Posted by txsvol on April 26, 2008 at 8:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)

What a great walk down memory lane! SAVol

Posted by Volfan1 on April 26, 2008 at 9:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Great article. Great team! Thanks, Mr. Mattingly.

Posted by richvol on April 26, 2008 at 10:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)

A great friend of mine and I left at midnight on Friday to drive to Columbia for the game on Saturday with the Gamecocks. After driving through the night we found a campus bar open and began to "prepare" for the game. It began at 1:00 pm as I recall and we were seated in a mass of Gamecock fans.

The game was hotly contested. Carolina had a great QB named Suggs that tortured Tennessee with his scrambling and passing that day. Tennessee took the lead late but Suggs got the Gamecocks in the endzone to take the lead with about a minute left. The stadium was rocking and my friend and I were taking quite a razzing from the surrounding crowd with our "Battle Hardhats" on.

It looked grim as Carolina kicked off to us but Haskel Stanback,I believe, took the kickoff back to midfield. The crowd calmed down quite a bit and got downright silent as Tennessee drove to the goal to kick the winning points as time expired. My buddy and I were,needless to say,obnoxously happy and let everyone who had razzed us during the game know it.

To this day that's one of my great memories of Tennessee football.

Posted by stroker on April 26, 2008 at 10:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)

richvol good story. I remember games from 70 (Fla UCLA BAMA)but none in that much detail.

Posted by richvol on April 26, 2008 at 11:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The only loss that year was a real heartbreaker to Auburn. Tennessee was a great team...probably as good as any other. Auburn however, had a young quarterback named Pat Sullivan. Tennessee had held him in check for the entire game and Tim Priest had knocked Auburn's all-american wide reciever, Terry Beasley out of the game with a crushing hit.

Auburn got the ball late and I believe Beasley was back in the game but was ineffective except as a decoy. Auburn's great tight end, Dick Smaltz caught ball after ball as Sullivan faced a ferocious Tennessee pass rush led by Jackie Walker. Auburn scored to take a 10 to 9 win as time expired. It was the hardest loss I ever had to endure as a fan. Tennessee had whipped them all day but lost the game.

Looking back,I now understand that a loss is just part of the game and don't get so upset by it but it sure hurt at the time. Actually it's amazing to me that the same team that can break your heart in one game can bring you such joy and pride in another like that South Carolina game.

Posted by Volfan1 on April 26, 2008 at 12:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)

richvol,
We did lose to Auburn in 1970 at Auburn.
That's all correct, except that Auburn game you described was in 1971. I was at that game. We had everything in '71 except a QB. We were up 9-3 late, and ran maybe one more play, as we were in position to kick a field goal to put the game away. Dennis Chadwick fumbled. Auburn ball. Sullivan drove them all the way down the field for the winning TD right in front of me.
Heartbreaker.
If Bobby Scott had been redshirted (he played very little his soph year because Bubba Wyche was THE QB), Scott would have been a 5th year senior in 71. Doug Dickey made two mistakes. That was one of them. The other was evident every time Florida played in 1970.

Posted by tjmshm on April 26, 2008 at 12:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Actually lost to Auburn in Birmingham in 1970. Didn't go to Auburn until 1974. The 1971 Auburn game was a heartbreaker. The post-Auburn story for Beasley was sad one. Kevin Milam made the key kickoff return in the 1970 South Carolina game after USC went ahead. Steve Wold had a big run on the way to George Hunt's game-winning field goal.

Posted by bigfan502 on April 26, 2008 at 1:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)

After Doug Dickey suddenly left the VOLS after the 69 season to take the Florida job...the Vols were in a quandry as to what to do about a head coach. Why Dickey left the Vols is still a mystery to this day. Anyway this left athletic director Bob Woodruff only a short time to pick a new coach. Being a savvy poker player, Woodfuff picked young Bill Battle, An end coach on Dickey's staff to be head coach of the Volunteers. This shocked many Vol fans...and it was said he was too young..and may not fit in. Now, the 70 season was great, the Vols beat Bama real good and Tennessee was picked to play in the Sugar Bowl where they easily defeated Air Force....However it must be pointed out that Dickey left Battle a pile of superb talent. But the question remained...why did Woodfuff pick relatively speaking an obscure end coach, by the very fact that position alone indicated that Dickey was not that high on Battle....As the next years indicated..Battle was not a top notch recruiter, nor did he really connect with big orange fans fully....several reasons were given..Battle was a former Bama player...he lacked experience...Like a mist, his football teams' success faded gradually downhill. But to be fair his Vols won several bowl games, and he gave Joe PA'S., top ranked Penn. St., team a real licking in 71, 32-11. But the Vols declined after Dickey's players were gone. Coach Battle it appeared was the kind of coach one would get from central casting. Handsome, articulate, but his personality was described as "droll". He lasted thru the 76 season with a winning percentage that ranks up there with some of the Vols top coaches of all time. When he was replaced, sportswriters from around the country were critical of the firing. Bill, left coaching for good, and became a top businessman in Alabama.

