SEC Championship 2001: We had so much on the line that night. Not just an SEC Championship, but a chance to play in the Rose Bowl for the National Championship. And we freaking blew it. We just folded in the second half. Fulmer was exposed and we were never the same again.
Arkansas 1999: We had a shot at repeating as the National Champions on the line. I should have known that Arkansas would beat us that day, though. The year before, they had us beat until Stoerner tripped over his own guy and fumbled the ball. We scored, stayed undefeated, and won the National Championship. Arkansas lost and went on a freefall. They got their revenge; we were knocked out of the National Championship race and got skull-crushed by Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl.
Kentucky 2011: That was sad. Not just because we lost to Kentucky and blew a chance at a Bowl and a winning season, but we lost to a third string QB that was normally a WR. And after the game, there was talk that Da'Rick Rogers and Tyler Bray purposely tanked the game because they didn't want to play in a "crappy" bowl. Sad how everything went down and that instead of kicking their asses off the team right then and there, Doolittle let it slide.
Christmas Night 2004, when Reggie White passed away: I was shocked and very sad the day after Christmas in 2004 when it was announced on ESPN that Reggie White died in his sleep on Christmas night. He was the GOAT of defensive players here in Tennessee. One of the greatest players to ever step in a uniform at UT.
Memphis 1996: We had a chance at going to the National Championship on the line when we played Memphis. I remember listening to the radio coming home from work and listened to the voice of the GOAT, John Ward, calling the game in the late fourth quarter. We were winning, but Memphis was playing us tough and they had the ball and was moving it down the field. When I got in the door and turned the TV on, they were in the Red Zone ready to score. I was hoping and praying we'd hold them. But they scored and beat us. Watching the look of our guys so crushed while the Memphis players celebrated and their fans storming the field and tearing down the goal posts made me so sick to my stomach. And that is something I will never forget. Especially that I feel we would have still won out and we would have been playing Florida State for the National Championship instead of Florida as we would have ended up ranked higher. And we could have beat them.
