Tennessee football’s Johnny Majors vs. Auburn’s Pat Dye: Ranking 11 games

6. 1981: Ken Hobby fumble gives Vols win in first meet with Pat Dye

It was the first matchup between Johnny Majors and Pat Dye. After three non-winning seasons and two losing seasons during his first four years, Majors entered 1981 with a lot of pressure as Tennessee football’s head coach. Luckily, he bought enough good will due to his national championship with the Pitt Panthers and his legendary status as a player. But he had to step up.

Meanwhile, the Auburn Tigers were in their first season under head coach Pat Dye. Expectations were low. They entered this game 1-1, beating the TCU Horned Frogs but losing to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. The Vols, meanwhile, were 1-2, having lost at the Georgia Bulldogs and USC Trojans but then beaten the Colorado State Rams.

Well, in an ugly affair that saw neither team ranked, backup quarterback Steve Alatorre led a touchdown drive in the second quarter to give the Vols a 10-7 lead. It then became a defensive struggle, but Auburn drove to the UT four-yard line late with one play left to go. That’s when the Vol defense came through, forcing a Ken Hobby fumble to secure the win.

UT took that momentum to win a second straight 10-7 game the next week against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets en route to an 8-4 season. Auburn, meanwhile, fell to 5-6 in Dye’s first season. It was a preview of the epic clashes the two programs would have throughout the decade.