Ranking Tennessee football’s six losses of 2021 by heartbreak

Rank: 1

Only one game all year did Tennessee football lose as a favorite, and it was this one. It should have never happened. Terrible luck in clock management, awful pass defense and some awful calls cost the Vols what should have been an 8-5 year.

After a 7-5 regular season, UT was thrilled to face the Purdue Boilermakers in the Music City Bowl. Purdue had key opt-outs at receiver and on defense, and while Alontae Taylor opted out for the Vols, they got the better end of the opt-outs, so everybody expected them to win.

It was a back and forth game that saw the Vols build up a 21-7 first-quarter lead only to collapse in the second quarter, as they had done all year, and go into halftime down 23-21, largely thanks to a Hendon Hooker fumble. They didn’t stop in the third, though, as both teams traded touchdowns, and thanks to two interceptions, they were up 31-30 late.

Then the fun began. With six minutes left, both teams each scored two touchdowns. A Purdue two-point conversion made it a tie. UT was then driving for a game-winning field goal, but Cedric Tillman was held on a play where he clearly would have been open. It wasn’t called, and that forced Chase McGrath to kick a long field goal, which he missed.

The controversy continued in overtime. Jaylen Wright should’ve scored a touchdown on 4th and goal, but the refs ruled him down by arbitrary forward progress despite blowing no whistle. That allowed Purdue to kick a game-winning field goal.

Hooker was a star. Outside of that fumble, He threw for 378 yards and five touchdowns. Jabari Small ran for 180 yards and a score, and Cedric Tillman had 150 receiving yards and three touchdowns. However, two missed calls and that untimely fumble cost Tennessee football, so this ranks at the top of the heartbreaks of the year.