Tennessee football: Four years Vols finished ranked after starting unranked
1. 1989
11-1 (6-1)
SEC Championship; No. 5 AP and Coaches; W Cotton Bowl
Four years after that 1985 title, it started to seem like a fluke. Johnny Majors sunk back to mediocrity in 1986, going 7-5. He got back to relevance in 1987, with a 10-2-1 record, but in 1988, Tennessee football started the year 0-6. They had a super-young team that year loaded with talent and no experience.
Despite regrouping as they learned more to win the final five games and finish 5-6, questions were abound if the Vols needed to part ways with Majors. However, that 1988 team laid the foundation for the future on Rocky Top, and that future would arrive the next year.
More from Vols Football
- How to Win a GUARANTEED $200 Bonus Betting Just $5 on the Vols vs. Florida!
- Tennessee Football at Florida: Five Keys to a Vols Victory
- Week 3 SEC Power Rankings: Did Tennessee Football’s Win Help At All?
- Week 3 AP Polls: Why Did Tennessee Football Drop in the Polls?
- Tennessee Football: Top Five Performers in 30-13 Win vs. Austin Peay
In 1989, the Vols had guys like Antone Davis, Carl Pickens, Alvin Harper, Andy Kelly, J.J. McCleskey and Chuck Webb all set to emerge. They complemented veterans like Eric Still and Reggie Cobb. And Phillip Fulmer and Doug Mathews were first-year offensive and defensive coordinators. Still, as the AP Poll had expanded to the top 25, UT was not in that or the Coaches’ preseason polls.
But with this talent, that would change soon enough. The Vols held on for an ugly 17-14 win over the Colorado State Rams to start things out. The next week, though, they beat the No. 6 ranked UCLA Bruins on the road. That was all they needed to get into the top 25. A win over the eventual ACC Champion Duke Blue Devils, led by Steve Spurrier, followed.
At 3-0, though, their big win came on the final day of September. Tennessee football beat the Auburn Tigers, who were ranked No. 4, behind a dominant rushing attack, winning 21-14. At that point, they got to the top 10, and they stayed there after beating the Georgia Bulldogs 17-14 the next week.
All of a sudden, a 5-6 team from the year before, which had started 0-6, was 5-0 and on a 10-game winning streak. However, during a bye week that followed, UT would dismiss Cobb. That distraction and a brewing quarterback change from Sterling Henton to Kelly was enough to cost them on the road at the No. 10 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, where they lost 47-30.
The loss knocked them out of the top 10. But then they ran the table, beating the LSU Tigers, Akron Zips, Ole Miss Rebels, Kentucky Wildcats and Vanderbilt Commodores to get to No. 8 in the country. Alabama losing to Auburn in the final week of the regular season would clinch them a share of the SEC Championship.
As a result, the Vols got a Cotton Bowl invite to face the Southwest Champion Arkansas Razorbacks. Behind Webb and an aggressive defense, they won that game 31-27. A series of losses in bowl games would allow them to finish 11-1 and in the top 5, at No. 5 in both polls.
Next. Ranking Vols' 2019 games by difficulty. dark
This was the season that marked the beginning of a historically great run for the Vols in the modern era. They would win four SEC titles and a national title in a 10-year span, make 16 straight bowl appearances, and have 13 straight top 25 finishes. And it all started with a year that they began the season unranked.