| First meeting | October 21, 1892 Vanderbilt, 22–4 |
|---|---|
| Latest meeting | November 30, 2024 Tennessee, 36–23 |
| Next meeting | November 29, 2025 |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 119 |
| All-time series | Tennessee leads, 79–32–5[1] |
| Largest victory | Tennessee, 65–0 (1994) |
| Longest win streak | Tennessee, 22 (1983–2004) |
| Current win streak | Tennessee, 6 (2019–present) |
| Current unbeaten streak | Tennessee, 6 (2019–present) |
TheTennessee–Vanderbilt football rivalry is an Americancollege footballrivalry between theTennessee Volunteers andVanderbilt Commodores. They are both founding members of theSoutheastern Conference (SEC). Vanderbilt and Tennessee have played 118 times since1892. Tennessee leads the all-time series 79–32–5.
From 1892–1927, Vanderbilt went 19–2–3 against Tennessee. Tennessee's hiring ofRobert Neyland in 1926 reversed completely the on field rivalry.Nathan Dougherty hired him with the explicit goal to "even the score with Vanderbilt." Vanderbilt'sDan McGugin (1904–17, 1919–34) was 13–8–3 all-time against the Vols.
Vanderbilt's longest win streak is 9 from 1901 to 1913. Tennessee's longest win streak is 22 from 1983 to 2004.[2]
From 1928 to 2011, Tennessee went 71–9–2 against Vanderbilt. Since 2012, Tennessee leads 8–5 on the field.
An unofficial, exhibition game was played in 1918 between Vanderbilt andStudent Army Training Corps, since Tennessee had officially suspended their football program due to Tennessee's coach and players participation in World War I.[3]
| Tennessee victories | Vanderbilt victories | Tie games |
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1892 saw the first ever matchup between theVanderbilt Commodores and theTennessee Volunteers. The two schools played each other twice during the year; Vanderbilt won both games. On the first matchup; for the Volunteers it was their third ever game in the second season of play and their first season with more than one game. For the Commodores it was their seventh ever game and third season of play.
The first game was played inNashville on October 21, 1892. The Volunteers only managed one score as the Commodores rolled to a 22–4 victory. The second game was played inKnoxville on November 17. The Vols did not manage a single score as Vanderbilt won 12–0.[6] The captain of Vanderbilt wasElliott Jones and its quarterback wasWilliam E. Beard.
A game was played between the schools as part of Vanderbilt's celebrations surrounding its 25th anniversary. It ended a scoreless tie.[7]
1902 had one ofTennessee's strongest early elevens.Vanderbilt won 12–5 despite a weak line due to its running game.[8]John Edgerton scored both Vanderbilt touchdowns. Tennessee's only score was provided by anA. H. Douglas run around right end, breaking two tackles and getting the touchdown.Nash Buckingham had a 40-yard run through the line.Jones Beene blocked and tackled well.[8]
1908 was a down year for Vanderbilt with a wealth of sophomores; guided shrewdly by McGugin to its success.[9] The Volunteers had compiled four wins in conference play. It was widely considered the best Tennessee football season up to that point.[10] Vanderbilt won the match between the two schools 16–9.
Walker Leach made a 41-yard field goal to put the Vols up 4–0. "This seemed to arouse the local team" and Vanderbilt drove down the field for a touchdown. On a fake kick, Leach circled Vanderbilt's left end for 60 yards.Ray Morrison stopped him short of the goal.[11]Nathan Dougherty was on Tennessee's squad.
Red Rainey scored Tennessee's touchdown.Goat Carroll missed the kick.[12] Tennessee's right guard S. D. Bayer drew a 33-yard, half the distance to the goal penalty for slugging, and was ejected by umpireBradley Walker. The first down after,Hord Boensch threw a touchdown pass toEnoch Brown. Brown ran the last ten yards shaking off several defenders.[12] Boensch kicked goal and won the game for Vanderbilt.
In 1914,Tennessee was undefeatedSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) champions. It was the first championship of any kind for the Tennessee program. The 1914 Vols were retroactively awarded anational championship by 1st-N-Goal, though this remains largely unrecognized.[13]Alonzo "Goat" Carroll scored all of Tennessee's points in the 16–14 victory, Tennessee's first over Vandy.
