Tennessee football: Remembering all four Vols bowl games played in 2010s decade
1. Dec. 30, 2010 – Music City Bowl (Nashville, Tenn.)
Lost to North Carolina Tar Heels 30-27 (2OT)
Vols final 2010 record: 6-7 (3-5)
It was the game that changed NCAA rules. After inheriting a mess and turning a 2-6 record into a 6-6 finish to the regular season, Tennessee football entered its first bowl game of the decade with a good bit of excitement about the future of the program under first-year head coach Derek Dooley. The Music City Bowl was to be the icing on the cake after such an amazing turnaround.
Lining up against them were the North Carolina Tar Heels, who were 7-5 under fourth-year head coach Butch Davis, a guy Mike Hamilton tried to hire away two years prior to replace Phillip Fulmer. This matchup was a thriller. Led by freshman quarterback Tyler Bray, the Vols went toe to toe with the Tar Heels all game.
The ending, though, is where the splash happened. Down 17-14, Bray threw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to give UT the lead. However, Daniel Lincoln missed an extra point that proved crucial. Up 20-17, the Vols got a fourth down stop late and then punted. They had UNC beat. But UNC then drove into UT territory thanks to two great passes and a crucial late hit penalty.
Still, with no timeouts and the clock running, the Tar Heels called a draw play to get to field goal range. However, as the clock was running, they couldn’t get set to spike the ball. So they spiked it with too many men on the field. The Vols thought they had won, just as they did earlier in the season against the LSU Tigers before the 13-men on the field penalty.
This time, they got hit with the other team having too many men on the field. Well, UNC took the penalty then kicked a game-tying field goal. After trading touchdowns in the first overtime, a Bray interception set up a game-winning field goal in the second overtime.
As a result, UNC won thanks to too many men on the field. That set up the 10-second runoff rule in college football. And it also resulted in Tennessee football finishing the season with a losing record, which further set Dooley back given everything else stacked against him.