Tennessee football: Vols win over Auburn ended 15 losing streaks

11. Games as an underdog (12 games)

Last win: 2015; Tennessee beats Georgia 38-31

Since that 5-0 start in 2016, Tennessee football lost two games as the favorite that very season. But a team that used to pride itself on winning as an underdog could not get over the hump in the past few years.

The last time they won as an underdog was really the game that seemed to represent a turning point for the program under Butch Jones in a positive way. We’re talking about the 2015 game against the Georgia Bulldogs.

Up to that point, the Vols had lost two straight as a favorite. They were 2-3, and with 2015 supposed to be the year they reach the Top 25, Jones was beginning to reach the hot seat. But this Georgia game started a year-long trend of belief in him and his program.

Down 24-3 in the first half, the Vols fought back thanks to one of Joshua Dobbs’s historic performances. He had a game with five total touchdowns, and after a few breaks, Tennessee put together a historically great second half to win 38-31.

The victory was the beginning of what set off 12 wins in 13 tries, including 11 straight wins from 2015 to 2016. And their only loss was a 19-14 close one on the road against the eventual national champion Alabama Crimson Tide in 2015. But while this Georgia game got things going, the 2016 Georgia game on the previous slide was where it peaked. Everything collapsed after that.