Tennessee football’s top 25 single-game performances in history
2. Al Wilson
1998 vs. No. 2 Florida
No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers win 20-17
12 tackles; 3 forced fumbles
There’s not much we can say about this one that hasn’t already been said. Al Wilson had one of the most dominant performances in Tennessee football history in this game. It would be a top five performance just with the stat line alone regardless of whom he faced. Doing it against the No. 2 Florida Gators takes it to another level.
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UT entered 1998 having to replace a ton of talent, most notably Peyton Manning. The Vols had lost five straight to the Florida Gators. Three of those losses may have cost them a national title and certainly cost them an SEC title. Heading into this game, after surviving eventual Big East Champion Syracuse, Phillip Fulmer and David Cutcliffe tried a different method.
This team would play conservatively, let it’s offensive line wear down the Gators, make big plays when needed and force Florida into making mistakes. The player do force the mistakes would be senior linebacker Al Wilson, taking over in Manning’s absence.
Wilson performed flawlessly. As Florida drove to the UT five-yard line on their first possession, it seemed as if they would do what they did the previous two years to the Vols: jump out to an early lead. However, Wilson forced a fumble on the goal-line that was recovered by Rocky Top in the end zone. He then forced two more first-half fumbles, one of which gave the Vols a field goal.
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That was amazing play in regulation enough. But Wilson then had a huge hit in overtime to break up a huge touchdown pass that would’ve given Florida the win. Then the Gators missed a game-tying field goal. Wilson’s three forced fumbles remain a record, and doing it against the No. 2 ranked team sparked Tennessee football’s momentum for a national title run.