Posted by Huntingdonvol on April 26, 2008 at 2:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Tennessee coaching records:http://www.utsports.com/footb...

Posted by bigfan502 on April 26, 2008 at 2:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I left out one very important issue that I personally think that led to Bill Battle's outster at Tennessee after the 76 season...was the fact he could only beat Bama once in his seven years...although during his tenure at the Vols helm, several of the Vol-Bama games were so hard fought and close that the Vols could and probably should have won at least two more games. But he was butting heads against the "BEAR", and few few if any teams were beating Bama in thoses days.

Posted by richvol on April 26, 2008 at 3:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Sorry about the mistakes in year and players names in those games I described...that was many years ago and my memory and the details sometime get a little fuzzy.

Battle was a fine young man that was put in a position of too much too soon. Bigfan502 is correct in his evaluation of why things went downhill over time. We got worse each year and that fake kick on 4th and 1,at our own 30 yard line at homecoming against Georgia that failed, was more than the fans could take. That's when the moving van showed up at his home.

The inside story on why Coach Dickey left was a tale of a business deal gone bad and politics. The business deal was Minnie Pearl's Fried Chicken franchise which involved Dickey and a powerful Democrat in Nashville named John Jay Hooker. Hooker and Dickey's relationship in the deal soured for whatever reason and Hooker was favored to win the Governors seat in the next election. Dickey feared that he would be forced out by a powerful new Governor and his alma mater Florida came calling at the same time. With a wife and young children Dickey made the decision to protect his family and livelihood. Hooker lost the election,to everyone's surprise,but the die was cast. It turned out badly for Tennessee.

Posted by john on April 26, 2008 at 3:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I attended the Sugar Bowl that year at old Tulane Stadium. The Vols bolted out to a record setting 24 - 0 lead in the first quarter including a Bobby Majors Punt return for a TD, and it probably would have been even worse. Some how a dog got loose on the field and play was stopped for about ten minutes late in the first quarter and after that the Vols kind of lost momentum with the game already in hand. It was a great team and the greatest quarter of football I have ever seen a UT team play. The defensive secondary was one of the best ever.

Posted by norrisr on April 26, 2008 at 4:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)

One of my finest memories is of my Crossville high school classmate, Curt Watson, starting on the one yard line and running it eleven straight times and when he was finished they were on the UCLA 49. Contrary to what a lot of folks don't know about Curt is that he was also a fine student and a wonderful person, going on to fly jets for the Blue Angels for longer than any other pilot has ever flown for them. The only running back I ever saw better than Curt was Alber Davis from Alcoa. He was a Tush hog with a capital T. Also, I never understood why they didn't run him outside more like they did with the winning touchdown against Arkansas. He was just as good an outside runner as he was inside. Oh well, those were the days!!!!!

Posted by volfan73120 on April 26, 2008 at 5:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)

WOW. Now this is the way I like to read the post. All the post were good. Everyone shared and brought back some wonderful memories. No one was calling anyone names, or being sarcastic. Just good chat about football and staying with the article. Good show guys, and Thanks.

Posted by Volfan1 on April 26, 2008 at 5:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)

tjmshm,
You are right about the game being in B'ham. I just knew it wasn't at home.
I think a lot of Heisman votes for Sullivan were won on that day in 71. It was an ABC game (back when games were few on the tube...pre-ESPN) so a lot of folks saw Sullivan's comeback. He was awesome on that drive.

The 70 UT team was a favorite. I think Bobby Scott got short changed on awards. He faced top QBs from many teams on that schedule and the only one that got the better of him was Sullivan.

