3. Alabama Crimson Tide – 1985
Everybody remembers this as the bittersweet part of the 1985 season. Tennessee football had already shocked the world to this point by tying the No. 10 ranked UCLA Bruins, upsetting the No. 1 ranked Auburn Tigers, holding off the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and then suffering a close loss to the No. 7 ranked Florida Gators on the road.
So at 2-1-1, they were ranked No. 20 and visiting a No. 15 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide team that just barely lost to the No. 8 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions a week earlier. In a back and forth game, quarterback Tony Robinson was knocked out with a season-ending injury. However, UT was still clinging to a 16-14 lead late.
Alabama got the ball with under eight minutes left and gained 38 yards on three passes from Mike Shula. They had driven into Vol territory and only needed to run the ball to get into range for a game-winning field goal. However, defensive coordinator Ken Donahue, who had just left Alabama in 1984 after years under Bear Bryant, dialed up the perfect call.
Donahue called a blitz at just that right moment, and that forced Shula to rush a pass that was intercepted by Dale Jones. UT had stopped Alabama offenses in previous years with defensive stands, but this one was much tougher. The Tide had one more desperate chance, but this was the key stop. The Vols would tie the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets the next week and then win out.