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Tennessee football: Five other times Vols C-USA foes had winning records

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 04: Jarrett Guarantano #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers shakes hands with Keon Howard #2 of the Southern Miss Golden Eagles after the game at Neyland Stadium on November 4, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 04: Jarrett Guarantano #2 of the Tennessee Volunteers shakes hands with Keon Howard #2 of the Southern Miss Golden Eagles after the game at Neyland Stadium on November 4, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images /

4. Southern Miss Golden Eagles – 2007

No. 24 Tennessee Volunteers win 39-19

Southern Miss final record: 7-6 (5-3); Papajohns.com Bowl appearance

A decade before the 2017 disaster was the final good year of Tennessee football before this period of futility. With a senior quarterback in Erik Ainge and David Cutcliffe still as offensive coordinator, the Vols entered 2007 with high expectations. However, a 45-31 loss to the Cal Golden Bears on the road to start the season tempered those expectations.

Between Cal and a road trip to the defending national champion Florida Gators, the Vols entered their trap game against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles with an 0-1 record. Southern Miss was in its final season under head coach Jeff Bower, and they were 1-0 after a victory over UT-Martin.

But UT put together a complete performance in this one. Ainge completed 23-of-36 passes for 276 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, and Lucas Taylor and Austin Rogers both went over 100 yards receiving. Rogers and Josh Briscoe caught the two touchdown passes. Meanwhile, Arian Foster had 23 carries for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

Things were close early, though, as Southern Miss had built a 3-0 first quarter lead and then scored an early touchdown to go back up 10-7. They extended it to 13-7 at one point and led 13-10 going into the second, making it 16-10 at one point. Ainge’s touchdown to Briscoe gave the Vols a 17-16 halftime lead, though, and they poured it on in the second half.

Rico McCoy had an interception, and Nevin McKenzie had a safety late in the game to stand out for the defense. Southern Miss, however would finish the regular season 7-5 only to lose 31-21 to the Cincinnati Bearcats, led by first-year head coach Brian Kelly, in the Papajohns.com Bowl.

UT would lose 59-20 to Florida the next week, and they would later lose 41-17 to the Alabama Crimson Tide. But they would rebound from both losses while Florida lost three divisional games to back into the SEC Championship game as winners of the East with a 9-3 record and 6-2 conference record.

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