Battle's demise was sad. After a 31-5 record his first three years, we became VERY mediocre. Those years skewed his overall record. I was at the fake punt Georgia game. How dumb.
Eddie Brown ran a punt back behind a beautiful wall of blockers down the press box sideline. That was the beginning of the end for Battle. I think Battle was a good guy, but couldn't beat Bama and the program really went down hill. It took Majors several years to get it back.

volfan73120, the reasons the posts are so good is that 1. Adams didn't write the article. 2. no gator or bama fans have invaded. :-)
Yeah, I've enjoyed it, too.

Posted by splinterdand on April 26, 2008 at 11:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Devon Brock rules.

Posted by tenn_smoothie on April 27, 2008 at 1:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)

that era includes my most painful loss as a Vol fan ...... the 1972 17-10 loss to Alabama at Neyland. Tennessee led the entire game until Bama scored two touchdowns in the last 5 minutes to win.

my brother and I were at that game, both teenagers at the time, and we sat stunned after the second Bama touchdown that was made possible by a Condredge Holloway fumble. very painful.

Posted by richvol on April 27, 2008 at 10:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)

That loss to Alabama was really hard to take. Tennessee had outplayed Alabama until those last five minutes when Condredge was forced to fumble twice actually. He had played brilliantly, staking UT to a 17 to 0 lead in the game. Alabama had two huge and quick defensive ends that converged on Holloway in those last minutes and virtually ripped the ball away from him.Condredge was lightning fast on the football field but Tennessee failed to protect him and he was no match for those two when in their grasp.

The other Alabama loss that just killed me was just a few years prior when Tennessee led the entire game until Alabama scored to take a one point lead with very little time left at Neyland. Austin Denney and the best pair of hands I ever saw play, Johnny Mills, caught impossible passes from our QB ( it was either Dewey Warren or Bubba Wyche I think ) to drive us the length of the field to kick a field goal from the two yard line to win with 3 seconds left. The crowd was delerious and the stadium was shaking. We missed the kick. We were stunned and numb as I left the stadium that day. It took me a week to get over being sick about that loss. That's when many people began to believe that Bear Bryant really could walk on water. There is no way we miss that kick...no way.

Posted by jcvet on April 27, 2008 at 10:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)

That 1970 team will always rank as one of my favorites. I remember that they played every game like they were the underdog. They always piled up in the end zone after a score. The team always seemed fired up. Does anyone know the history of that 4-3 defense Bill Battle ran? It seemed to work great with good linebackers. Why doesn't anyone run it anymore? I've heard that the D-linemen just knocked out interference to keep lineman off the linebackers. Maybe with our weak d-line that could work again before everyone learns how to beat it like they did in the mid-seventies with wide splits and quick openers. It sure got TN a lot of interceptions. Would like to here more commits from people who remember it.

Posted by hueypilot on April 28, 2008 at 2:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Great memories and good posts. Sullivan got his name on the map when he repeatedly hit Dick Schmaltz (I think the game was in Knoxville) to win in 1972. Later that year, in, I think, the next to the last game of the regular season, undefeated Georgia ran out on undefeated Auburn, 14-0 at halftime but before a national TV audience, Sullivan led them back to win 28-14 (This is all from memory so I could be off on some details) with Georgia rushers hanging all over him as he completed pass after pass. That same day, Ed Marinaro, the country's leading rusher at Cornell and Sullivan's chief competitor for the Heisman, (later was an actor on Hill Street Blues) failed to get 100 yards for possibly the fist time of the season. The Heisman voting came after that weekend. Timing, then, as now, is everything.
After a fashion, I was glad to get Auburn off our schedule. Alabama was the big game, but Auburn cost us dearly in 70 and 72 and won five close games in that era, kinda like Florida has now, beating us early in the season. Old Vols in that era will tell you that Auburn was the hardest hitting game of the year during that era.

Posted by hueypilot on April 28, 2008 at 2:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)

One more thing. I went down to that first game in Auburn in '74. Worst licking I ever saw a Tennessee team take. Crossed midfield once all day when Auburn was in a prevent defense just before halftime. I'll bet we didn't have five first downs in the game. After the half, all Vol personnel, including coaches and trainers wore helmets to protect themselves from objects, bottles mostly, being thrown from the stands. I have a special loathing in my heart for Auburn from that day and that loathing has not been soothed for a number of years now. I think it's time we kicked their ass.

Posted by richvol on April 28, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Auburn has always been a thorn in our side. Even in the years between the Alabama streaks, when we beat Bama four years in a row, we would lose to Auburn and it would ruin our undefeated season.

