Tennessee vs. Arkansas Rivalry History: Five Greatest Games
Nov 22, 2014; Knoxville, TN, USA; A general view of Neyland Stadium home of theTennessee Volunteers following the game against the Missouri Tigers. Missouri won 29-21. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
1. The 1998 Clint Stoerner Fumble
Tennessee Wins 28-24
Phillip Fulmer said it best after the Vols squeaked out this win: “You’ve just got to love us! Are we good on television!”
The Vols entered this game at 8-0 and had reached their first No. 1 ranking in a few decades just the week before. But coming into Neyland Stadium were the 8-0 Arkansas Razorbacks under first-year head coach Houston Nutt, ranked No. 10. This was a very late time in the season for two undefeated SEC teams playing each other.
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But there were questions about how real Arkansas was, whereas Tennessee did not raise any questions after beating Syracuse, Florida, Auburn, Georgia, and Alabama on the year.
That changed quickly, though, as the Razorbacks jumped out to a 14-0 lead over Tennessee. Then, after a Vols field goal, Clint Stoerner led his third touchdown drive to give the Hogs a 21-3 lead. Tennessee fans were stunned in Knoxville.
The Vols responded with a touchdown pass to Peerless Price to cut the lead to 21-10 at halftime, but the real drama has not even begun yet.
In the second half, after an Arkansas field goal, the Vols cut it to 24-17 with another touchdown drive. But despite multiple opportunities, they could not finish the comeback. They were forced to settle for a field goal one drive.
Then, a blocked kick returned into Arkansas territory by Al Wilson resulted in no points. Finally, a safety after a bad snap made it 24-22 Arkansas.
But Tennessee still could not complete the comeback, as they were stopped on a fourth down near midfield. Arkansas had the ball with barely over a minute left up 24-22 and in all likelihood would leave Knoxville 9-0. Tennessee could get the ball back with time, but it would be about 30 seconds with no timeout, so their prospects were dim.
Then came the play of the year. On 2nd down, Stoerner was going back for a handoff but tripped over his own offensive lineman’s foot. The trip caused a fumble, which Billy Ratliff recovered for Tennessee near midfield.
Many fans and analysts will point to that as a lucky break for the Vols, and it was, but lost in that “lucky break” was how the fumble was caused: Stoerner tripped because Ratliff got a great push on the Arkansas offensive line.
Anyway, the recovery gave the Vols all the momentum, and all they did was hand the ball off to Travis Henry on the final drive against a worn down Razorbacks defense. Henry pounded into the end zone to give the Vols the 28-24 win.
Tennessee went on to win the national championship, and the heartbreak continued for Arkansas, as they blew another game to Mississippi State, losing 22-21, the next week.
Arkansas was two plays away from finishing the season undefeated. This was the craziest game in the series by far and on Vols fans will remember forever.