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10 Worst Bowl Losses in Tennessee Football History

By Caleb Calhoun

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Dec 27, 2014; El Paso, TX, USA; Arizona State players hold up the Hyundai Sun Bowl Trophy after winning the 2014 Sun Bowl at Sun Bowl Stadium. The Sun Devils defeated the Blue Devils 36-31. Mandatory Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre-USA TODAY Sports

4. 1984 Sun Bowl: Tennessee Loses to Maryland Terrapins 28-27

With Tony Robinson at quarterback and Johnnie Jones starring on another one of the early 1980s Tennessee football teams in the process of restoring the program to greatness under Head Coach Johnny Majors, the Vols suffered arguably their worst collapse in history in this bowl game.

Going into the game, they were 7-3-1, but in an up and down season that included a tie to Army and losses to Auburn, Florida, and Kentucky, they did beat Alabama for a second straight year.

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    • Going into the Sun Bowl, they were set to face an 8-3 Maryland Terrapins team that was ranked No. 12 in the country, was in the midst of a six-game winning streaks with wins against No. 6 Miami and No. 12 Clemson, and had won eight of its final nine games overall after an 0-2 start with another win against No. 17 West Virginia and its only loss coming by one point to No. 11 ranked Penn State.

    This was a good football team and a huge opportunity for the Vols to get into the national spotlight with a big win. It seemed that way early on.

    After finishing the greatest comeback ever at the time. coming back from 31 down to beat Miami 42-40 earlier that year, the Terps provided an encore in the bowl game.

    Tennessee jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead, but Maryland scored 22 straight in the third quarter. Tennessee responded with a kickoff return to make it 27-22, but Maryland scored a touchdown with two minutes remaining to nearly complete the comeback with a 28-27 lead.

    They secured the victory after a Tony Robinson fumble, which came with Tennessee just outside of field goal range to kick a game-winner. So the Vols blew a huge lead and then made a crucial turnover at the end to lose what could have been a thrilling bowl victory. Yes, this one hurt.

    Next: #3: 1975 Sugar Bowl

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