Tennessee football’s 10 toughest records to break
1. 15-game shutout streak
1938-1939
Yes, Tennessee football’s winning streak is much more beatable than its unbeaten streak. However, there is a record within that 23-game winning streak we mentioned in Robert Neyland’s second stint that stands out.
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The Vols had a streak of 15 straight shutouts from 1938 to 1939. In 1939, UT would become the last team to go undefeated, untied and unscored on during the regular season. Nobody has done it since, meaning we can safely say that this is a record that will never be broken. There is a 100 percent chance that the school never comes close to it.
Not only is there no defensive coach as committed to that side of the ball as Robert Neyland who will ever lead the program, but, obviously, the sport has changed a lot. Scoring is a lot more common than it was back then, so nobody could go a full season shutting out opponents.
What UT did, though, in shutting out opponents for 15 straight games, was incredible. They did go 11-0 and win their first SEC and national championship en route to their first bowl win in 1938. That’s when the streak started, seven games into the year against the Chattanooga Mocs. They carried that on in unprecedented fashion.
Next. Projection the Vols' 2020 two-deep depth chart. dark
It ended in the Rose Bowl the next year, which also ended the Vols’ winning streak, as they lost 14-0 to the USC Trojans. However, Tennessee football saw a 23-game winning streak in which it shut out 20 opponents, and the final 15 wins were all shutouts. Not only will no UT team ever do that again, but no NCAA team will ever do it again.