Mr. CFB: Alabama-Tennessee Feels Like The Good Old Days Again

Alabama coach Nick Saban is 15-0 against Tennessee.

NOTE: A lot of information for this column comes from my book “Southern Fried Football: The History, Passion and Glory of the Great Southern Game.”

The date was Oct. 20, 1928 and for the first time in 14 years, Alabama and Tennessee were going to play each other in football.

Alabama, under Coach Wallace Wade, had been to the Rose Bowl in 1925 and 1926, winning the national championship in both seasons.

Tennessee was 16-1 in its first two seasons under Robert R. Neyland but the Vols had not played anyone as good as Alabama in that stretch.

Before the game in Tuscaloosa, Neyland slowly walked up to Wade to ask a favor. If Alabama was dominating the game, which it was expected to do, Neyland asked if Wade would agree to shorten the fourth quarter to save his players further embarrassment. Wade said he would.

Tennessee’s Gene McEver ran back the opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and the Volunteers won 15-13.

And with that, one of the richest rivalries in Southern college football history was born. And most seasons the game was played on “The Third Saturday in October.”

There have been streaks when this game has not been a true rivalry. From 1971-81 Alabama won 11 straight games but only twice was the margin of victory less than double digits. That 11-game winning streak stood as the longest enjoyed by one team until Nick Saban arrived at Alabama in 2007. Saban is 15-0 against the Volunteers.

But Saturday in Knoxville it’s going to feel like old times again as No. 1 Alabama (6-0) travels to No. 8 Tennessee (5-0) in the SEC’s Game of the Week (3:30 p.m., CBS).

ESPN’s College Game Day, which was in Knoxville for the Tennessee-Florida game on Sept. 24, will be back on Saturday. Two campus visits just three weeks apart is unusual.

Jimmy Hyams has lived in Knoxville for 34 years as a sports writer and radio host. On his Sunday morning radio show, after Tennessee had dominated LSU 40-13 in Baton Rouge on Saturday, there was only one way to describe the Tennessee fans.

“Excited,” said Hyams. “Sunday morning people wanted to know if there was a chance if Tennessee could get in the College Football Playoff. It is really cool to have this game back and meaning something. Going into the game this looks like the best chance Tennessee has had to win since 2007. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

In 2007 Tennessee (4-2) was ranked No. 20 and Alabama (5-2) was unranked for Saban’s first Alabama-Tennessee game. It was supposed to be close.

It wasn’t.

Saban opened the game with a successful onsides kick and Alabama won 41-17.

In 2009 Saban had his closest call as the Volunteers, under first-year coach Lane Kiffin, were trailing 12-10 and in field goal range with only seconds left. But Alabama’s Terrence “Mount” Cody came up the middle and blocked Daniel Lincoln’s 45-yard attempt on the last play of the game giving the Crimson Tide the two-point win. Alabama went on to win the national championship.

In 2015 Derrick Henry scored on a 14-yard touchdown run with 2:24 left to give the Crimson Tide a 19-14 lead in Tuscaloosa. The defense made it stand up with two sacks and a forced fumble to preserve the victory. That Alabama team (whose only loss was to Ole Miss) also went on to win the national championship.

Here are a few other memorable games between Alabama and Tennessee:

1965: Bear Bryant’s defending national champions had already lost at Georgia 18-17. Alabama was tied 7-7 and drove to the Tennessee four-yard line as time was running out. Alabama quarterback Kenny Stabler lost track of the downs and threw the ball out of bounds on fourth down. The game ended in a tie and Alabama finished the season 9-1-1. Alabama beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl and won the AP national championship.

1982: Tennessee snapped its 11-game losing streak to Alabama with a 35-28 win over the undefeated Crimson Tide. Tennessee’s players were so elated they carried Coach Johnny Majors across the field on their shoulders to shake hands with Bear Bryant. No one knew it at the time but it would be Bryant’s last Alabama-Tennessee game. He died the following year.

1986-1994: Alabama put together the next streak, winning nine straight games against Tennessee.

1995: Sophomore quarterback Peyton Manning led the Volunteers to a 41-14 win over Alabama in Birmingham, snapping Tennessee’s nine-game losing streak. Tennessee would then win seven in a row and 10 of the next 13.

2006: Tennessee got a late touchdown to beat Alabama 16-13 in Knoxville. The next season Saban would arrive in Tuscaloosa. And the rest, as they say, is history.