Worst Losses in history of UT football

#151
#151
esarmstrong said:
But can it compare to the 1996 Memphis loss? That's the question!

As I think about it, that one is the worst one I can remember or have ever read about UT suffering.

LSU ranks as a bad loss when one considers the long-term effect of the loss on the program to this day.
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I hear you man, just clowning around. Worst loss TO ME was KY this year. Hands down.
 
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#152
#152
zjcvols said:
2003, Clemson, Peach Bowl.

I remember a lot of people thought UT should have gone to a BCS bowl, and somehow got screwed to Clemson ranked #6, and loss to Tommy Freakin Bowden in a joke of a game.

Not the worst, but still, that was a joke.
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Forgot about that one. Not the worst loss, but would definetly compete for most pathetic performance.
 
#153
#153
zansdad said:
Maybe this will help. Vacating vs. Forfeiting... what do Alabama's penalties from the NCAA mean? | al.com

Also, I was giving an example about 12-0 going to 0-0, not speaking of a specific season.
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Actually, I was correcting myself and not you, necessarily. Thanks for the link and I understand the distinction between a forfeit (the 1993 tie) and vacating (2005 6-3 loss). My problem with the concept of vacating wins is that I cannot understand how you can pretend a win never happened on one team's official records but the other teams record still reflects a loss. It seems like an incongruent concept in the manner in which it is being applied by the NCAA. Instead of one offical record we have two records now: the Bama all-time record and the UT all-time record.

Clearly, if promoting consistency and clarity in keeping records is a goal of the NCAA, then this flies in the face of that notion.
 
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#154
#154
I think I hate the 2nd loss in any given season the most. The 1st loss stings and can be very hurtful if the other team sucks, but the 2nd loss always means "wait til next year."
I still cheer the team on from the top of my lungs, but my heart knows there is no real hope for a NC.
 
#155
#155
esarmstrong said:
Actually, I was correcting myself and not you, necessarily. Thanks for the link and I understand the distinction between a forfeit (the 1993 tie) and vacating (2005 6-3 loss). My problem with the concept of vacating wins is that I cannot understand how you can pretend a win never happened on one team's official records but the other teams record still reflects a loss. It seems like an incongruent concept in the manner in which it is being applied by the NCAA. Instead of one offical record we have two records now: the Bama all-time record and the UT all-time record.

Clearly, if promoting consistency and clarity in keeping records is a goal of the NCAA, then this flies in the face of that notion.
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Yeah, it doesn't quite work. I think it should could as a non-game for the over all record like Bama vs Vols but the Vols' season record should remain the same, and Bama gets to keep the losses.
 
#156
#156
Escape Goat said:
I hear you man, just clowning around. Worst loss TO ME was KY this year. Hands down.
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I got the joke. Good one.

The Ky. loss was bad, no question about it. However, sometimes a loss that seems bad at a particular moment in time turns out to produce positive dividends down the road. If Dooley is able to "right the ship" then one may look at this loss as a key moment in that process. Right now, it appears bleak for Dooley's long-term existence as coach at UT. Time will tell.

By way of example, the loss to Nebraska in the 1998 Orange Bowl was bad (42-17); however, the players on the 1998 national championship team all pointed to that game as being a great source of motivation for the following season.

Not sure if there is ever such a thing as a "good" loss, but some losses are not as bad as others for different reasons. Sounds like subject matter for a different thread if someone wants to start it.
 
#157
#157
I hear you. But I will NEVER get over that KY loss. Ever. I will never respect Dooley after watching that crap. It will take me having Dooley winning 10 games a year for 3 years straight before I ever support him again.

esarmstrong said:
I got the joke. Good one.

The Ky. loss was bad, no question about it. However, sometimes a loss that seems bad at a particular moment in time turns out to produce positive dividends down the road. If Dooley is able to "right the ship" then one may look at this loss as a key moment in that process. Right now, it appears bleak for Dooley's long-term existence as coach at UT. Time will tell.

By way of example, the loss to Nebraska in the 1998 Orange Bowl was bad (42-17); however, the players on the 1998 national championship team all pointed to that game as being a great source of motivation for the following season.

Not sure if there is ever such a thing as a "good" loss, but some losses are not as bad as others for different reasons. Sounds like subject matter for a different thread if someone wants to start it.
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#159
#159
zansdad said:
This is the least of the NCAA's problems with congruency. For a much larger example see Cam Newton.
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If some day in the future the truth comes out about Cam Newton that he was paid and received the benefits of that payment, what will the NCAA do?

