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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’s Pride of the Southland Band celebrates the winning drive for their team against Iowa during the 5th annual Kickoff Classic in East Rutherford, N.J. Aug. 30, 1987. A 20-yard field goal with 3 seconds left gave 17th-ranked Volunteers a 23-22 victory over 16-ranked Iowa.Utvsiowa 17
Tennessee’s Pride of the Southland Band celebrates the winning drive for their team against Iowa during the 5th annual Kickoff Classic in East Rutherford, N.J. Aug. 30, 1987. A 20-yard field goal with 3 seconds left gave 17th-ranked Volunteers a 23-22 victory over 16-ranked Iowa.Utvsiowa 17 /

1. 1987 (Kickoff Classic)

878. 23. 839. Final. 22

Sunday, Aug. 30; Giants Stadium; East Rutherford, N.J.

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Unless there is a historical component, quality of victory and excitement are the two biggest factors on this list. Tennessee football’s 1987 season-opening win over the Iowa Hawkeyes takes first place in both of those, which is why it’s up here at No. 1. This is the Vols’ only non-Saturday season-opening win over a ranked team.

To be fair, Iowa and Colorado are the only ranked teams they have ever played in a non-Saturday opener. Anyway, the Vols were coming off a bittersweet 7-5 season. They had started that year ranked in the top 10 because of their 9-1-2 SEC Championship season and top five finish in 1985, but after losing so much talent, they stumbled to 2-5.

Still, they won their final five games to get to 7-5, and the Jeff Francis era at quarterback was off and running. That finish led to them being ranked in the top 20 to start this season. They were No. 17 in both polls. Iowa was No. 16 in the AP Poll and No. 18 in the Coaches Poll, so these teams seemed about as evenly matched as they could be.

The Sunday game in New Jersey lived up to that hype. After going up 14-3, the Vols allowed Iowa to fight back. They went up 19-14 and held onto a 22-20 lead late. Behind Reggie Cobb, UT then went on a 69-yard drive to set up a 20-yard field goal for Phil Reich. He nailed it with three seconds left, and the Vols got the win.

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Iowa ended up going 10-3 on the season and finishing No. 16 in both polls, so this really was a quality win. Proving how identical they were, Tennessee football went 10-2-1 on the year and finished No. 14 in the AP Poll and No. 13 in the Coaches Poll. It was one of Johnny Majors’ more memorable victories at UT.

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