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Tennessee football: Johnny Majors’ top five games as a player

By Caleb Calhoun

PITTSBURGH - SEPTEMBER 5: Johnny Majors, former head football coach of the Iowa State University Cyclones, the University of Pittsburgh Panthers and the University of Tennessee Volunteers, looks on from the sideline before a college football game between the Pitt Panthers and Youngstown State Penguins at Heinz Field on September 5, 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Pitt Panthers defeated Youngstown 38-3. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH - SEPTEMBER 5: Johnny Majors, former head football coach of the Iowa State University Cyclones, the University of Pittsburgh Panthers and the University of Tennessee Volunteers, looks on from the sideline before a college football game between the Pitt Panthers and Youngstown State Penguins at Heinz Field on September 5, 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Pitt Panthers defeated Youngstown 38-3. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images
Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images /

7. 824. 34. 839. Final

3. Aerial assault by Johnny Majors leads to blowout win for Vols

The power of the Maryland Terrapins was nothing new to Johnny Majors. As he was being recruited by Robert Neyland, Tennessee football was losing to the Terps in the Sugar Bowl at the end of the 1951 season despite being declared national champions. When Majors was a freshman, the Terps won the national title.

Simply put, he took this team seriously. So in 1956, with the Vols off to a 4-0 start, it didn’t matter that Maryland was 1-4 under first-year head coach Tommy Mont, who replaced Jim Tatum after he led the Terps to a 10-1 record and another ACC title in 1955. Majors was going to give it all he had in this one, and he did just that.

Rocky Top built off of a shutout over the Alabama Crimson Tide the week before to pile on Maryland. Majors was the star, and he did something extremely rare at the time in the single-wing offense. He threw for three touchdown passes. That’s a great line today, but it was especially impressive back in the 1950s given how conservative UT was under Bowden Wyatt.

Oh, we should also mention that Majors had one punt that sailed 47 yards. Simply put, his play helped the Vols dominate in a 34-7 win, and they did get a shot to dominate Tatum the next week, as he was with the North Carolina Tar Heels, and they then beat UNC 20-0. But Majors’ standout game came here against UMD.

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