7. 1998: Clint Stoerner stumbles and fumbles as Hogs blow 21-3 lead
Anybody who saw this game uses it as evidence that Tennessee football was a team of destiny in 1998. Heck, it may even suggest that the Illuminati does exist. The Vols were undefeated and had reached their first No. 1 ranking in decades that week. However, the No. 10 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks were the surprise team at 8-0 under first-year head coach Houston Nutt.
Questions were out about Arkansas’s schedule, though, and this was their first test. Thanks to a dominating defense and a great day from Clint Stoerner, they proved the doubters wrong immediately, going up 14-0 and then 21-3. A UT touchdown to Peerless Price made it 21-10, and in the second half, the Vols cut it to 24-20.
That’s when the luck kicked in. It started when Arkansas had a field goal blocked and returned by Al Wilson to flip field position. UT couldn’t cash in and had to punt. But then the Hogs had a bad snap on the punt, resulting in a safety to cut it to 24-22. Still, though, the Vols were stopped on 4th down on the next drive, so once again, they failed to cash in.
With the lead and the ball near midfield, Arkansas was just going to try to run out the clock. However, Stoerner then tripped over his offensive lineman’s foot on a simple 2nd down running play and fumbled the ball. Billy Ratliff fell on top of it to recover. The Vols responded with a huge dose of Travis Henry, who got them to the end zone on five carries to secure them a 28-24 win.
There’s no question luck was involved in this game. It could have derailed Rocky Top’s 1998 national championship season. However, we don’t put it as high as others on the list because, mathematically, the Vols still would’ve gotten the ball back even without the fumble, and they would’ve had a minute to drive into field goal range for the win.