An account of the first touchdown reads, "Four minutes of play had barely drifted by when Tennessee's weird, mystic, elusive forward pass,May to Carroll, deadly in accuracy, went sailing home for the first touchdown of the game. The chesty Tennessee quarterback sent the oval whizzing for a distance of thirty-five yards and Carroll gathered in the ball near his goal line, when he hurried beneath the posts with all the speed at his command."[14]
Tennessee upsetVanderbilt 10–6 in 1916. Vanderbilt's lone score came on a 70-yard run byRabbit Curry. The year's only unanimousAll-SouthernGraham Vowell scored Tennessee's winning touchdown. Tennessee andGeorgia Tech finished the season as conference co-champions.[15]
In 1918,Vanderbilt beat Tennessee's SATC by what would've been its largest ever margin; 76–0.Grailey Berryhill scored six touchdowns.[16] UT had suspended their football program for World War I, and the game was played by Student Army Training Corps. Tennessee does not officially recognize the game; however, Vanderbilt does.[17]
A steady rain soaked spectators and both squads. The contest ended tied at three.Josh Cody scored on a 30-yard drop kick, whileBuck Hatcher made a 25-yard drop kick.[18]
In what was expected to be a hard match, the Commodores got vengeance for Curry, who died in aerial combat over France during the First World War, and lost to Tennessee on Waite Field in 1916, by netting a 20 to 0 victory at the Vols' home field.[16] All three of Vandy's touchdowns were owed to passes fromJess Neely toGink Hendrick.
TheVanderbilt Commodores went undefeated in 1921. Vanderbilt played theTennessee Volunteers on a soggy Old Dudley Field, winning by a score of 14 to 0. Team captainPink Wade did not play due to a case oflumbago. Acting as the captain in his absence,Doc Kuhn scored all of Vanderbilt's touchdowns. Fatty Lawrence also did not play in the game.[19] Tennessee was excited for the game, preparing for weeks with newplays and persistent drilling. It was said Vanderbilt was "the one team that Tennessee enjoys defeating."[20]
During the first quarter, an end run of about 20 yards from Kuhn first made the score 7–0. In the second, after the Commodores obtained good field position from the punt returns ofRupert Smith, Kuhn had a 30 or 35-yard touchdown run utilizingLynn Bomar as a leadblocker.
At one point in the second half, Freddie "Froggie" Meiers carried an onside kick over for a touchdown, but it was called back.[21] The Tennessee backs were repeatedly thrown for no gain or losses all game, and steady improvement from the Commodore eleven had been noticed.[22][23]
TheVanderbilt Commodores were undefeated conference champions in the first year of theSouthern Conference. The Commodores beat Tennessee atKnoxville by a score of 14 to 6. The eighteenth meeting between Vanderbilt and Tennessee saw a packed stadium, the largest crowd of the season forShields–Watkins Field.[24] It was Vanderbilt's first game at the new stadium, which opened September 24, 1921.
Tennessee was out for revenge,[25] as they had only beaten the Commodores twice, and Vanderbilt was ahead in points scored in the series by a vast margin, 347 to 53. Tennessee also hoped to better itsSouthern Conference record after having lost toGeorgia. Both teams had last week rested their starters, Vanderbilt winning over Mercer, and Tennessee beatingMississippi by a score of 49 to 0. It was therefore thought the game should be a closer one than in years past, with Vanderbilt only slight favorites.[25][26] The game turned out to be hotly contested, so much so that many felt Vanderbilt was outplayed but not outfought. Perhaps the week off for many Commodore starters had hindered Vanderbilt's ability to play its best.
Tennessee drove down to the 7-yard line in the first quarter, but was held on downs. The first score came from Vanderbilt in the second quarter on a 31-yard touchdown pass fromJess Neely toDoc Kuhn.Wakefield kicked goal.
In the fourth quarter, Tennessee got to the 1-yard line after a series of long passes. Tennessee fullbackRoe Campbell charged over the line for the touchdown. The Volunteers' Clayton failed to kick goal. Later in the fourth, Vanderbilt intercepted a Tennessee pass in Volunteer territory, leading to a chance to score. After runs at the line failed, a 5-yard pass from Neely toLynn Bomar got the touchdown.[27] Hek Wakefield's try was successful.[24][28]
Lynn Bomar,Scotty Neill,Gil Reese, and Fatty Lawrence were mentioned as the players of the game for the Commodores, and Campbell was cited as the star for the Volunteers. It was said Neill out-punted the Volunteers on nearly every occasion.[29]The Nashville Banner said Lawrence had been "in there doing a man's job blocking a kick and tackling with the deadliness of atiger unleashed in a cave oflions."[16]
After two undefeated seasons anda scoreless tie withMichigan, hopes were high going into the 1923 season. Michigan this year were national champions and edged out the Commodores 3–0. Vanderbilt then was upset byTexas. The week before the Tennessee game, Vanderbilt suffered a scoreless tie withMississippi A&M in the rain. With a 51–7 victory over theTennessee Volunteers the next week, the Commodores regained "all the power and smoothness with which it had started the 1923 season."[30]Ralph McGill reflected the sentiment, "All the pent-up fury of misunderstanding and disappointment burst out like a flood. The Vols might as well have flung themselves in the way of arunaway train. It was a machine that found itself. The power was there and the Commodores took a fierce joy in using it."[16] The Volunteers were led byM. B. Banks, in his third year as head coach.
