All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee football should remember these five non-conference November upset losses before overlooking South Alabama

By Caleb Calhoun

Smokey IX was ready to run onto the field for the Tennessee Volunteers homecoming game against the University of Wyoming Cowboys Saturday in Neyland Stadium.Homecoming Smokey Ix 2008
Smokey IX was ready to run onto the field for the Tennessee Volunteers homecoming game against the University of Wyoming Cowboys Saturday in Neyland Stadium.Homecoming Smokey Ix 2008 /
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KNOXVILLE, TN – OCTOBER 23: Quarterback Erik Ainge
KNOXVILLE, TN – OCTOBER 23: Quarterback Erik Ainge /

839. Final. 17. 819. 13

Nov. 6, 2004

One play in this game set the stage for the downfall of Tennessee football. Coming into this matchup, the Vols 7-1 and ranked No. 9 nationally. Furthermore, they had upset the Georgia Bulldogs and also beat the Florida Gators and Alabama Crimson Tide. Their only loss was to an Auburn Tigers team that would finish the year undefeated.

UT was the youngest team in the SEC and relying on two true freshman quarterbacks, Erik Ainge and Brent Schaeffer, and they had a two-game lead in the East. Simply put, they were the Cinderella team. Schaeffer suffered a season-ending injury the week before in a win over the South Carolina Gamecocks, but it didn’t matter, as Ainge was the main guy by that point anyway.

Heading into Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. was a Notre Dame Fighting Irish team that was 5-3 under third-year head coach Tyrone Willingham. This was a bad ND team, and Willingham was all but fired already. Although they were a Power Five team, UT was supposed to win easily.

Well, they took a 10-7 lead in the second quarter and with the ball and a few seconds left, Phillip Fulmer and Randy Sanders decided to take a shot into the end zone. The pass was incomplete, but Ainge was hit on the play and suffered a season-ending injury.

That changed the game and the future of the program. In the second half, Rick Clausen threw a pick-six under pressure. He regained his composure after that, but both teams could only generate field goal drives, so the Vols lost 17-13.

After that game, Clausen became the starter and went 3-1, including becoming MVP of a 38-7 Cotton Bowl win over the Texas A&M Aggies. That generated a quarterback controversy between Ainge and Clausen in 2005, and it derailed the season, as Tennessee football fell to 5-6. This loss was a fluke. Its greater impact was on what happened afterward.

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