Earliest Vol Memory? Let the good times roll

#51
#51
Not even close to my first memory, but kind of an ordinary game that I have never forgotten.

Texas tech at Tennessee August 30 1997.

My friend and I worked nights. We got off at 8 am drove to Knoxville and did some tailgating. The game was awesome with Tennessee winning 52-17 (night game). We had a good time for a while after the game then got a hotel to grab some sleep.

I was up trying to see the Tennessee highlights on ESPN. Sometime during the early morning every channel broke in with Princess Diana's car wreaking and later that she had died.

Again a great game but one I prob would have forgotten 20 years later......if not for the Diana tragedy.
 
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#52
#52
1976 Vols-13 Vandy-10 in Nashville. Got to meet and shake hands with Larry Seivers after the game before he got on the bus. I remember waving at Stanley Morgan as the bus drove off.
 
#53
#53
Not a play, but I remember going to a game before the north end zone was closed in pre-1980.

There was a UT painted on the hill and I think they shot a cannon after each score.
 
#54
#54
First game I ever attended was Miss State vs Tennessee (2003 maybe?) in Knoxville when Clausen hung 5 TD's in first half. We scored so much that JIM BOB MOTHA TRUCKIN COOTER played quite a bit in the second half. First game that I remembered watching was UT vs Syracuse for the Natty season. Was 8 years old.

Something about the Carrier Dome(see Clemson). McNabb almost snatched our Natty memories from us before they ever took root.
 
#55
#55
Not sure what game it was (91ish) but Andy Kelly threw a freaking bomb to Carl Pickens and John Ward went bananas. Ward's call is what cemented it in my memory and hooked me into being a lifelong Vols fan.
 
#56
#56
Remember @ age 6 watchin’ the 85 Sugar Bowl w/ family... though first game I ever attended was Peyton Manning’s first start against Washington St.
 
#57
#57
Early 90s late 80s IIRC about 7 years old (Majors was the coach). We were up 45-0 against Vandy.
 
#58
#58
going to first UT game in 1955 and watching Majors play. I was able to get in free back then and saw them play a lot of games in the 50s
 
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#59
#59
Not a play, but I remember going to a game before the north end zone was closed in pre-1980.

There was a UT painted on the hill and I think they shot a cannon after each score.

I remember those days.

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#60
#60
Watching Johnny majors drive the team down the field to lots of wins as a player. In 61 years of vol football never saw it this bad for this long. Time for a. Change. We need a strong AD as well as a new coach
 
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#62
#62
My dad, a Ohio State fan, was in the Army and stationed in Germany. We watched the 1996 Citrus Bowl and I watched Peyton Manning and UT beat the Buckeyes. I was hooked! A few months later, we got stationed in Ft Campbell and lived in Clarksville. I ended up applying to UT and started my freshmen year there in Aug 1997. Been to many games over the the last 20 years and have had season tickets for 7 seasons.
 
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#63
#63
Sept 27, 1975

Tennessee 21 Auburn 17 75,000 at the game

There was no upper deck from sections FF-II and the north endzone still had bleacher seats

Larry Seivers made an incredible leap over two defenders to grab the pass and run it in for a TD

I still have the game day program from it
 
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#65
#65
Random old fart memories...
North end zone had no seating, maybe a few bleachers. Frat fired a cannon when we scored. There was a concrete UT on the slope - the old T over the U. Game clock was with hands - no digital. Capacity was 48k.

When I was about 16 (1966) I was invited to a game and I was told I needed to wear a neck tie.

Random KY memory: Sometime in the late 80's, seeing Smoky bite a Cat player on his upper leg or higher.

Yep, I remember a lot of the same things - the open end, the cannon (I think it was Army ROTC but won't swear to that), and wearing coats and ties. With the wind and open end that place could really get cold; but when it was hot, sunny, and without upper decks, it was hot!

We should have told Texas to stuff it and kept the hooked UT - should have told them UT was well established before TX was a state - and they had TN Volunteers to thank even for that.
 
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#66
#66
My earliest memory was as a freshman at UT in 1964. The team didn't have a lot of talent across the board and Doug Dickey was in his first year, but there was excitement - and a lot of it. There was a sense that if it was in any way possible that team would find a way to win; the '64 team was more depleted than either team inherited by Dooley or Jones. I could think of nothing better for Tennessee football at this point than to find another Doug Dickey.
 
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#69
#69
I still have my 1985 Sugar Bowl sweatshirt. Doubt I can wear it since it's a child size, but that is probably my oldest, clearest memory. My dad went to UT and my mom grew up in Knoxville, so it's hard to remember a time in my life when Tennessee football wasn't around in some way. My dad listened to every game on the radio and always had an old Tennessee souvenir cup that I liked to look at on his side of the bathroom. Good memories.
 
#70
#70
I don't remember my first game necessarily but I do remember driving from Nashville to Knoxville in my dad's truck with a sign saying "need 2 tickets" and stopping on I-40 to buy some. Then going to the Vol Shop on campus and getting a shirt.
 
#71
#71
My earliest vivid memory was the 2004 Florida game. I'm only 21 so my memories before that are vague and probably don't count in the same way as that one does.
 
#72
#72
First game I watched on TV was Sugar Bowl ... UT versus Air Force in 1970 or 71 .... Bobby Majors, Tim Priest, Phillip Fulmer .... UT-34 Air Force -3 ..... Total domination .... Before this I would listen to John Ward on radio with my Dad all the way back into the late 60's .... Dewey Warren ( Swamp rat ) playing QB for Tennessee .... Good times
 
#73
#73
1977, Johnny Majors first game as head coach, vs Cal.

Vols lost 27-17 to a vastly superior team. However, Jimmy Streeter thrilled the crowd with an 80 yard TD run and the Vol defense showed up with a goal line stand.

The Big Orange went 4-7, that season. But gutty performances on the road at 'Bama & Kentucky and a 42-0 romp over Vandy to end the year, hinted of better days to come.
 
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#75
#75
1966 UK game at Neyland as a 12 yo.... as I walked in through a South-end upper deck gate, my first impression was wow, this stadium is huge! Had a nice view of the Hill, and the embedded white brick "UT".... and the civil war cannon they shot off after every touchdown... during pre-game, the Tenn walking horse trotting around the field was a nice tradition. I think the ticket was $6. UT won that day, but UK had a great punt returner, Dykie Lyons that ran a punt back against us. Nothing like a beautiful afternoon Fall day in Neyland in those times.
 
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