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Tennessee football: Ranking Vols four seasons following previous Gator Bowl wins

By Caleb Calhoun

14 Oct 1995: TENNESSEE PLAYERS CELEBRATE AFTER WIDE RECEIVER MARCUS NASH SCORED HIS SECOND TOUCHDOWN AGAINST ALABAMA DURING THE SECOND QUARTER OF THE VOLUNTEERS 41-14 VICTORY OVER THE CRIMSON TIDE AT LEGION FIELD IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.
14 Oct 1995: TENNESSEE PLAYERS CELEBRATE AFTER WIDE RECEIVER MARCUS NASH SCORED HIS SECOND TOUCHDOWN AGAINST ALABAMA DURING THE SECOND QUARTER OF THE VOLUNTEERS 41-14 VICTORY OVER THE CRIMSON TIDE AT LEGION FIELD IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA. /
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Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images /

4. 1958

4-6 (4-3)

1957: 8-3 (4-3); No 13 AP; No. 16 Coaches; W Gator Bowl vs. Texas A&M Aggies

This was the season that marked the dramatic downward slide of Bowden Wyatt. What wasn’t clear was the fact that 1957 was evidence of that, as it was a dramatic dropoff from 1956. That year, his second year on the job, Tennessee football went 10-0 in the regular season and won the SEC Championship with Johnny Majors finishing as the Heisman runner-up.

They had a lot of rebuilding to do in 1957. But they still maintained relevance by going 8-3, and that Gator Bowl win was against a Texas A&M Aggies team playing its last game under head coach Bear Bryant, who would then leave for the Alabama Crimson Tide. They won 3-0, and with A&M in the top 10 and 8-2 at the time, the win was great.

However, they did not build off that the next year. UT opened the season with a 13-0 loss to the Auburn Tigers, but they teased fans the next week by upsetting the No. 11 ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs. Then they shocked fans by losing to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets before beating Alabama, and Bear Bryant, again.

At 2-2, they seemed to be in decent shape. Then they lost three straight, including bad ones to the Florida State Seminoles and Chattanooga Mocs with a non-conference loss to the No. 17 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels in between.

So they were 2-5 at that point and left for dead. But the inconsistencies did not stop. They beat the No. 7 ranked Ole Miss Rebels and No. 15 ranked Vanderbilt Commodores to close out the season, but in between was a loss to the unranked Kentucky Wildcats. Simply put, this season was marred by inconsistency.

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