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Tennessee football: Vols greatest win vs. every current and former SEC opponent

By Caleb Calhoun

6 Dec 1997: Jamal Lewis #31 of Tennessee leaps over a pile of players for a touchdown during the Volunteers 30-29 win over Auburn in the SEC Championship at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.
6 Dec 1997: Jamal Lewis #31 of Tennessee leaps over a pile of players for a touchdown during the Volunteers 30-29 win over Auburn in the SEC Championship at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. /
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Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images /

8. Kentucky Wildcats (No. 3)

Year: 1950 (Home)

Final score: No. 9 Tennessee wins 7-0

We go from the one rival Tennessee football is known for owning to the other. And while the Vols’ best win over the Sewanee Tigers and Vanderbilt Commodores are in the prehistoric eras of college football, their best win over the Kentucky Wildcats is in the pre-modern era (which should be considered pre-integration).

And this is another win over Bear Bryant on the list. For context, the Vols were looking to return to prominence, as Robert Neyland had returned from the war in 1946 to go 9-2 and win the SEC but gave off vibes of losing his touch after back to back .500 years in 1947 and 1948.

But Neyland’s recruitment of guys like Doug Atkins, Ted Daffer, Bill Pearman and Hank Lauricella would give him another run at the top, and a 7-2-1 finish in 1949 raised expectations for a big 1950 season with a preseason top 5 ranking.

However, Bryant was becoming the talk of the town at Kentucky. He had seen four straight winning seasons, two bowl appearances and top 25 finishes, and entered 1950 with excessively high expectations. Bryant met those expectations with 10-0 start to get to No. 3 in the nation, and a national championship was in talks.

Meanwhile, the Vols lost a stunner in the second game of the season to the Mississippi State Bulldogs. They regrouped to win seven straight and came into this game 8-1. That set the stage for this game, a battle between two top 10 teams. Bryant was looking for his first win ever against the Vols as a head coach, and this was his best chance.

Out of nowhere, though, a heavy blizzard hit Knoxville this day. It was known as the Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 that covered the Eastern U.S. and brought snow, winds up to 110 miles an hour in some places and single-digit temperatures. The storm hit Nov. 24, and the game was on Nov. 25. These are the conditions the schools played in.

Tennessee football took advantage. A game that included 16 fumbles saw Kentucky lose eight while the Vols only lost four. Cashing in on one of the Kentucky fumbles, Lauricella hit Bert Rechichar for a 27-yard touchdown pass. That would be the only score of the game in this weather, and the Vols under Neyland would prove further ownership of Bryant, winning 7-0.

Both teams now claim national championships from this year, but this was the deciding game for the Vols to be able to claim it. They would win out and beat the Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl. But this was the highlight win of the season and UT’s greatest win ever over Kentucky.

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