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Tennessee football: Ranking all 15 Vols non-Saturday openers

By Caleb Calhoun

Sep 4, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Tennessee Volunteers running back John Kelly (4) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets during overtime at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Tennessee won 42-41 in two overtimes. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 4, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Tennessee Volunteers running back John Kelly (4) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets during overtime at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Tennessee won 42-41 in two overtimes. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tennessee football is one of the top 10 college teams of the 1930s and 40s under coach Robert Neyland, right, at the College Football Hall of Fame.1strangeneylandhof
Tennessee football is one of the top 10 college teams of the 1930s and 40s under coach Robert Neyland, right, at the College Football Hall of Fame.1strangeneylandhof /

5. 1939

Friday, Sept. 29; Riddick Stadium; Raleigh, N.C.

Over 70 years before Tennessee football beat the N.C. State Wolfpack on a Friday night to open the season in what was the darkest run in program history, the Vols beat them on a Friday night to open the season in what was the most successful run in program history. This was the peak of Robert Neyland’s tenure at UT and the peak of his second stint.

You might call this the Golden Years of the Vols. Rocky Top was in the midst of reeling off three straight undefeated regular seasons and SEC Championships along with two national championships in three years. Entering this season, they had gone 11-0 in 1938 and played in their first bowl game, beating the Oklahoma Sooners 17-0 in the Orange Bowl.

They were visiting an N.C. State team that had gone 3-7-1 the previous year. There ended up being nothing special about the game. UT was expected to win and did win in uneventful fashion. However, what this ended up launching is what puts this opener so high on the list.

The Vols went the entire regular season undefeated, untied and unscored on. They remain the last team in college football history to do that. In the process, they were in the midst of a 23-game winning streak, also the longest in history, and 15 straight shutout wins. This was the 14th and sixth of those respectively.

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