Shug Jordan never had what you would call great recruiting years but he always had the biggest and toughest interior linemen you ever saw. He would find these big ole country boys that would just whip your tail. Tennessee always had one guy on the line that was an all-american but Auburn would have 5 or 6 guys that would dominate.

Losing to Alabama was hard to take but losing to Auburn was despicable. As hueypilot said their fans were obnoxious and rude...like Florida fans now.

Posted by givim6 on April 28, 2008 at 5:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I watched the "Bear Bryant Show" (which I believe was broadcast live),after we beat him in "70".

He was sullen and defiant. As he sat there with his bottle of Coke on his left, and a bowl of Golden Flake Potato chips on his right, he said " To all you sons of bitches out there who have been calling for me to retire because of yesterday, you all can go to hell"!

It was a classic moment.

Posted by woodwr on April 28, 2008 at 10:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I was high school senior back in Illinois, without TV, when I fell in love with the 1970 Tennessee Volunteers.

God knows why, but seventies was the era of UT as "best team in 49 of 50 states," where Auburn and Alabama kept beating better Tennessee teams as well as worse Tennessee teams.

1980 was heart-break after heart-break, except for that one magic afternoon down at Auburn.

Posted by stevefrommemphis on April 29, 2008 at 12:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)

1970 was my first year attending most of the home game (with my father) as a season ticket holder. Oh, if the next 15 years of Tennessee football could have been that great! The 24-0 victory of Alabama was followed up the next week by the return of Doug Dickey. Our seats were at the top of the south end zone in section L (no upper deck), and the ramp led right over the visitors' locker room. Outside, there were large jugs of the mysterious new liquid that was supposed to make Florida better & stronger than anyone - GATORADE. The game I remember that doesn't get much attention was the last home game of the year - UCLA the first week of December. I seem to recall that UT led in the 4th quarter and was driving for another TD, but an intercepted pass was returned about 80 yards for a UCLA TD to give the Bruins the lead, and things looked bleak. But the Vols scored a quick TD and were driving at the end for another, I believe. I got to wait another two years until I saw my first UT loss - the 1972 era-defining 17-10 loss to Alabama. (UT lost at home to Auburn in 1971, but I did not attend.)

Posted by richvol on April 29, 2008 at 1:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I remember that beating we gave Alabama in Bill Battle's first year like it was yesterday. Dickey had beaten Bear three years in a row and Tennessee made it four in a row that day. I remember Jackie Walker stomping into the turf three Alabama players on his way to the endzone with an interception. Tennessee won 24 to 0 and it wasn't that close. Unfortunately that was the last victory for us for at least a decade.

This is where Bear's genius really started to show as a lot of Alabama fans were saying he was over the hill and out of touch with kids in those days. He decided to sign good young black players ( much to the consternation of a lot of Bama fans ) and went to the wishbone offense. In a couple of years he was back on top winning the SEC and national championships again. He was probably the best college coach ever...certainly the best I ever saw. He just had a way of motivating his players to play their hearts out. That's why they were never out of a game.

Posted by Volfan1 on April 29, 2008 at 2:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)

From 65 thru 72 we were rarely out of any game. The only real blow out I can remember was against Ole Miss in 69...the Archie Who game.
Auburn was a real thorn in our side during that time. They cost us sharing at least three SEC titles during that time.

After that, it was downhill for Battle. One highlight I remember seeing in person was against Auburn in 75. Larry Seivers went up between three Auburn defenders and brought down a pass for a TD. What a catch!!!!

That highlight was sadly remembered in the same year we lost to Vandy and NORTH TEXAS STATE.
Another lowlight was 76 when we lost on a stupid blocked punt against Bama. A one man rush blocked it. We could have won that one.

Add that up with the fake punt against Georgia in 73, and it was good bye Bill Battle.
You know, Battle was a great guy. He recruited a friend of mine to the Vols, Steve Poole, who went on to the NFL for awhile. It seemed Battle could get some great players (Condredge Holloway, Stanley Morgan, Mickey Marvin, Haskel Stanback, Andy Spiva, Poole) but couldn't get enough other good players to complement them and compete.

Here's a thought. One reason Battle was fired was because he couldn't beat Bama (not many people did in the 70's). We could have won that game in 1976. Bama was "only" 9-3 that year. We lost on that dumb blocked punt. What if we had won? That would have satisfied a lot of disgruntled fans. Would Battle had stayed longer? Then, would Johnny not come marching home? Would the entire Vol program be changed today with that one game being won instead of lost? Food for thought.

