Greatest wins

#1
sunnyvol79

sunnyvol79

Tennessee Vol till I die
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#1
What are the four biggest wins for UT football? I’m going to only go back to 1980. Here are mine.
1. The 1999 BCS title game victory against FSU the consensus first national title for us since 1951 and the greatest night and game I have ever experienced as a Vol fan I can’t believe it’s been 23 years now stills feels like just a few years back sometimes.
2. Beating Florida during the 98 season ending a 5 game losing streak to them and propelling us toward a SEC title and unbeaten season and national title.
3. Beating Bama 41–14 at Legion field in 1995 our first win since 1985 over them and how sweet it was that night.
4. 1986 Sugar Bowl. A dominant 35-7 victory over Miami that their team and coach Jimmy Johnson totally disrespected us and thought it would be a easy win. We also knocked them out of claiming a share of national championship.

There is a course many more great wins and more than 4 over the last 40 plus years but those are the 4 biggest that I went with.
 
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#5
#5
Boston Vol said:
2001 Florida
1982 Alabama
1991 Notre Dame
1997 SEC Championship game
1998 SEC Championship game
1999 Alabama
2004 UGA
1985 Auburn
2003 Miami
Click to expand...
Great list of wins. I totally forgot about that 2003 Miami win at the Orange Bowl didn’t they have a really long home win streak before we beat them that day
 
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#11
#11
Sadly I’m not old enough to remember the 90s or before, so my favorites that I remember are probably:
2004 Florida, Wilhoit’s kick
2005 Cotton Bowl against Texas A&M
2005 at LSU, the Rick Clausen comeback
2006 at UGA, Aaron Sears walking off with a piece of the hedge.
2014 South Carolina, the Dobbs comeback game.
2016 Florida, “We put the hose in their mouth.” - Danny O’brien
2016 UGA “Dobbs heaves it!”


2021 against Ole Miss would probably make the list if they hadn’t make that ridiculous call on Baron’s strip-sack TD.
 
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#13
#13
Lots of short-term memory on this board. Game against GaTech in 1956 is considered one of the greatest in college football history. Majors, who called plays, was absolutely brilliant.
 
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#14
#14
My favorites:

1999 Fiesta Bowl (Fla St)
1998 Florida
1990 Florida
2001 Florida
1982 Alabama
1985 Auburn
1995 Alabama
1989 Auburn
1996 Citrus Bowl (Ohio St)
2003 Miami

Honorable mention 1971 Penn St and 1991 Notre Dame
 
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#15
#15
sunnyvol79 said:
. My dream since the SEC title game was created was to beat Bama twice in the same season to win the SEC title. It’s crazy that in 30 years we have never played them not once in the SEC title game.
Click to expand...
That's because we've only been there five times.
 
#16
#16
sunnyvol79 said:
What are the four biggest wins for UT football? I’m going to only go back to 1980. Here are mine.
1. The 1999 BCS title game victory against FSU the consensus first national title for us since 1951 and the greatest night and game I have ever experienced as a Vol fan I can’t believe it’s been 23 years now stills feels like just a few years back sometimes.
2. Beating Florida during the 98 season ending a 5 game losing streak to them and propelling us toward a SEC title and unbeaten season and national title.
3. Beating Bama 41–14 at Legion field in 1995 our first win since 1985 over them and how sweet it was that night.
4. 1986 Sugar Bowl. A dominant 35-7 victory over Miami that their team and coach Jimmy Johnson totally disrespected us and thought it would be a easy win. We also knocked them out of claiming a share of national championship.

There is a course many more great wins and more than 4 over the last 40 plus years but those are the 4 biggest that I went with.
Click to expand...
Your four are my four. Honorable mentions to 2004 Florida, the Dobbnail boot, and 2003 Miami.
 
#17
#17
Vol in Buckeye Land said:
Sadly I’m not old enough to remember the 90s or before, so my favorites that I remember are probably:
2004 Florida, Wilhoit’s kick
2005 Cotton Bowl against Texas A&M
2005 at LSU, the Rick Clausen comeback
2006 at UGA, Aaron Sears walking off with a piece of the hedge.
2014 South Carolina, the Dobbs comeback game.
2016 Florida, “We put the hose in their mouth.” - Danny O’brien
2016 UGA “Dobbs heaves it!”


