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Ranking Tennessee football’s six seasons that began on Sept. 26

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 05: A Tennessee Volunteers megaphone sits on the sideline during the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 05: A Tennessee Volunteers megaphone sits on the sideline during the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images
Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images /

2. 1931: 9-0-1 (6-0-1)

Head coach: Robert Neyland

We go back to Tennessee football’s Southern Conference days for this one. The Vols were on a roll as a program under Robert Neyland, and while he hadn’t yet enjoyed a perfect season on Rocky Top, going undefeated was nothing new.

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Heading into 1931, Neyland was yet to have more than one blemish in a season. He also had three straight seasons with no losses in 1927, 1928 and 1929. In fact, the Vols were coming off a disappointing season in 1930, the first season they lost a game since 1926. That loss was to the Alabama Crimson Tide. Still, they were on a six-game winning streak after finishing that year 9-1.

Opening this season on Sept. 26, the Vols faced Maryville, and it was another uneventful opener. They shut out the Scots 33-0. Following that, they shut out the Clemson Tigers 44-0, and then they beat the Ole Miss Rebels 38-0. In their fourth game of the year, they got revenge on Alabama, handing the Tide their only loss of the season, with a 25-0 win.

Once again, the Vols were scoring huge victories in seasons that started Sept. 26 But they weren’t done. They beat the North Carolina Tar Heels 31-0, getting to 5-0 with all shutout wins. The next week, they beat the Duke Blue Devils 25-2, and they followed that up with a win over Carson-Newman 31-0.

Related Story. Ranking all 17 Vols conference championship teams. light

To this point, UT’s defense had not allowed a score, and the Vols had won every game by at least 23 points. They faltered late, only beating Carson-Newman 21-7 and then tying the Kentucky Wildcats 6-6, costing them the Southern Conference title. But they finished with a 13-0 win over NYU to go undefeated once again.

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