I was there in the stands. This game, coming shortly on the heels of a 26-26 tie with highly touted UCLA, was the one which gave Vol fans the notion that '85 could be a very special year. And so it was, but in ways that we in Neyland Stadium that sunny day could scarcely imagine. T-rob would go down to a knee injury in the 'Bama game to be replaced by Darryl Dickey. Vol fans from Bucksnort to Bristol looked at each other and said, "Who?"
Majors went into a shell and the following game against GT was a boring affair featuring a "three yards and a cloud of Astroturf" offense more afraid of making a mistake than in winning the game which required a late Carlos Reveiz field goal to secure a 6-all tie.
According to the "Great Vol Wide Receivers" vid McGee led a delegation of upper-classmen to Majors' office and bluntly told him that they all had aspirations to play at the next level (and they all would) and this sh*t just wasn't going to get it. They shocked the Coach further by stating that THEY had confidence in Dickey and he needed to get his head out of his a**.
The Vols opened up the playbook the next week against Rutgers and blew out the Knights 40-0. The Vols finished 9-1-2 with the sole blemish being a loss to Florida in Gainesville. Florida was on probation for repeated violations of NCAA rules and was ineligible for the SEC title which went to Tennessee who went on to that magic night in New Orleans versus the Miami Hurricanes.
The other thing about the '85 Auburn game will be forever remembered in Vol Lore is Dale Jones looking around in the second half and asking, "Where's Bo?"
Darryl Dickey was named MVP of the '86 Sugar Bowl.
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