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Tennessee football: Where 2020 ranks among worst teams in Vols history

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt gestures at his players at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020.Auburn Ut
Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt gestures at his players at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020.Auburn Ut /
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Tennessee receiver Anthony Hancock celebrates his 47-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Steve Alatorre. Tennessee struggled in defeating Georgia Tech 23-10 before 50,127 at Grant Field in Atlanta Oct. 11, 1980.
Tennessee receiver Anthony Hancock celebrates his 47-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Steve Alatorre. Tennessee struggled in defeating Georgia Tech 23-10 before 50,127 at Grant Field in Atlanta Oct. 11, 1980. /

4. 1980: 5-6 (3-3)

Johnny Majors is one of two coaches with the distinction of being on here twice. He actually coached three teams that finished with losing records and didn’t qualify for bowl games. Although 1988 went 5-6 after an 0-6 start, all six losses were to teams that finished with at least seven wins, and five were to teams that finished in the top 25. As a result, 1988 didn’t make this list.

That was the first losing season he had suffered since this 1980 season. Remember the 1977 season? Well, the rebuilding process was taking longer than expected, as he went 5-5-1 in 1978 and then 7-5 in 1979, the first year he made a bowl but a season marred by inconsistencies, including a win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish but a loss to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

As 1980 rolled around, Tennessee football had to replace Jimmy Streater at quarterback, and still in the rebuilding process, Majors had to deal with a young team. There was talent with guys like James Berry, Willie Gault, Anthony Hancock, Bill Bates and freshman Reggie White, but quarterback issues plus a brutal schedule proved too much.

UT opened things up at home against the eventual national champion Georgia Bulldogs. In Herschel Walker’s coming out party, the Vols blew a 15-0 lead to lose 16-15 at home. The next week, they allowed the USC Trojans to beat them 20-17 off a late field goal.

This team responded with wins over the Washington State Cougars, Auburn Tigers and at the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. More brutal games came, though, as they lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide and a Pitt Panthers team loaded with players Majors brought in on the heels of his 1976 national title win there.

At 3-4, the next two games are what put this season on the list. The Vols were shocked 16-13 in their homecoming game against the Virginia Cavaliers, who finished 4-7. Then they lost the next week 20-9 to an Ole Miss Rebels team that finished 3-8.

Beating the Kentucky Wildcats and Vanderbilt Commodores to finish 5-6 salvaged things, but those two losses with no wins over teams that finished the year with winning record put these guys on the list. They should have at least gone 7-4 with that slate.

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