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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 Scott Halleran/Getty Images
Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images /

10. Georgia Bulldogs (No. 3)

Year: 2004 (Away)

Very few rivalries are as evenly matched as Tennessee football’s rivalry with the Georgia Bulldogs. The two didn’t play annually until 1992, and the series is currently tied at 23-23-2. We could have picked a few games for this one as well.

You have the Vols’ upset with Phillip Fulmer and Heath Shuler in 1992, UT dominating on the road after losing Jamal Lewis in 1998, the 21-point comeback in 2015 and the 2016 Hail Mary game. In fact, many fans may put the 2016 Hail Mary game on here first.That’s understandable. It was a thrilling finish and certainly one of the best plays in Vols history.

But as an overall game, this was a better win. That’s why it makes the list. Remember, in 2004, the Vols had been on a four-game losing streak to Georgia. Their loss to them in 2003 in the biggest momentum swing ever, the Sean Jones 99-yard fumble return, cost them a shot at the SEC and National Title in Casey Clausen’s senior campaign.

Coming into this one, Georgia returned everybody from the previous year. The Vols, meanwhile, had to replace a ton of talent and were expected to rebuild with two freshman quarterbacks. That was affirmed since a week before, UT had lost at home 34-10 to the Auburn Tigers, and Georgia beat the defending national champion LSU Tigers 45-16.

With Erik Ainge as the starter, the young Vols would head to Athens for their first road game of the year against that backdrop. As a result, they were double-digit underdogs. But senior linebacker Kevin Burnett made a surprise guarantee ahead of time that Tennessee football would see Auburn again in the SEC title game.

This game made that pick come true. Up to that point, the only other two times in the last decade the Vols were double-digit underdogs were 2001 against the Florida Gators and 2003 against the Miami Hurricanes. They were on the road in both of them and won both of them. This would be the third time they did it.

Ainge scored an opening-drive touchdown. Then an attacking defense cashed in on UGA mistakes to build a 10-0 lead, a 13-7 halftime lead and a 19-7 fourth quarter lead. Georgia fought back to make it 19-14, and then they had one final drive that came down to the wire. But senior quarterback David Greene was intercepted as time expired to secure the upset for the Vols.

Since this was a top 5 win and a major upset for the Vols, it ended a losing streak to Georgia and it resulted in them winning the SEC East, there are more thrilling parts to this victory than the 2016 win. That’s why it tops our list for Georgia wins.

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