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Tennessee footballs previous 7-0 starts hint SEC title is guaranteed

By Caleb Calhoun

4 Jan 1999: the Tennesse Volunteers celebrate during the Fiesta Bowl Game against the Florida State Seminoles at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Tennessee defeated Florida State 23-16. Mandatory Credit: Jed Jacobsohn /Allsport
4 Jan 1999: the Tennesse Volunteers celebrate during the Fiesta Bowl Game against the Florida State Seminoles at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Tennessee defeated Florida State 23-16. Mandatory Credit: Jed Jacobsohn /Allsport /
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A photo of the 1914 Volunteer football team is seen on a marker commemorating the former Wait Field during a ceremony for the field’s 100th anniversary on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville, Tenn. on Friday, October 11, 2019. The field, which no longer exists, was named after longtime chemistry professor Charles Edmund Wait, an ardent supporter of athletics, who served on the faculty from 1888 until his death in 1923.Kns Neyland Stadium RANK3
A photo of the 1914 Volunteer football team is seen on a marker commemorating the former Wait Field during a ceremony for the field’s 100th anniversary on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville, Tenn. on Friday, October 11, 2019. The field, which no longer exists, was named after longtime chemistry professor Charles Edmund Wait, an ardent supporter of athletics, who served on the faculty from 1888 until his death in 1923.Kns Neyland Stadium RANK3 /

1. 1914: 9-0 (6-0)

SIAA Champion

It’s the first championship season, the second undefeated season and the first year in which Tennessee football beat Vanderbilt. That level of history is what usually comes with 7-0 starts, and the Vols certainly pulled that off this year, Zora G. Clevenger’s fourth on the job.

Clevenger took over the program in 1911 after it was marred by wild inconsistencies but largely negative play in the first decade of the 20th century. Included in that were four straight losing seasons from 1903 to 1906, and when Clevenger took over, the Vols had suffered two straight losing seasons. That extended to three straight and four straight non-winning seasons.

Finally, in Clevenger’s third year, things took off, as he led the Vols to a 6-3 record. They then returned a ton of talent for 1914, and expectations were high. Immediately, they lived up to the hype, beating Carson-Newman 89-0, a record number of points and record margin for the program that stands to this day.

Then they beat the King Tornado 55-3, Clemson 27-0, the Louisville Cardinals 66-0 and Alabama 17-7. To reach their first ever 6-0 start, they beat Chattanooga 67-0. This is a post about 7-0 starts, though, and their seventh win to get that here was their first great win in history.

UT traveled to Dudley Field to take on Vanderbilt in Nashville, and with an 0-11-1 record in the series that included nine straight losses, they finally exorcised their biggest demon of the early 20th century. The Vols beat the ‘Dores in a 16-14 thriller. A week later, they beat their other in-state rival, Sewanee, 14-7, before closing out with a 23-6 win over Kentucky.

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It was the second perfect season for Tennessee football in history followed by a 4-0 start in their return to varsity play after three years off in 1896, but at 4-0, they couldn’t start 7-0. As a result, this was their first 7-0 start, and it remains the first great season in school history.

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