All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee football: 10 memorable Vols wins with first-year head coach

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 7: A Tennessee Volunteer holds up his helmet in the team huddle before the NCAA football game against the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders at Neyland Stadium on September 7, 2002 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won 26-3. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 7: A Tennessee Volunteer holds up his helmet in the team huddle before the NCAA football game against the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders at Neyland Stadium on September 7, 2002 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won 26-3. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 11
Next
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images /

6. 1964: Tennessee beats Georgia Tech 22-14

Head Coach: Doug Dickey

Tennessee football’s 1964 season was a rebuilding one similar to the 2013 season under Butch Jones. The Vols’ program had fallen apart under Bowden Wyatt at the end, and Jim McDonald went 5-5 in just one season in Knoxville.

So in trying to catch up to the trends, Dickey came along and was set to establish his modern T-formation, the fashionable offense of the time. It was similar to Jones installing the fashionable spread offense in 2013.

Anyway, Dickey did not have the personnel to run this offense. So he was inevitably in for a rough year in 1964. But the Vols were 3-2-1 heading into November, and their only losses were to Top 10 teams, as was their only tie.

Related Story: Vols 5 best seasons with first-year head coach

This game was against the No. 7 ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. At the time, they were 7-0 and in the running for a national championship. So there was a lot for them to be excited about heading into the game.

But the Vols, in a rebuilding year, got to play spoiler. Down 14-0 in the fourth quarter, Dickey made a quarterback change and went with Dave Leake. Leake led two quick touchdown drives and gave the Vols a 15-14 lead after a two-point conversion. But it wasn’t over.

Georgia Tech was driving and in Vols territory. They had a great chance to kick a game-winning field goal. That’s when the defense stepped up. Doug Archibald intercepted a pass on the 31-yard line and ran it back 69 yards for a touchdown. That was the clincher.

Tennessee football pulled off a huge road upset, and it was Dickey’s first signature victory. The next three games, the quarterback issues in the new offense came to a head and they lost all three. But this win was enough to give the Vols the momentum they needed to take off under Dickey, which they did the next year.

Home/Vols Football