2021 against Ole Miss would probably make the list if they hadn’t make that ridiculous call on Baron’s strip-sack TD.
Click to expand...
When the refs called that back that's when I knew no matter what we did they were going to make sure we lost that game. The next day when I was listening to Josh Pate on 247 YouTube he confirmed it. As he said he was listening to the refs before the game while they were talking amongst themselves and what he heard he knew the vols weren't going to win that night.
 
#18
#18
My favorite 4
Clemson 1974
Bama 1982
Ohio State
Florida St. BCS
 
#19
#19
I love hearing about the '85 Sugar Bowl from fellow Vols fans, but I personally missed it (Germany). I love hearing about the Notre Dame game in the Johnny Majors years, but missed that too (cadet at West Point). There are a lot of collective memories we share that I thrill in, but which don't have that same pull because I didn't witness them personally.

So for me, personally, here are maybe the four biggest:

1. January 4th, 1999 -- 23-16 victory over the Florida State Seminoles in the Fiesta Bowl, Tempe, Arizona, for the national championship. This is the only Tennessee football national title the vast majority of us have been alive to see. That puts it solidly at the top of any list of this nature. Tee Martin to Peerless Price down the sideline for a 70-yard touchdown is perhaps the single most indelible image from a real boxing match of a game.

...but before that, enabling it, absolutely necessary as a precursor to it, was...

2. November 14th, 1998 -- 28-24 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks in Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee. A lot of folks on this board thought we lost that game. Right up until we didn't. This one embodies all the heartache, faith, hope, despair, incredulity, and sheer joy that can be found in college football. And Clint Stoerner, a rare player for a rival school whose name is emblazoned on the hearts of whole generations of Vols fans, will forever march side by side in our memories with Billy Ratliff.

...and similar to the Arkansas game, there has been another recent match that played havoc with the heartstrings. Also in the final seconds of the game. Talking about...

3. October 1st, 2016 -- 34-31 victory over the Georgia Bulldogs in Sanford Stadium, Athens, Georgia. We won the game. Then we lost it on a hail mary pass. Then we won it again, on another hail mary. All in the space of a couple of dozen seconds. The Dobbnail boot game. The Jauan "Junkyard Dog" Jennings game.

...in the same season, a game of little moment but great pageantry...

4. September 10th, 2016 -- 45-24 wholloping of the Virginia Tech Hokies in the most-attended football game in history, at any level. 156,990 football fans filled the stands of a NASCAR track on the border of Tennessee and Virginia, Bristol Motor Speedway. A lot of us on these boards even spent the weeks prior to the game WATCHING THE FIELD BEING BUILT by 24-hour live feed. It was a spectacle. The enduring image is of the stands paneled in a giant American flag from 156,990 flip cards lifted above the heads of those in attendance.

Thank you, Phillip Fulmer & Co, for giving us those first two games. And thank you, Butch Jones & Crew, for giving us the latter two. Folks can cast all the aspersions they want on the two of you, but fact is you both contributed in significant ways to the vast richness of Tennessee football.

...

Good job, @sunnyvol79 , you started a good thread!

Go Vols!
 
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#20
#20
I think winning at the Swamp in 2001 was a huge win and would probably be on everyone’s list if not for what followed the next week. That was an incredible ball game. Defensively, Chief throwing out the Predator at Grossman was pretty genius . Grossman took a beating.. and they still scored 32 I think. Travis Stephens and the O line completely out physcalled the Gators. For a week, that might’ve been the happiest I’ve been as a Vol fan… outside of the BCS title.
 
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#21
#21
Illinoisvolfan2 said:
All you young whipper snappers. Penn State 1971 was a huge huge win. They were undefeated and this was the last game of the season. They had a 15 game win streak too.
I was there.

SunnyVol
I was there also. Selling cokes my first job. LOL

Me too. Drinking Cokes probably with that special something in them. What a game!
 
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#24
#24
FSUfor the 'ship
Miracle at South Bend
Peyton's 1st over Bama
Dobbnail boot

that's my top 4
 
#25
#25
FSUfor the 'ship
Miracle at South Bend
Peyton's 1st over Bama
Dobbnail boot

that's my top 4
 
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