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Tennessee football: Five TransPerfect Music City Bowl storylines for Vols and Purdue Boilermakers

By Caleb Calhoun

Nov 7, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; View of Nissan Stadium during the second half as Nashville SC plays New York Red Bulls. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 7, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; View of Nissan Stadium during the second half as Nashville SC plays New York Red Bulls. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tennessee quarterback Jimmy Streater (6) pitches the football to a trailing teammate on an option play just as he is about to be pulled down by Purdue middle guard Ken Loushin. Tennessee lost 27-22 to Purdue in the 21st Bluebonnet Bowl at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, Dec. 31, 1979.79then12 049
Tennessee quarterback Jimmy Streater (6) pitches the football to a trailing teammate on an option play just as he is about to be pulled down by Purdue middle guard Ken Loushin. Tennessee lost 27-22 to Purdue in the 21st Bluebonnet Bowl at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, Dec. 31, 1979.79then12 049 /

3. Second meeting between the two schools

Josh Heupel isn’t the first Tennessee football head coach to have his first bowl game come against Purdue. The only other time the two schools faced off, it was the first bowl game for another UT head coach, one who went on to become a legend.

Johnny Majors led the Vols to the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl in 1979 with a 7-4 record. It was his third year on the job, unlike Heupel, who was in his first year, but he had some big wins, most notably over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Purdue came in ranked No. 12 in the nation with a 9-2 record under third-year head coach Jim Young.

Despite the seemingly large differences in the standings, UT put up a fight. In Jimmy Streater’s final game as a Vol, he led his team back from down 21-0 to take a 22-21 fourth-quarter lead. Purdue had a final game-winning drive, though, to win 27-22.

That team on Rocky Top was wildly inconsistent. Despite beating Notre Dame, they were also upset by the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Mississippi State Bulldogs. They were 7-0 in the regular season while playing unranked and 0-4 while playing ranked. The bowl game was their first loss all year while playing unranked.

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