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Top 10 Opening Games in Tennessee Football History

By Caleb Calhoun

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Jun 14, 2015; Anaheim, CA, USA; General view of the Angel Stadium of Anaheim exterior. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

7. 1990: Tennessee Vols Tie Colorado Buffaloes at 31

Coming off of the 1989 SEC Championship in one of the greatest turnarounds in history after a 5-6 season the year before, Tennessee was looking for a repeat in 1990 and opened the season ranked No. 8 and set to face off against the No. 5 ranked Colorado Buffaloes in the Pigskin Classic in Anaheim, Calif.

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    • The Vols were facing the eventual national champions that year, and this game was truly a back-and-forth contest.

    Tennessee forced five Colorado turnovers in the game, which was 10-10 at halftime.

    In the second half, Colorado went up 24-10 and then 31-17 with 7:11 remaining. But Andy Kelly being Andy Kelly, the quarterback refused to let his Vols quit.

    And he engineered two drives to tie the game at 31 late in the game. The Vols then got the ball back, and honestly, this is one game where they can look at and ask what could have been because Chuck Webb was in field goal range on his final run but kept fighting for yards as the clock ran out.

    Still, this was a thrilling tie for the Vols and sent the off on the right path that year as they would have another Top 10 finish and win the SEC Championship.

    That Colorado won a share of the national title later that year only further served to validate the Vols that season. In fact, if you look at Tennessee’s 9-2-2 record, they blew a 26-9 lead to Auburn that became a tie later that year, they lost a fluke 9-6 game to Alabama, and they threw a late interception to lose by five to Notre Dame.

    This team was four plays away from a national championship this year.

    Next: #6: 1985 UCLA

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