Tennessee football: Five other times Vols C-USA foes had winning records
2. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (No. 22) – 2000
No. 13 Tennessee Volunteers win 19-16
Southern Miss final record: 8-4 (4-3); W Mobile Alabama Bowl
Yes, Tennessee football seems to only play the Southern Miss Golden Eagles when they face a good C-USA team. But this was a very good Southern Miss team they were playing, and they had to prepare for a struggle going in.
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
The Vols entered the new millennium outside of the top 10 in preseason play for the first time in six years. That’s because they had to replace a ton of talent and had no quarterback. Casey Clausen was supposed to be the starter, but a preseason shoulder injury forced Joey Mathews to start this game.
Meanwhile, Southern Miss was coming off a 9-3 season, a top 15 finish and a Conference USA Championship while entering this season in the top 25. The program was rolling under Jeff Bower. So this would be a brutal test to start the season.
UT struggled early. A turnover by Mathews spotted them a 3-0 lead. He responded with an errant five-yard touchdown pass that Cedrick Wilson managed to come down with. But then Fulmer pulled him for AJ Suggs, who threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Donte Stallworth in the third quarter. A Will Overstreet safety made the score 19-3, and Travis Henry had 135 yards on the day.
But the young team didn’t have a lot of depth, and the defense gave up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. So they had to recover an onside kick to hold on for the win. Suggs would get the start over the next four games as UT fell to 2-3 thanks to late defensive collapses against the Florida Gators and LSU Tigers and an anemic offense against the Georgia Bulldogs.
However, the Vols would rebound and set the stage for a big 2001 season as Clausen took back the starting job in the sixth game against the Alabama Crimson Tide and directed Tennessee football to a six-game winning streak, finishing the regular season 8-3. They ended 8-4 overall after a 35-21 Cotton Bowl loss to the Kansas State Wildcats.
Related Story. Five takeaways from Vols' win over South Carolina. light
Southern Miss would actually finish 8-4 as well. Despite a 6-1 start, they lost three of their final four games to blow a chance at a repeat conference title. But they rebounded with 28-21 Mobile Alabama Bowl victory over the No. 16 ranked TCU Horned Frogs. So this was still a very good C-USA team the Vols had to face.