1. 1967
Dewey Warren
9-2 (6-0)
SEC and National Championship; No. 2 AP and Coaches; Orange Bowl
We said we’d date this list back to the Doug Dickey era. Well, Dickey’s first quarterback to usher in the T was Dewey Warren, and after two years of leading Tennessee football to top 20 rankings, this was his year to shine.
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In addition to Warren, a slew of Dickey recruits were juniors and seniors this year, so they naturally managed to thrive. Bubba Wyche also saw action at quarterback, to be fair, but Warren was the main guy. Known as the “Swamp Rat,” he brought Rocky Top into the modern age with his play, and he did it 30 years before Peyton Manning’s championship season.
Coming off an 8-3 campaign, the Vols opened things up with a four-point loss at the No. 8 ranked UCLA Bruins. However, they immediately rebounded with wins over the Auburn Tigers, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and No. 6 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, all by double-digits. At that point, they moved into the top five and then beat the LSU Tigers to move to No. 3.
UT ran the table in the SEC the rest of the way to finish the regular season 9-1. Meanwhile, UCLA tied the Oregon State Beavers and lost to the USC Trojans to fall behind the Vols, and since USC lost to Oregon State and Oregon State had two losses, the national championship was disputed. USC won it, but the Vols earned a credible claim by Litkenhous.
Now, Tennessee football did lose the Orange Bowl 26-24 to the No. 3 ranked Oklahoma Sooners. But bowl games weren’t counted into the season at the time. As a result, the Vols earned a claim to the national title this year and won the SEC title outright. That makes it the best season in school history with a senior quarterback.