2021 Countdown to Bowling Green

110 days......

Mid way through the ‘86 season, UT hosted UTEP. The game wasn’t the cakewalk that most expected. The Minors kept it close in the 4th quarter, but UT turned to William Howard. On the clinching drive, Howard had 9 carries for 75 yards and a touchdown, giving him three TDs and 110 yards for the day. The Vols escaped with a 26-16 victory.

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109 days.......

In 1902, A.H. Douglas entered the University of Tennessee as a 16 year old, and what followed was an amazing journey. In ‘02, UT won a record 6 games, but the biggest highlights were what Douglas did. He scored the first touchdown vs Vandy in school history and set a record that will never be broken in the Clemson game. On a cold, windy day, Douglas punted from the one yard line and after the play was done, he had a 109 yard punt......(field was 110 yards then.)
After making All-Southern in ‘02, he helped coach the Vols for the next few years. He then entered the Naval Academy, and was a 3x All-American.
After his time at Navy, he would fight in WWI and was a distinguished vet of WWII, while commanding the USS Saratoga.


Archibald H. Douglas, 1895-1978




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Coach Heisman, describes Douglas’ punt

“The day was bitterly cold and a veritable typhoon was blowing straight down the field from one end to the other. We rushed the ball with more consistency than Tennessee, but throughout the entire first half they held us because of the superb punting of "Toots" Douglas, especially because, in that period he had the gale squarely with him. Going against that blizzard our labors were like unto those of Tantalus. Slowly, with infinite pains and a maximum of exertion, we pushed the ball from our territory to their 10-yard line. We figured we had another down to draw on, but the referee begged to differ. He handed the ball to Tennessee and the "tornado." Their general cheerfully chirped a signal – Saxe Crawford, it must have been –; and "Toots" with sprightly step, dropped back for another of his Milky Way punts. I visualize him still, standing on his own goal line and squarely between his uprights. One quick glance he cast overhead– no doubt to make sure that howling was still the same old hurricane. I knew at once what he proposed to do. The snap was perfect. "Toots" caught the ball, took two smart steps and – BLAM!–away shot the ball as though from the throat of Big Bertha. And, say, in his palmiest mathematical mood, I don't believe Sir Isaac Newton himself could have figured a more perfect trajectory to fit with that cyclone. Onward and upward, upward and onward, the crazy thing flew like a brainchild of Jules Verne. I thought it would clear the Blue Ridge Mountains. Our safety man, the great Johnny Maxwell, was positioned 50 yards behind our rush line, yet the punt sailed over his head like a phantom aeroplane. Finally, it came down, but still uncured of its wanderlust it started in to roll–toward our goal, of course, with Maxwell chasing and damning it with every step and breath. Finally it curled up and died on our one-footline, after a bowstring journey of just 109 yards.”
 
108 days.......

Ironically, the “worst” game Tennessee played in 1951 was the 27-13 victory over Alabama. One player that saved the day was Hank Lauricella. Birmingham writer Ed Harris said,”Hank Lauricella took the past records of all of them here today, discarded them in the heap and wrote a new book.......He was the superior athlete here today.”
Lauricella rushed for 108 yards, and led the Vols to their winning ways in route to the National Championship.

Hank vs Bama
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110 days......

Mid way through the ‘86 season, UT hosted UTEP. The game wasn’t the cakewalk that most expected. The Minors kept it close in the 4th quarter, but UT turned to William Howard. On the clinching drive, Howard had 9 carries for 75 yards and a touchdown, giving him three TDs and 110 yards for the day. The Vols escaped with a 26-16 victory.

View attachment 368601
. Man that 86 team was a underachieving disappoint after the SEC title team of 85
 
Coach Heisman, describes Douglas’ punt

“The day was bitterly cold and a veritable typhoon was blowing straight down the field from one end to the other. We rushed the ball with more consistency than Tennessee, but throughout the entire first half they held us because of the superb punting of "Toots" Douglas, especially because, in that period he had the gale squarely with him. Going against that blizzard our labors were like unto those of Tantalus. Slowly, with infinite pains and a maximum of exertion, we pushed the ball from our territory to their 10-yard line. We figured we had another down to draw on, but the referee begged to differ. He handed the ball to Tennessee and the "tornado." Their general cheerfully chirped a signal – Saxe Crawford, it must have been –; and "Toots" with sprightly step, dropped back for another of his Milky Way punts. I visualize him still, standing on his own goal line and squarely between his uprights. One quick glance he cast overhead– no doubt to make sure that howling was still the same old hurricane. I knew at once what he proposed to do. The snap was perfect. "Toots" caught the ball, took two smart steps and – BLAM!–away shot the ball as though from the throat of Big Bertha. And, say, in his palmiest mathematical mood, I don't believe Sir Isaac Newton himself could have figured a more perfect trajectory to fit with that cyclone. Onward and upward, upward and onward, the crazy thing flew like a brainchild of Jules Verne. I thought it would clear the Blue Ridge Mountains. Our safety man, the great Johnny Maxwell, was positioned 50 yards behind our rush line, yet the punt sailed over his head like a phantom aeroplane. Finally, it came down, but still uncured of its wanderlust it started in to roll–toward our goal, of course, with Maxwell chasing and damning it with every step and breath. Finally it curled up and died on our one-footline, after a bowstring journey of just 109 yards.”

Great Day! Read this, then re-read it and marvel that Coach Heisman was indeed an erudite and classically educated man.

Then think of "Pone's" often futile efforts to produce a single properly parsed English sentence, and weep.
 
107 days..........

Overtime was needed to defeat Vandy in 2011. Eric Gorden returned an interception 90 yards for the 27-21 victory. Lost in the stats was Tauren Poole and his 19 carries for 107 yards and a touchdown.




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JF was "Okay," but not what was needed for that talent. Better than Randy Sanders:oops:

Imagine Dickey with that team in '86.....and he wasn't a world beater.
. I still have memories of Randy throwing it in the turf in his limited playing time. It seems like we lost to Georgia Tech or Boston College in 87 with him at QB he was pretty terrible. Glad he has had a better coaching career.
 
106 days........

From 1978-1981, Anthony Hancock was a threat every time he touched the ball. The dynamic playmaker carried on the tradition of “WR U” that Larry Seivers and Stanley Morgan started. Hancock finished his career with 106 receptions for 1,826 yards and 12 TDs. He was a first round pick by Kansas City.
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Great Day! Read this, then re-read it and marvel that Coach Heisman was indeed an erudite and classically educated man.

Then think of "Pone's" often futile efforts to produce a single properly parsed English sentence, and weep.

“uncured of its wanderlust...”

Never mind the coaches,
is there even a sportswriter capable of such turns of phrase these days?
 
Rajion Neal was underrated. He was a really tough runner who was athletic enough to be a WR at one point. I thought he was going to be a steal for some NFL team but it didnt work out
He had good speed but I think the story on him was he was basically just a straight ahead runner. He lacked running vision and the ability to make people miss.
 

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