Posted by JWilly on April 29, 2008 at 3:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)

A couple of hodge-podge observations. (1) As I recall, and as others have said, losing to Auburn is what did Bill Battle in (at least more so than anything else). (2) There was a story going around campus during that time (probably untrue) that a highly prized recruit belched in Battle's office during an interview and did not say "excuse me". After that, Battle quit recruiting the guy. The story was told as an example of how petty Battle was. (3) Doug Dickey was an alum of Fla. and Fla. then, as now, was a hot bed of college FB recruits. It was believed that if you could successfully recruit the best Fla. players that you couuldn't lose. So Dickey heard the siren's call and unfortunately for him, it just did not work out.

Posted by JWilly on April 29, 2008 at 3:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)

A couple of hodge-podge observations. (1) As I recall, and as others have said, losing to Auburn is what did Bill Battle in (at least more so than anything else). (2) There was a story going around campus during that time (probably untrue) that a highly prized recruit belched in Battle's office during an interview and did not say "excuse me". After that, Battle quit recruiting the guy. The story was told as an example of how petty Battle was. (3) Doug Dickey was an alum of Fla. and Fla. then, as now, was a hot bed of college FB recruits. It was believed that if you could successfully recruit the best Fla. players that you couuldn't lose. So Dickey heard the siren's call and unfortunately for him, it just did not work out.

Posted by BADGES0413 on April 29, 2008 at 3:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Battle was 3-11 against Alabama and Auburn, I think that did him in. He could recruit some individual talent, but could not go 3 deep like Bear did in the 70's. Bryant always had 9 running backs that would play in most games and wear people down in the 4th Quarter. 1970, that 36 to 23 loss to Auburn was the only blemish. I think they had us 29 to 23 and we had the ball. Could not sustain a drive and Auburn scored late to seal the win. Of course we still would have played Air Force in the Sugar Bowl instead of a chance at Nebraksa that year. The conference tie ins were strict at that time.

Posted by JWilly on April 29, 2008 at 4:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)

This is off subject (please accept my apology in advance) but who was UT's coach in the famous "Arhie Who" game? I remember that UT was knocking on the door of a Natl. Championship. They played Ole Miss late in the season and Steve Kiner (?) made the reference "Archie Who" to jab at Archie Manning. Manning and the Rebels totally dismantled UT that day and that is still THE most embarassing loss I can remember in UT FB history. UT's football team's image fell off the end of the earth after that game. If someone would have told me that day that Archie's son would be the most revered player in UT FB history I would have said you were nuts!

Posted by Volfan1 on April 29, 2008 at 4:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Doug Dickey was the coach in the 69 Archie Who game.
The Vols were undefeated, had beaten Georgia at Athens and were featured in the college football section of Sports Illustrated after that win.
Then BAM! Ole Miss waxed us.
We went from a big time bowl to the Gator Bowl, and that infamous game against UF as Dickey's UT swan song. I still have my doubts about UT's Gator Bowl game plan that day.

Posted by General_Watermelon on April 29, 2008 at 4:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)

bigfan502 - Battle also couldn't beat North Texas State - a squad that looked more like a highschool team.

Posted by richvol on April 29, 2008 at 5:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Volfan1 when you brought up that '69 Archie Who game the memories started flooding back. Tennessee had a great team that had several all-americans on it. Jack Reynolds, Steve Kiner, Chip Kell and the best defensive backfield you ever saw. Tennessee had beaten Ole Miss and Archie badly when they played at Neyland the year before. We picked off 6 Manning passes as the scouting report tipped us off that Manning always looked first to who he was eventually throwing to then scanned the other recievers. Whoever picked that up was brilliant as it was dead on correct.

The next year Tennessee was undefeated at 7 and 0 or 8 and 0 when the game came around. Tennessee was ranked 2nd behind Southern Cal and Southen Cal lost that Saturday to UCLA I believe. Tennessee never got that deep into the season undefeated because we always managed to lose to Alabama or Auburn early but here was our best chance to rise to number 1 since the fifties.

The Knoxville press couldn't praise Tennessee enough and a lot of excitement was building about our visit to Jackson and the matchup with Ole Miss and Manning. In an interview Steve Kiner said something about Ole Miss' players being a bunch of mules verses race horses. The Jackson press got hold of it and made it front page news. When asked about Archie Manning and how great he was Kiner then said " Archie who?".