Vanderbilt gained 455 yards of total offense.Gil Reese rushed for 214 yards,[30] as well as 95 yards on punt returns.[31] Reese scored five times, with touchdown runs of 70 yards, 45 yards, and 29 yards respectively. Red Rountree scored another, a 63-yard run. CaptainDoc Kuhn got the other touchdown, andWakefield made a drop kick.[32]Lynn Bomar,Alf Sharpe, andBob Rives on defense helped hold the Volunteers to only 7. With the win Vanderbilt was still a contender for the Southern title.[30]J. G. Lowe played best for Tennessee, getting its lone touchdown.
In 1927, two hall of fame coaches without a conference loss battle to a tie.Robert Neyland was hired to coach Tennessee in 1926 byNathan Dougherty with the explicit goal to "even the score with Vanderbilt." 1927 is his first great team, tying with others as victors of theSouthern Conference.Dan McGugin's Commodores led 7–0 until a lateDick Dodson run tied the score.[33] "After the game McGugin questioned each of his players as to his whereabouts during the run. Without exception the players claimed that two men had blocked them. McGugin shrugged. "Well, we'll just protest the play. It's perfectly obvious that Tennessee had twenty-two men on the field."[33]
Tennessee remained undefeated on the season with a 6–0 victory overVanderbilt; its first win in the series since 1916. Before 1928, Vanderbilt held a strong advantage over the Volunteers with a record of 18–2–3. Since 1928, Tennessee has dominated the rivalry.
The crowd of 22,000 was the largest ever to see a game inTennessee up to that point. A 16-yard pass from Roy Witt to Paul Hug in the second quarter was the lone score of the contest.[34]Jimmy Armistead ran all over Tennessee, once stopped short of the goal by Witt.[34]Buddy Hackman provided strong defense against the forward pass.[34]
Clyde Roberts outrushed Beattie Feathers as the SoCon champion Vols tied the Commodores 0–0. The game's lone scoring play was a catch by Feathers, called out of bounds in front of the Vanderbilt bench.
The game was billed as the “Super Bowl of Tennessee” between Vanderbilt and Tennessee. Tickets were reportedly selling for $150.00 each. The game was a sellout; 41,683 fans and 3,800 watched on closed circuit TV. Both teams swapped the lead back and forth; neither team led by more than seven points. The whole time the game was played it rained, drenching the field. The whole season Taylor took advantage of the short pass. Vanderbilt was able to throw the bomb that won the game. Taylor passed for two 42-yard passes for a touchdown. Whit Taylor made a 65-yard pass to Phil Roach to set up the game-winning one-yard run from Whit Taylor. The run was a quarterback keeper around the right end following a fake to Keith Edwards. Vanderbilt held on to win 28–21.[35] This would be Vandy's last win over the Volunteers in the 20th century, beginning a 22-game losing streak which wouldn't end until 2005.
The Volunteers overcame a 28–3 second quarter deficit to defeat the Commodores by a score of 38–36.[36]
Tennessee defeated Vanderbilt by a score of 29–25 inJohnny Majors' last game as head coach of the Vols.[37] Majors would be replaced by assistant coachPhillip Fulmer who would coach the team until 2008.[38][39]
The Vols dominated the Commodores en route to a 65–0 blowout win, the largest margin of victory by the Volunteers in the history of the rivalry.[40] UT running back James "Little Man" Stewart gained 121 yards on 12 carries to become the Vols' all-time leading rusher and Tennessee set a school record with 665 total yards of offense.[41]
Vandy overcame a 21–6 fourth quarter deficit thanks largely to the play of quarterback Greg Zolman but the Commodores came up short in a 28–26 loss.[42] The Southeastern Conference's least penalized team that year, the Vols committed a season-high 14 penalties for 135 yards and also had three turnovers. The two-point victory was the smallest margin of victory for the Vols over the Commodres since 1992.
The Commodores ended their season, andJay Cutler's Vanderbilt career, at Tennessee against the Tennessee Volunteers with a 28–24 win. The victory was Vanderbilt's first over the Volunteers since 1982, the year before Cutler was born. The win also marked Vanderbilt's first victory over Tennessee on the Volunteers' home field inKnoxville since 1975.[43] Cutler passed for three touchdowns and 315 yards during the game, becoming the first quarterback in school history to record four consecutive 300-yard passing performances.[44] Cutler's final play in college was the game-winning (and streak-ending) touchdown pass to teammateEarl Bennett against Tennessee.
Tennessee ended a three-game losing streak to Vanderbilt 28–10 on a stormy evening in Knoxville. True freshman running backEric Gray rushed for 246 yards on 25 carries and had three rushing touchdowns. Gray had the fifth-highest single-game rushing total ever by a Tennessee player. Tennessee finished the regular season 7–5 and 5–3 in conference play. The win sealed the Volunteers first winning record in conference play since the 2015 season.[45]
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