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Tennessee football’s top 25 single-game performances in history

By Caleb Calhoun

Peyton Manning #16, Quarterback for the University of Tennessee Volunteers during the NCAA Pac 10 college football game against the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA Bruins on 6th September 1997 at the Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, California, United States. The Tennessee Volunteers won the game 30 - 24. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Allsport/Getty Images)
Peyton Manning #16, Quarterback for the University of Tennessee Volunteers during the NCAA Pac 10 college football game against the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA Bruins on 6th September 1997 at the Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, California, United States. The Tennessee Volunteers won the game 30 - 24. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Allsport/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images
Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images /

9. Carl Pickens

1990 vs. Kentucky Wildcats

No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers win 42-28

10 receptions for 201 yards; 3 touchdowns

Whenever you go over 200 yards receiving in a game, it’s impressive. Carl Pickens had one of the greatest performances in history for a Tennessee football wide receiver in 1990 against the Kentucky Wildcats. The Vols were in the hunt to win the SEC Championship, and at this time, they were 6-2-2 and needing to win every game to win it.

Kentucky was 4-6 under first-year head coach Bill Curry. Their season came down to trying to spoil the Vols’ bid to win the SEC, and they managed to turn this game into a shootout, giving UT’s young defense hell the whole time. To respond to that, Phillip Fulmer and Johnny Majors relied on Andy Kelly’s arm, and one person was there to help: Pickens.

Although it was Senior Day for guys like Alvin Harper and Anthony Morgan, it was Pickens, who was only a sophomore and played defensive back as a freshman, who saved the game. He went for over 200 yards and also had three touchdowns in the process, helping the Vols secure a 42-28 win in the process.

Pickens’ 201 yards is tied for the seventh-most receiving yards in a game. However, he’s the only player to go for over 200 yards and also have three touchdowns in a game in school history, and that’s why his performance makes this list. It truly established him as one of the greatest offensive players the Vols ever produced.

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