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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 Jonathan Daniel /Allsport
Photo by Jonathan Daniel /Allsport /

5. Alabama Crimson Tide (No. 2)

Year: 1982 (Home)

Final score: Tennessee wins 35-28

Congratulations to Bear Bryant for having a win against him be on this list three different times from when he was at three different schools. This one just happened to be the last time Tennessee football would ever face Bryant.

The Vols have many great wins over the Alabama Crimson Tide. They had a 15-13 win in 1928, the a 21-0 win in 1939, the 24-13 win in 1967 that would decide the SEC Championship and the 41-14 dominating win behind Peyton Manning in 1995. But none of them compare to this one.

For context, the Vols had been struggling in the early years of Johnny Majors. From 1977 to 1981, they had seen only two winning seasons and also saw two losing seasons along with one .500 season and no top 25 finishes. This year, they started things off 2-2 with a loss to the Duke Blue Devils. Alabama, meanwhile, started the year ranked No. 4 and got off to a 4-0 start.

What would happen to those schools on Oct. 9, though, after those starts, would set the stage for this game. Majors’s team scored a shocking tie on the road against the No. 18 ranked LSU Tigers, who had started the year 3-0 and had just beat the No. 4 ranked Florida Gators. That tie gave them just enough confidence for Alabama.

Meanwhile, the Tide blew out the No. 3 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions that day 42-21. That win would give them just enough overconfidence. So they would roll into Knoxville 5-0 and ranked No. 2 while the Vols were 2-2-1. Oh, and we might add that they were on an 11-game winning streak against Rocky Top and Majors had never beaten Bryant or Alabama.

So coming into the game, there was no reason to bet against the Tide. And they jumped out to a 14-3 first-half lead. It was only cut to 21-13 at halftime. But the Vols shockingly went off in the second half. Nick Reveiz kicked a third field goal to make it 21-16.

Then Alan Cockrell threw a 39-yard touchdown pass and converted the two-point conversion, and all of a sudden the Vols were in the game. A fourth Reveiz field goal would give them a 27-21 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Chuck Coleman then had a 32-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that ended with another two-point conversion.

All of a sudden, Tennessee football was up 35-21. Could they really pull this off? It would be the upset of upsets in Vols history. Alabama made it threatening, as they scored anther touchdown to make it 35-28 and then got the ball back and drove to the UT 17-yard line. But then Walter Lewis intercepted a pass in the end zone to secure the win. The fans rushed the field after that.

It was the win of all wins in the moment, and things could not have been more thrilling. The only reason it’s not higher overall is because the Vols would only finish 6-5-1 on the year, so it meant little. Also, the quality fell off a bit as Alabama stumbled the rest of the way to only finish 8-4. But in terms of quality in that moment and meaning, it’s the Vols’ greatest win over Alabama ever.

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