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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 Joe Robbins/Getty Images
Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images /

25. Tyler Bray

2012 vs. Troy Trojans

Tennessee Volunteers win 55-48

29-of-47 for 530 yards; 5 touchdowns

In terms of stats alone, this one should be higher. Tyler Bray had the greatest passing performance of any player in Tennessee football history when it comes to numbers here. However, the game was so meaningless that it fell down to No. 25. For context, the Vols entered this game 3-5 and on a four-game losing streak. Derek Dooley was all but fired.

The story to this point was UT’s horrendous defense. Bray was putting up huge numbers, but the defense was atrocious, and quite honestly, Bray benefitted from an array of weapons in Cordarrelle Patterson, Justin Hunter and Mychal Rivera. His leadership qualities, though, were horrible, which is why the Vols never closed the deal in close losses.

Anyway, this game came up, and everybody had effectively quit on the season. As a result, the Troy Trojans were the culmination of horrible defensive play all year. They actually took a 10-7 lead early in the first quarter, and although the Vols built a 28-10 lead in the second, Troy scored 20 straight and went into halftime only down 31-30.

Simply put, the Vols’ defense couldn’t buy a stop, so Bray kept responding with an aerial attack of his own. It paid off, and he set the school record for passing yards in a game with 530 while tying the school record for touchdown passes in regulation with five. Troy went up 48-41 late, but the Vols scored, forced a punt, and then scored again on a game-winning drive by Bray to win 55-48.

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