It was Nov. 14, 1998. Tennessee had just reached No. 1 in the nation at 8-0. It was late in the game against undefeated Arkansas. The Razorbacks were up 24-22 with just over two minutes to play and all they had to do was run out the clock.

As UT defensive lineman Billy Ratliff ran out onto the field, he told quarterback Tee Martin to leave his helmet on. With some doubt in his eyes, Martin obliged and didn’t take it off. Ratliff knew he had to make something happen, he had to get the ball back for Martin and the offense. He wasn’t sure how he would do it. He just knew that he had to.

Just minutes before his exchange with Martin, linebacker Al Wilson had had an exchange with Ratliff.

"He told me that there was no way we could lose to Arkansas," Ratliff said. "We knew, as a defense, we had to give 110 percent. One-hundred percent was all we could give. The other 10 percent was for Al, who was injured and didn’t play that game."

Ratliff said his focus was on getting a hand on Hogs quarterback Clint Stoerner, or knocking someone else into him.

"The lineman across from me had been killing me all night long," said Ratliff. "But, on THE play, I knocked him backwards. His foot stepped on Stoerner’s and tripped him up. All I remember from there was seeing the ball on the ground. Man, it seemed like it was there for about five seconds. I jumped on it and ran back to the sidelines with the ball raised above my head."

Ratliff said he remembered looking up into the stands and thinking, "thanks for staying." If you remember, many fans left Neyland Stadium after the offense had lost possession just minutes earlier. But, with 1:43 left to go, Ratliff saved the national championship season with one memorable play.

As Ratliff was running off the field, Martin was running back on. Martin grabbed Ratliff and said just three words, "Thank you man." The Vols won the game, 28-24, and went on to win it all.

There were many plays in that magical 1998 season that could be called key plays toward winning the national championship. But, there were none bigger than Ratliff’s forced fumble and recovery. However, the play almost never happened, because if Ratliff had had his way he wouldn’t have still been in Knoxville.

Three years earlier Ratliff tried to quit, not once but three times. It all started in August of 1996.

"I was homesick," Ratliff said. "I missed my mom so I bought a ticket on Greyhound for $40 and headed back to Magnolia, Mississippi. It was a 20 hour drive that took 48 hours with all the stops on Greyhound."

Cell phones weren’t near as popular back then so no one could get a hold of him on his runaway trip to family.

"The coaches called my mom and asked if she had heard from me. She told them that she hadn’t. But, I had my aunt set up to pick me up at the bus station. As we pulled in and I was getting off, I looked out the window and there was Coach (Steve) Caldwell waiting for me," Ratliff remembered with a chuckle in his voice.

"He gave me a piece of his mind and asked what I was doing."

Caldwell remembered the meeting, saying "Billy had an exam on Monday, and Coach (Phillip) Fulmer wanted me to make sure he got back to campus for it. So, he put me on a plane for Mississippi. You’d actually be surprised how many times we, as coaches, have to track kids down and bring them back to campus. I had to go get Cedric Houston when he ran away to his mama in Arkansas."

Ratliff said that his mom put him on the next bus and sent him back to Knoxville. Three weeks later Ratliff ran away again. This time he went to New Orleans to see his uncle and other family there because he didn’t think the coaches could find him there.

After three days Ratliff called his grandmother in Mississippi. Ratliff said she told him, "Billy, those coaches said at the University of Tennessee that you’ve gone AWOL. Where are you?"

It wasn’t 24 hours later that Caldwell was there again, dragging Ratliff back to Knoxville with him. He didn’t get very far on the third attempt. Roommate Jeremaine Copeland caught him trying to sneak out and stopped him before he could get out the door.

Ratliff works for the Knox County Property Tax Department. He also is the defensive tackles coach at Bearden High School.

"I tried to run away from Knoxville three times when I was a freshman," Ratliff said. "Now, you couldn’t drag me out of Knoxville. I love East Tennessee."

After Ratliff’s play against Arkansas, every Vol fan in Tennessee loves him.

Mark Packer hosts the Locker Room presented by Tennessee Traditions on Sunday at 10 p.m. on UPN Knoxville.