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Tennessee football: Looking back on Vols’ five bowl games played in-state

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee takes the field at the beginning of the Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium Dec. 30, 2016. Tennessee defeated Nebraska 38-24 before a crowd of 68,496.Music City Bowl
Tennessee takes the field at the beginning of the Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium Dec. 30, 2016. Tennessee defeated Nebraska 38-24 before a crowd of 68,496.Music City Bowl /
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Aerial view of the Liberty Bowl on Thursday, April 9, 2020, in Memphis.040920mempisaerials11
Aerial view of the Liberty Bowl on Thursday, April 9, 2020, in Memphis.040920mempisaerials11 /

Thursday marks the sixth time in history Tennessee football will play a bowl game inside its own state. One in-state bowl game, the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., is the eighth longest active bowl game in the sport. However, neither that or the other in-state bowl, the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., are considered elite today.

Still, the Liberty Bowl was a memorable bowl in the past, and some memorable UT seasons saw them finish out the year in both of these games. Historically, Rocky Top fares pretty well in in-state bowl games. They are 4-1 all time with four one-score games involved.

As we get set to look back on every in-state bowl game played by Tennessee football, it’ll become evident that not only can the games be memorably, but winning them can have an impact on the season. They have three top 25 finishes after winning bowl games in Memphis or Nashville. Let’s look back on all of them, counting down from the oldest.

844. Monday, Dec. 20. 14. Memphis, Tenn.. Memphis Memorial Stadium. 839. 1971. 13

5. 1971 Liberty Bowl

One of the most memorable bowls of all time for the Vols, UT was in its second year under Bill Battle. They came into this game ranked No. 9 with a 9-2 record after beating the No. 5 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions to close out the season. They were going for their fifth straight season of either a top 10 finish or SEC Championship.

On the other side, the Arkansas Razorbacks came in at 8-2-1 under Frank Broyles and were a tie with the Rice Owls away from winning the Southwest Conference. This was only the second meeting between the two schools and the first since 1907. Controversy marked this one.

Tied at 7 in the fourth quarter, the Hogs hit two field goals to go up 13-7. A third Arkansas field goal that would’ve put them up two scores was waived off due to a holding call. Then Tennessee football was given a fumble they didn’t recover. They took advantage with game-winning touchdown and then secured the win with an interception to finish 10-2.

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