Vacate their season and create another collection of separate records for Auburn and the other 14 teams on their schedule that season?
 
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#160
#160
Escape Goat said:
I hear you. But I will NEVER get over that KY loss. Ever. I will never respect Dooley after watching that crap. It will take me having Dooley winning 10 games a year for 3 years straight before I ever support him again.
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Man, those are some high standards. You wouldn't have even supported Saban after his national championship
 
#161
#161
Alabama, LSU and Arkansas 2011. We should have beaten all of them by double digits but instead get clown-stomped as though we were some uber-young and vastly less talented team. Just my two cents.
 
#162
#162
I was trying to think of 'long ride homes' games from Knoxville back to Middle Tennessee. I think it was '85; might of been '84. We were playing UCLA early in the season. UCLA had a quarterback named Tommy 'Gun' Maddox. We lead 26-10 with about six minutes to go. UCLA scored two touchdowns AND two 2-point conversions. We ended up in a 26-26 tie! That was a 'Long Ride Home'
 
#167
#167
esarmstrong said:
I got the joke. Good one.

The Ky. loss was bad, no question about it. However, sometimes a loss that seems bad at a particular moment in time turns out to produce positive dividends down the road. If Dooley is able to "right the ship" then one may look at this loss as a key moment in that process. Right now, it appears bleak for Dooley's long-term existence as coach at UT. Time will tell.

By way of example, the loss to Nebraska in the 1998 Orange Bowl was bad (42-17); however, the players on the 1998 national championship team all pointed to that game as being a great source of motivation for the following season.

Not sure if there is ever such a thing as a "good" loss, but some losses are not as bad as others for different reasons. Sounds like subject matter for a different thread if someone wants to start it.
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1) So, it's going to take a loss to UK for Dooley to show he's a good coach?

2) That is nowhere near the same thing as the Orange Bowl.

3) This was, quite simply a horrible loss for the program. It's quite simple.
 
#168
#168
Jackson_Harris said:
I was trying to think of 'long ride homes' games from Knoxville back to Middle Tennessee. I think it was '85; might of been '84. We were playing UCLA early in the season. UCLA had a quarterback named Tommy 'Gun' Maddox. We lead 26-10 with about six minutes to go. UCLA scored two touchdowns AND two 2-point conversions. We ended up in a 26-26 tie! That was a 'Long Ride Home'
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The same Tommy Maddox who threw for a zillion yards for the Steelers that one year?
 
#169
#169
Rockytopman said:
Wyoming and Tiger high both could have beaten Kys team this year, imo....
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That Wyoming team was baaaaaaaaaad. They were 1-7 in the Mountain West. This year's Kentucky was 2-6 in the SEC. And in the Memphis case, you also have to take into account how vastly better the 1996 Tennessee team was than the 2011 version.
 
#172
#172
DaphneVol said:
This about sums it up for me too...I'd go Memphis, KY Jelly, and Wyoming..
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I feel like recency is seriously skewing people's thoughts on this one. Since 2005 alone, we've had FOUR losses as double digit favorites. Kentucky isn't even one of them.
 
#173
#173
Well there was the 1972 Condredge Holloway fumble game against Bama. Tide scored twice in final minutes and started a 10-year string of frustraton.

The Jackson Massacre.

Karl Kremser's Orange Bowl FG hit the crossbar.

There was a bleak rainy day in Memphis, early 80s, lost to Ole Miss.

Lost to VU in 75 (The "Blind Man in the Bleachers" game)

Lost to UK at Neyland with Peach Bowl on line. (Older Vol observed, "It hasn't been this bad up here since Bowden Wyatt drank himself to death.")

1982 VU at Nashville. (I had to do post-game interviews in the Vandy dressing room. Ouch!)

North Texas State. Rutgers, Virginia.

UGA 80. Herschel Walker over Bill Bates. Vols fumble game winner at the goal line.

The Hobnail Boot thing. Munson is dead but unforgiven.

Duke 82 (asked first wife for divorce the next day. Whew.)

Memphis.

The 9-6 Bama punt block deal in 1990. Revisited in 2009.

Losing at Florida in 1977, game ended in fistfight.

The Jabar Gaffney no-catch.

The outrage at Baton Rouge last year.

And yet I live! Cheer up, VFLs. Like Bob Woodruff told Mary Lynn Majors, "Honey, stick around and there will be worse days than this!"
 
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