their kicker. The infamous North Texas hand off play. The kick off run back for a TD. That the one NTSU player who accounted for all of their scoring didn’t do squat throughout the rest of the season. Tennessee’s QB throwing the ball out of bounds to stop the clock with no time left and receivers open in the end zone. There is so much shameful play packed into that one loss…
 
  • Like
Reactions: Illinoisvolfan2 and Rickyvol77
#37
#37
I was at the Memphis State game. We were ranked #4 with 200 NFL picks on that team…including the greatest QB that will ever play here. The loss was catastrophic….inexcusable…. and was proof that Fulmer was NOT a great coach. He lost games with FARRRRR better players and simply out talented most opponents….never outcoached them. Ever.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VolInNW, oz615 and BigOrangeTrain
#38
#38
That Memphis game was shocking, even I remember it vividly (mostly because we struggled with Vandy that day)...I was just befuddled beyond belief checking out the box score...If remember correctly, that was a bad Memphis team too, just totally perplexing.
 
#42
#42
Catbone said:
Georgia state was the worst loss in Tennessee football history. Outplayed from start to finish. Need 5+ years to rebuild this dumpster fire
Click to expand...

Nope. Memphis was much worse. Tell me again what were we ranked when we played GS? How many NFL picks were on that team? Who was the coach? Memphis out played an absolutely loaded TN team.

Georgia State out played an SEC bottom feeder.
 
#45
#45
SGMVols said:
I don’t even put GA State on the Mount Rushmore of worst UT losses tbh. That team at least went to a bowl game.

1956 Chattanooga
1975 North Texas State
1996 Memphis
2008 Wyoming

Are all worse IMO.
Click to expand...

A Mount Rushmore OF LOSSES? Really?
 
#46
#46
2017 UGA 41-0... Lead to Botch's Firing.
2020 UGA 44-21... wheels came off after halftime, lead to firing of Gump.
 
#49
#49
TheDeeble said:
96 Memphis and it's not close imo.
Click to expand...
Like I said, that game was utterly shocking...The 2001 SEC Championship probably hurt more because of the bowl implications, (although LSU might have saved y'all from a terrible fate) but that was a surging LSU team coached by Nick Saban and the Georgia State game, while still terrible, was an average team losing to a 7 win bowl team...That Memphis game was absolutely mind boggling.
 
#50
#50
hndog609 said:
The guy was full butt down (nevermind arm) on the turf with a ref looking right at it unobstructed.

View attachment 374110

However there's no getting around, as others have stated, that this game should have never been close enough for this play to have mattered.
Click to expand...
People talk about the Jabar Gafney no catch TD, but the Memphis kickoff return is about the worst missed call I’ve ever seen. If replay has been around, the review and reversal would’ve taken about 30 seconds.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hndog609
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top