Tennessee football’s 10 luckiest wins of all time

2. 2003: 4th and 19, goal-line stands result in Vols five-overtime win

Another game that went into multiple overtimes saw Tennessee football get every break in the book to win. Yes, we have two games from the 2003 campaign. As we already noted, the Vols fell to 4-2 after a 4-0 start and were floundering.

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Here, they were set to face a struggling Alabama Crimson Tide team that was on probation would go 4-9 on the year under first-year head coach Mike Shula. They remained in every game, though, including this one. In a hideous first half, Alabama went up 6-3. However, they left points on the board after Jason Allen blocked a field goal that was within 30 yards.

In the second half, these two teams’ offenses picked up. The Vols then stopped Alabama in a goal-line stand that would have made the difference if Shula just tried the field goal. Late in the game, though, was the real story. On a 4th and 2 and up 20-13, all Alabama needed was a first down.

Shula quickly rushed out his punt team, confusing the Vols, and they had too many men on the field. However, Alabama did not snap it in time, and they ended up punting. Casey Clausen led a hurry-up offense that went 90 yards in a minute to tie the game up and send it to overtime. The Tide then had a chance for a game-winning field goal after a great return, but it was missed.

So they only got to overtime because of all these Alabama mistakes: a blocked field goal, a failed 4th-and-goal from the one-yard line, another missed field goal, and an inability to snap the ball on time to force a game-winning penalty. Then came overtime.

The two teams traded touchdowns in the first overtime, and Alabama went up 27-20 in the second. Tennessee football then had the ball, and a series of mistakes brought up 4th and 19. Somehow, they converted. Then James Banks caught a tipped pass for a touchdown to tie it up.

After that, the two teams traded field goals and touchdowns, and the Vols went up 51-43 with a touchdown in the fifth overtime. UT finally won after Allen knocked away a shot Alabama took in the end zone, inexplicably on 4th and 1. They got the win, but they were extremely lucky. Still, they took that momentum to finish the season 10-2 and win a share of the SEC East.