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Tennessee football’s top 10 years following unranked seasons

By Caleb Calhoun

Sep 18, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers cheerleaders cheer at the Vol Walk before a game against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 18, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers cheerleaders cheer at the Vol Walk before a game against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports /
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Assorted notes and sketched plays by Robert Neyland are part of an exhibit named “Lighting the Way” currently on display at Hodges Library on campus on Monday, August 26, 2019.Kns Utyear1 0930 Bp Jpg
Assorted notes and sketched plays by Robert Neyland are part of an exhibit named “Lighting the Way” currently on display at Hodges Library on campus on Monday, August 26, 2019.Kns Utyear1 0930 Bp Jpg /

Scouting Report. 7-2-1 (4-1-1). 1948: 4-4-2 (2-3-1). player. 839. Pick Analysis. 1949: Robert Neyland. 8

No. 17 AP

Just over a decade before that 1960 rebound, there were other stories about the single-wing being out of date. Robert Neyland, after the Golden Age of the late 1930s, had returned to Tennessee football for his third stint with the program fresh off World War II. He won the SEC Championship in 1946 but then suffered back to back .500 seasons.

Questions arose about whether or not Neyland had lost it. To his credit, he changed his recruiting methods and began to focus on more imposing players who could rush the quarterback on defense rather than interior linemen to stop the run, such as Doug Atkins, and he focused on skilled backs on offense like Hank Lauricella rather than blockers.

The result was a revitalized single wing. He proved it was back in 1949. With all this new young talent, the Vols got off to a rocky start. They lost to the Duke Blue Devils and tied the Alabama, making them 2-1-1 early on. However, after a win over the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, the stunned the No. 13 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels.

An upset loss to Georgia Tech knocked them back out of the top 25, but they then won their final three games against Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Kentucky when Kentucky was riding high and ranked No. 11 under Bear Bryant. That allowed them to finish in the top 20 and set the stage for the next two years, when they won back to back national titles and reeled off 20 straight victories.

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