Tennessee football: 5 heartbreakers Vols suffered right before facing Florida

2. 1990: Tennessee and Auburn tie at 26

You may think it weird to include a tie on this list. Tennessee football did tie the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in 1955 and the Kentucky Wildcats in 1928 before facing the Florida Gators. But the UK tie was commonplace at the time. The GT tie was actually a thrilling upset for the Vols.

This tie felt like a loss. Tennessee and Auburn met at Jordan-Hare with both teams looking to defend their co-1989 SEC Championship. The Vols, at the time, were ranked No. 5, and their only blemish was a tie to the eventual national champion Colorado Buffaloes. The Tigers, meanwhile, were undefeated and No. 3.

As a result, their were major national title implications in this game. Early on, the Vols and Johnny Majors’s team looked like the title team. They built a 26-9 fourth quarter lead over the Tigers. But Auburn roared back to tie the game at 26.

Still, Tennessee didn’t quit. Andy Kelly led the offense into field goal range and set Greg Burke up for a dead-center game-winner from 34 yards. These are the field goals anybody should make if they’re on scholarship. Well, Burke hooked it. And the Vols tied. The game, if you look at it, felt like a loss. While Tennessee was sickened, Auburn’s crowd went nuts while their players all celebrated…over a tie.

Anyway, this was super sickening because it might have cost the Vols a shot in the title picture. Still, they didn’t let it disappoint them the next week. This time, Tennessee turned that loss into anger and crushed Steve Spurrier’s first team with the Florida Gators at home, 45-3. That was the first game that was played when the rivalry officially began too.