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Tennessee football’s five wins vs. Georgia with both teams undefeated

By Caleb Calhoun

Travis Stephens #25, Running Back for the University of Tennessee Volunteers is tackled by the University of Georgia Bulldogs defence during their NCAA Southeastern Conference college football game on 10 October 1998 at the Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia, United States. The Tennessee Volunteers won the game 35 - 34. (Photo by Vincent Laforet/Allsport/Getty Images)
Travis Stephens #25, Running Back for the University of Tennessee Volunteers is tackled by the University of Georgia Bulldogs defence during their NCAA Southeastern Conference college football game on 10 October 1998 at the Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia, United States. The Tennessee Volunteers won the game 35 - 34. (Photo by Vincent Laforet/Allsport/Getty Images) /
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ATHENS, GA – SEPTEMBER 10: A general view of a pylon during the game between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on September 10, 2011 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATHENS, GA – SEPTEMBER 10: A general view of a pylon during the game between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on September 10, 2011 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

814. Final. 15. 839. 0

October 12, 1907; Herty Field; Athens, Ga.

It was the fourth meeting between the two schools, and the series was 1-1-1. The year before, they played to a tie. In 1903, the Georgia Bulldogs won. Tennessee football won the first meeting ever between these two, in 1899. Both teams’ wins had been 5-0, and the tie was a scoreless tie.

Heading into this game, the Vols were 1-0 under first-year head coach George Levene, who replaced James DePree after he went 1-6-2 in 1906. UT was searching for its first non-losing season since 1902 and had beaten the Tennessee Military Institute 30-0 four days earlier.

Georgia was in its second season under head coach George S. “Bull” Whitney, who had gone 2-4-1 in 1906, and ironically was also searching for its first winning season since 1902. It had just beaten Dahlonega, the city that is now the location of the University of North Georgia, 57-0.

Simply put, these teams seemed to have as evenly matched a history as possible to this point, and this was the first time they would face each other undefeated, at 1-0 each. Both were in the SIAA at the time. The Vols got the 15-0 win, by far the biggest victory for either team in the series, to prove they had been restored as a program under Levene.

After that game, UT lost on the road to John Heisman’s Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, but they had a dramatic turnaround, going 7-2-1, as their only other blemishes were to Kentucky State College and the Alabama Crimson Tide. Georgia also had a turnaround, though, going 4-3-1, as they also lost to Georgia Tech while tying Alabama but losing to Sewanee.

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