Mattingly: Plenty more defensive gems by Vols

Someone called this past week and asked the following question: If “The Stop” against LSU is the greatest defensive play in Tennessee history, what comes in second?

Here’s one man’s opinion of nine other game-changing defensive plays.

No. 13 Tennessee 14, No. 1 LSU 13; Shields-Watkins Field, Nov. 7, 1959: Without Jim Cartwright’s interception and touchdown run covering 59 yards, “The Stop” might never have happened. That was the opinion of UT fan Doug Jones, and, on reflection, his assessment makes sense. No Cartwright, no “Stop.” If LSU had gone ahead 14-0, or even 10-0, that would have been the game. Even LSU coach Paul Dietzel said so.

No. 20 Tennessee 16, No. 15 Alabama 14; Legion Field, Birmingham, Ala., Oct. 19, 1985: It was Dale Jones point blank against Mike Shula late in the 1985 game. “Shula back to throw, left-handed, out into the flat ... Broken up ... Was that intercepted in mid-air? Ladies and gentlemen, what a play by Dale Jones!” That’s how John Ward called the play.

No. 11 Tennessee 21, Kentucky 7; Stoll Field, Lexington, Ky., Nov. 20, 1971: Carl Johnson saved the game, the last contest at Stoll Field, intercepting a pitchout and lumbering 87 yards for a score, when the Big Blue seemed poised to tie the score or go ahead late in the contest. “The quarterback came down the line on the option,” Johnson said. “I punched him with my left arm, and he pitched the ball at the same time. I ran it back some 87 yards. Half the team caught up to me because I ran out of steam about halfway there.”

No. 1 Tennessee 28, No. 10 Arkansas 24; Neyland Stadium, Nov. 14, 1998: Tennessee looked dead in the water, literally, given the weather conditions, in a battle of top 10 teams. Quarterback Clint Stoerner brought his team to the line, with second-and-12 and 1:47 left, leading 24-22. The call was a quarterback keeper to the left. When the play started, Billy Ratliff pushed an offensive guard into Stoerner’s path, with Stoerner tripping and trying to brace his fall with the ball. The ball came loose, Ratliff recovered at the Arkansas 43, and the Vols scored in five plays. Amazing, simply amazing.

Tennessee 35, No. 2 Alabama 28; Neyland Stadium, Oct. 16, 1982: The yoke was lifted as the Vols broke an 11-game losing streak to Alabama with a 35-28 win in Bear Bryant’s final Knoxville appearance. The Tide had closed the margin and was moving inexorably to the north end in the final moments. It came down to fourth down. Lee Jenkins tipped a Walter Lewis pass, and Mike Terry grabbed the spheroid. The Vols had the ball … and the game. Then pandemonium reigned.

No. 13 Tennessee 35, No. 5 Notre Dame 34; Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Ind., Nov. 9, 1991: The greatest comeback in Vol history, bar none, with two big-time defensive plays. The Vols trailed 31-7 in the second quarter, before Darryl Hardy blocked a field attempt, and Floyd Miley returned the block for a score. The Vols led 35-34 after a perfectly executed screen pass from Andy Kelly to running back Aaron Hayden. Jeremy Lincoln, from just down the toll road in Toledo, blocked a final field goal attempt with his rump to cinch the win.

No. 3 Tennessee 17, Auburn 9; Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, Ala., Oct. 3, 1998: Auburn took the opening kickoff and was moving smartly down the field, until defensive end Shaun Ellis got it the way of a pitchout and lumbered 90 yards for a score. Tennessee needed a goal line stand in the second period and some alert defensive work down the stretch to subdue the Tigers.

No. 1 Tennessee 23, No. 2 Florida State 16; Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Ariz., Jan. 4, 1999: Tennessee punter David Leaverton made one of the key plays in the first BCS National Championship Game, tackling FSU’s Peter Warrick just as it appeared he might break the return for a score. Leaverton, now in Sen. Bob Corker’s Knoxville office, called the tackle “textbook,” and said he remembered “seeing stars” after the tackle and didn’t “realize how big the play was at the time.”

No. 12 Tennessee 31, No. 5 Penn State 11; Neyland Stadium, Dec. 4, 1971: Tennessee was a definite underdog, and Penn State (10-0) looked ready to take control of the game in the first quarter, until Jackie Walker and Conrad Graham took charge. “It didn’t look like we could stop them,” UT coach Bill Battle said. “They ran a counter-option to their right. Jackie Walker hit John Hufnagel as he pitched the ball. Conrad Graham came up on run support, the ball popped up, he grabbed it, and ran 76 yards for a touchdown.”

There are others, probably, but none as significant.

Tom Mattingly is the author of “The Tennessee Football Vault: The Story of the Tennessee Volunteers, 1891-2006” (2006), to be published in second edition in 2009, and “Tennessee Football: The Peyton Manning Years” (1998). He saw all 10 of these plays in person. He may be reached at tjmshm@comcast.net. His News Sentinel blog is called “The Vol Historian.”

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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