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Tennessee football: Vols 10 best wins against religious schools

By Caleb Calhoun

Aaron Hayden #24, Running Back for the University of Tennessee Volunteers runs the ball during the NCAA Southeastern Conference college football game against the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish on 9 November 1991 at the Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. The Tennessee Volunteers won the game 35 - 34. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Allsport/Getty Images)
Aaron Hayden #24, Running Back for the University of Tennessee Volunteers runs the ball during the NCAA Southeastern Conference college football game against the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish on 9 November 1991 at the Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. The Tennessee Volunteers won the game 35 - 34. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Allsport/Getty Images) /
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8. 1914 in Chattanooga

Sewanee Tigers vs. Tennessee Volunteers

Final score: Tennessee wins 14-7

Yes, we go way back for this one to the Zora Clevenger days. Tennessee football played third-fiddle in the state at the time to the Sewanee Tigers and Vanderbilt Commodores. Sewanee doesn’t seem like a religious school, but it is an Episcopal college.

Back in 1914, the Vols had never yet beaten Vandy, and they had only beaten Sewanee once, back in 1902. But they faced both teams on a yearly basis, so that shows you how much they were owned. This season changed everything, though.

Coming off a 6-3 season in 1913, Clevenger was entering his fourth year. His team got off to a red-hot start, blowing out everybody. The highlight win of this season did not come against Sewanee, to be fair. But it gave the Vols the momentum they needed to beat Sewanee.

One week before facing the Tigers in Chattanooga, UT faced the Vanderbilt Commodores. And finally, on the road, they scored their first ever victory in the series, 16-14. With that momentum, they faced Sewanee the next week, and once again they won a thriller, topping the Tigers 14-7.

The win put them firmly in control of their own destiny to win the SIAA Championship. A week later, they beat the Kentucky Wildcats to clinch their second of four perfect seasons in school history and their first conference championship. Ending a drought to do it in a championship season means this was a significant win against a religious school.

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