My Dad was from Mississippi and his brother was the state representative of Jackson,the state capitol. As such, my uncle was a huge Ole Miss fan so my entire family went to Jackson for the game. I was so excited...this was Tennessee's chance to be number 1 and we had killed Ole Miss the year before.

The night before the game my uncle took my dad and I to an Ole Miss pep rally. He introduced us to Archie Manning before the festivities got rolling and I remember thinking what a polite and polished gentleman he was. After Archie spoke the students brought out a mule and paraded it around much to the delight of the crowd. They also handed out " Archie Who?" buttons. I sensed then we were in trouble.

The next day I never saw so many rebel flags and rabid prople in one place in my life. I was seated alone,away from my family,and was secretly glad I didn't have any orange on that day. The fans had been in the stands drinking for hours before kickoff and were wild. Ole Miss took the ball after stopping us at the goal and marched 99 yards and fumbled into the endzone on 4th down for a touchdown. Game,set,match over. They killed us by the same score that we had beaten them the year before. That was the longest car ride home of my life to this day.

When the team got back to Knoxville,Jack Reynolds sawed an entire jeep in half,from front to back, with a hacksaw to vent his frustration. That's where his famous nickname "Hacksaw Reynolds"came from.

Posted by Volfan1 on April 30, 2008 at 12:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)

rich,
GREAT stories. I've been to several venues in the south, but the only time I've been scared was in Jackson at an Ole Miss game.
(Haven't been to Gainesville for a UT/UF game, so I get a mulligan for that.)
Been to Atlanta, Fayetteville, Little Rock, Jacksonville, Gainesville (Gator Bowl), Auburn, Birmingham, Memphis, Orlando, and Tampa. But the drunks/fans in Jackson were tough.

Posted by hueypilot on April 30, 2008 at 10:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The mules and horses comment from Kiner, when told that "some people think Ole Miss has some horses this year," and Kiner said, "some people can't tell horses from mules."
You might be scared at Gainesville, Vol Fan, but put off would be more like it. They are without a doubt, the worst hosts of college football that I have ever encountered. I live down here and have made every UT/UF game since '97 and they are the lousiest sports fans I've ever run into anywhere.

Posted by givim6 on April 30, 2008 at 12:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I was traveling in Michigan the Saturday of the "Archie Who" game.

When I heard the local radio sports announcer give the final score, He said, and I agreed that "I believe this score is a mistake by the wire service."

Without a doubt, this was one of the most devastating losses in UT history.

Posted by Volfan1 on April 30, 2008 at 3:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)

hueypilot,
I live in Fla, too, only about 70 miles from Hogtown. I've heard horror stories about Gainesville, so I've passed on going. Wished I could have been there when Travis Stephens ran wild.
I've had a Gator fan drive by me on I-95 in downtown Jax and stick BOTH hands out the window and shake them at me...while he was driving at probably 60 mph. I was minding my own business but he saw that I had a UT sticker on my window. So, yeah, they're nuts.

Posted by hueypilot on May 1, 2008 at 3:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)

My wife won't go to Gainesville anymore, so I'm looking for someone else to share my tickets if, like he did last year, my son doesn't come down from Tennessee to join me. I'll be damned if I'll be intimidated by those p$%%*#s even tho I'm getting a little long in the tooth to battle with them. And I have found the way to make them humble is whip 'em like we did twice when Casey (what a great road dog he was) beat 'em in 01 and 03 and they just slither back into the swamp. It's by far the most satisfying road win because of all their false bravado.

Posted by General_Watermelon on May 1, 2008 at 7:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Thoughts on last visit to Gainesville:

Hate to admit it but Florida students are smarter than Tennessee students. Why do I make that statement?

UT fans were on one side of the street and were laying a fake gator on the a string in the road and were letting cars run over it. Then...Florida students on the other side of the road pelted the UT fans with oranges. What did the UT students do to retaliate? The idiots threw full cans of beer at the Florida fans. Real smart to wast good beer.
Next they will be throwing warm fritters.

Posted by jcvet on May 2, 2008 at 11:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)

On youtube you can type in tennesse auburn football 1971 and they show the old original ABC broadcast of the end of the game when at 9-3 TN was driving deep into Auburn territory to ice the game.Our QB fumbled and Sullivan drove them 80 yds. for the winning score. TN appeared to me to be in a stupid prevent. Neat to see how bad the TV coverage was back then.