Tennessee football: Vols made a bowl last two seasons they started 2-5

For the third time in the last 40 years, Tennessee football began a season 2-5. But the Volunteers made a bowl game the last two times they had this start.

How’s this for a good omen? Tennessee football, for all of its losing over the last decade, has only started three seasons with 2-5 records dating back to 1978, Johnny Majors second season on the job. And the last two ended pretty well.

This is that third season. After losing to the Alabama Crimson Tide 35-13 last Saturday, Jeremy Pruitt’s second team moved to 2-5 and 1-3 in the SEC with two losses at home to Group of Five programs to open the season. But history shows that UT rebounds with such starts.

Most recently, Tennessee football started 2010 with a 2-5 record. That was Derek Dooley’s first team, and after a 2-2 start, they had the infamous 13-men on the field game to lose on the road to the LSU Tigers. After that, the Vols suffered blowout losses to the Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide.

At 2-5, they were set to face the South Carolina Gamecocks, just as they are this week. But they lost that game as well, falling to 2-6. There was a silver lining, though, as Tyler Bray came in and looked very good in cleanup duty.

The next week, Bray replaced Matt Simms as the starting quarterback. Lots of other freshmen were thrown into the mix. And that new energy combined with a much easier schedule allowed the Vols to win four straight to finish 6-6. They made it to a bowl and lost a heartbreaker to the North Carolina Tar Heels, but that strong November was one to remember.

Before that season, though, you have to go all the way back to 1986 for the other time Tennessee football started out 2-5. That one was much more disappointing. The year before, the Vols finished in the top five and won the SEC title and Sugar Bowl against the Miami Hurricanes with a 9-1-2 record, their first championship season in 16 years.

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They started the season off ranked No. 10 in the nation and moved up to No. 8 after beating the New Mexico State Aggies. But then disaster struck. UT suffered upset losses at home to the Mississippi State Bulldogs and Army Black Knights, were blown out by the Auburn Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide and then fell by one to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

At 2-5, they rebounded with four straight wins, and they then won their bowl game, a Liberty Bowl victory over the Minnesota Golden Gophers to finish 7-5. So Tennessee football has these two seasons to look to for hope. However, those two seasons are more similar to each other than they would be to this team.

In somewhat of an eery way, the Vols didn’t just go on a four-game winning streak both seasons. They did it against the exact same teams. UT got both rebounds started by beating the Memphis Tigers (Memphis State in 1986). Then they upset the Ole Miss Rebels next both times. And they closed out both seasons beating the Kentucky Wildcats and Vanderbilt Commodores.

Now, there were some differences. Memphis was at home while Ole Miss was on the road in 1986, and the reverse was true in 2010. Oh, and they played Kentucky last in 2010 while playing Vanderbilt last in 1986. Finally, they went to the Liberty Bowl and won in 1986 while going to the Music City Bowl and losing in 2010.

However, the point of all of this is the fact that Tennessee football has light at the end of the tunnel. And that’s good news for a program desperate for a turnaround in head coach Jeremy Pruitt’s second season. Majors was in his 10th in 1986.