All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee football’s 10 most unlucky losses of all time

By Caleb Calhoun

BATON ROUGE, LA - OCTOBER 02: The Louisiana State University Fighting Tigers celebrate after defeating the University of Tennessee 16-14 at Tiger Stadium on October 2, 2010 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LA - OCTOBER 02: The Louisiana State University Fighting Tigers celebrate after defeating the University of Tennessee 16-14 at Tiger Stadium on October 2, 2010 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
11 of 11
Next
Photo by Doug Pensinger/AllSport
Photo by Doug Pensinger/AllSport /

25. 844. 24. 839. Final

1. 1992: Return touchdown, onside kick lead to game-winner

There has never been a greater failure by Tennessee football to follow Gen. Robert Neyland’s sixth game maxim than in this game. It was also a game that would fundamentally alter the future of the program.

More from All for Tennessee

For context, the Vols were 5-0 under new quarterback Heath Shuler entering this game. Phillip Fulmer had served as interim head coach for Johnny Majors, who recovered from open-heart surgery to start the season, en route to a 3-0 start that included upset wins over the Georgia Bulldogs and Florida Gators.

Majors’ return saw the Vols beat the Cincinnati Bearcats and LSU Tigers. A team that was supposed to be rebuilding was no ranked No. 4 in the nation with one game left against a ranked opponent, the Alabama Crimson Tide. They should have had the SEC East locked up in its first year of expansion thanks to all of this.

The Arkansas Razorbacks, meanwhile, were SEC newcomers along with the South Carolina Gamecocks. Entering this game, they were 1-4, their only win coming over South Carolina. So the Vols should have dominated.

Well, late in the game, they were up 24-16. It was ugly, but they appeared as if the would get out of their with a win. However, Arkansas fielded a punt and returned it the other way for a touchdown to cut the score to 24-22.

After failing on the two-point try, the Vols could breath a sigh of relief. They would win by recovering the onside kick. That didn’t happen either, though. Arkansas recovered it and managed to drive into UT territory again.

Finally, the Hogs took a one-point lead off a 40-yard field goal. A series of unlikely scenarios against a far inferior team gave them  a 25-24 huge upset win. And that had significant implications on the future. The next week, the Vols lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide by a touchdown, and then they lost to South Carolina also by one point.

Next. 10 Vols coaches who inherited biggest mess. dark

Because of that three-game losing streak, Tennessee football replaced Majors with Fulmer at the end of the year. Had the Vols held off Arkansas, they likely wouldn’t have had the distractions against South Carolina and may have even beaten Alabama. However, they couldn’t and it was due to bad luck in the kicking game. This makes it their and Majors’ most unlucky loss.

Home/Vols Football