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Tennessee football: Irony in Vols shutout loss with Peyton Manning there

By Caleb Calhoun

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - NOVEMBER 20: Former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning watches action prior to a game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Tennessee Titans at Lucas Oil Stadium on November 20, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - NOVEMBER 20: Former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning watches action prior to a game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Tennessee Titans at Lucas Oil Stadium on November 20, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee football’s 41-0 shutout loss to the Georgia Bulldogs the same day Peyton Manning was honored is much like the quarterback’s first game at Neyland.

It’s one of the most brutal twists of irony in Tennessee football history. On Saturday, the Vols suffered their first shutout loss at Neyland Stadium since 1994.

That shutout loss was 1994. It was a 31-0 loss to the Florida Gators in Peyton Manning’s first appearance at Neyland Stadium. Manning didn’t start the game but did see some action.

Now, 23 years later, things have come full circle. Tennessee football honored its legendary quarterback Saturday for his College Football Hall of Fame induction. And it was for his exploits in Knoxville.

On the day he was honored, the Vols suffered this shutout loss. You couldn’t write a more brutal script for Tennessee football.

Actually, you could.

This isn’t the first time Tennessee honored Manning at Neyland Stadium to see a bitter end. The Vols retired his jersey in 2005 as they were facing the South Carolina Gamecocks and the one guy who owned Manning in college: Steve Spurrier.

Tennessee lost that game 16-15 and fell to 3-4 on that season.

Simply put, as great as Manning is, there’s some significant curse whenever the Vols decide to honor him at Neyland Stadium. One of the few bad things about his time in Knoxville just seems to resurface itself that day.

On the bright side, it was the only reason to be excited at Neyland on Saturday. Everything else was an utter disaster.

Seeing Phillip Fulmer in attendance with Manning and other legends was at least a reminder that Tennessee once had some glory days.

Whether or not they get back to that anytime soon remains to be seen. But the fact that this game with him defending Butch Jones earlier this week makes it just another brutal twist of irony. It was just a bad, rough day for Tennessee football.

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