Top 10 Opening Games in Tennessee Football History

Sep 28, 2013; Knoxville, TN, USA; A general view of Neyland Stadium during the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and South Alabama Jaguars. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Tennessee football has a rich history with plenty of great games, many of which happened opening week. Here are the Top 10 openers in Volunteers history.

As we know all too well in Knoxville, opening games are a huge way to set the tone for the season.

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When it comes to the history of the Tennessee Vols football team, there are quite a few opening games that propelled the program to a great season.

And there are plenty of others that the Volunteers could not recover from after losing, most notably against the UCLA Bruins in 2008.

So going into Saturday’s match-up with the Bowling Green Falcons, the Vols definitely want to come out with a win. This is not to say that opening day will determine the season, obviously.

From 2010 to 2013 the Vols had strong opening days and still terrible seasons, and they recovered from an opening day loss in 2007 to win the SEC East.

But it is to say that, more often than not, opening games are crucial for a season, and many of them have produced some of the greatest memories in Tennessee Vols football history.

Bowling Green, meanwhile, is a dangerous team to opening the season with as a solid Group of Five program.

So that means a few crazy things could happen here if Tennessee is not careful.

But it is also a great chance to develop some chemistry, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, if they do stay focused. And history will show that a good opening win can lead to some great things.

By judging in the moment, though, some Vol openers have been among the most exciting games the school has ever been a part of.

Taking a look at some of those from the past, here are the Top 10 opening games in Tennessee football history.

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