The 30 Lowest Moments for Tennessee Vols Athletics in the Adidas Era

Sep 20, 2014; Memphis, TN, USA; A general view of Liberty Bowl Stadium during the game between the Memphis Tigers and the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. Memphis Tigers beat the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 36 – 17. Mandatory Credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

19. Memphis Tigers Stun Tennessee Vols 21-17 in Football in 1996 for the First Time in History

Go talk to any Memphis Tiger fan, and they will refer to this game as their favorite football moment ever. It won’t be winning the AAC Championship this past year, it won’t be the De’Angelo Williams years, and it won’t even be the Billy Murphy years in the 1960s in which the Tigers went undefeated at one point.

It will be the only time they beat Tennessee, which was in 1996. The fans will usually say something snide, such as “We beat Peyton Manning,” as if that means something.

Anyway, it was an embarrassing moment for the Vols. They had already lost to Florida that year, but there was still a lot to play for. Going into the year ranked No. 2 in the country, they could at least finish there if everything went right. But, as they often do with Vanderbilt, Tennessee has had a history of overlooking Memphis.

And like Vanderbilt, Memphis will view Tennessee as its national championship game in football. That’s exactly what happened. A kickoff return for a touchdown in which the player should have been ruled down and a last-minute drive was enough to give the Tigers a major 21-17 win in what was a defensive struggle. It was a terrible loss that briefly knocked Tennessee out of the Top 10 for the first time in more than a year.

Next: #18: Buzz Peterson's Final Year