Mattingly: Flaming Sophomores put UT on map

Photo by News Sentinel file

Gene McEver, Tennessee tailback 1928-31, poses for a photo during practice. McEver returned the opening kickoff in the Vols’ 15-13 upset of Alabama at Tuscaloosa in 1928.

Photo by News Sentinel file

Quarterback Bobby Dodd, right, of UT demonstrates handling a center snap. The 1928 sophomore led UT to a 9-0-1 record, and later coached Georgia Tech into a national power.

With many other things obviously occupying the hearts and minds of the Tennessee faithful, the 80th anniversary of a significant day in Vol football came and went without much fanfare.

Tennessee fans could be forgiven for that omission, since practically no one who was there Oct. 20, 1928, is alive to tell the tale.

It was, however, a watershed moment in Tennessee football history. The Vols' program vaulted into the national consciousness that day and, despite a rough patch or two, has been there the entire four score years.

In 1928, the "Flaming Sophomores," a group of wild-eyed rookies, made a major impact on Vol fortunes. Players such as Gene McEver, Bobby Dodd, Paul Hug, Harry "Hobo" Thayer, Charles "Dutch" Reineke, Buddy Hackman, Fritz Brandt, Hugh Faust, and Phil Beane are among the heroes of the history of this era.

They were amazing in their three years on the Hill, undefeated at home, excellent on the road, overall records of 9-0-1 in 1928 and 1929 and 9-1-0 in 1930, losing only at Alabama. Due to an injury causing him to miss the 1930 season, McEver led the way in 1931, as the Vols went 9-0-1 again. The three ties were against Kentucky.

Maj. Bob Neyland had arrived two years before, with the Volunteers being 19-1-1 against all comers as they headed by train to Tuscaloosa. The brash McEver led the Vols to a monumental upset, 15-13, returning the opening kickoff 98 yards for a score, and the Vols were part of the college football landscape from that day forward.

"I can see clear as day that big guy kicking off," McEver said, "like a big ox, hopping twice and kicking as high and straight as you could. I caught it and took off like a jackrabbit. I had told the guys, 'Everybody take a man and I'll get two.' Two guys hit me at the 40, bounced off me and it was me and the goal line."

It was a "defining moment" in a history replete with defining moments, one or two each decade.

Dodd, later the legendary coach at Georgia Tech, helped lead the way, at least for the first half, as he would over the course of his Tennessee career (1928-30). He was knocked out near halftime, leaving Reineke to guide the Vols after intermission.

McEver and Hackman were dubbed the "Touchdown Twins." "Hack, Mack, and Dodd" and their teammates were the toast of the town.

Tennessee and Alabama each played 18 men that day. That was all. All the points came in the first half. McEver scored twice, with Dodd scoring an extra point.

L.B. "Farmer" Johnson notched a safety, as former News Sentinel sports editor Tom Siler wrote. Russ Bebb, former Knoxville Journal assistant sports editor, noted that the safety came from Thayer. Whoever did it, it was two points for the Vols, the eventual margin of victory, resulting in a great deal of Alabama money going northward on the train and other modes of transportation from Tuscaloosa to Knoxville.

"I don't think McEver himself knew how he ran, except that he got there," Col. Thomas French Elam said. "Neyland told me more than once he was the best football player he ever had."

"I suppose the 1928 Alabama game stands out the most," McEver said, "not that it was the greatest game, but was the game that put Tennessee football on the map."

Time has never dimmed the memories of that day on Denny Field, the year before there was a Denny Stadium. Denny Field was - according to Jay Barker's Alabama football history - a "picturesque piece of land, located between Parham and Barnwell Halls, the site of the future Bryant-Denny Stadium."

Former News Sentiniel sportswriter and sports editor Marvin West also wrote that the Vols stopped the Tide at the Tennessee 12 late in the game, a situation mentioned by neither Bebb nor Siler. Such are the vagaries of history.

Legend has it that Neyland went to Tide coach Wallace Wade and asked if the game could be shortened if events warranted.

"I never met Neyland before that day," Wade said. "Before that game, Bob came to me and said the game would be a rout. He suggested that, in order to hold down the score, the last two quarters be cut. I told him Alabama did not expect to be able to run up a score, but agreed to shorten the last half if Alabama's lead justified it."

No one knows for sure if this conversation actually took place, but it's still part of the legend. If you hear legends repeated enough times, they often become part of reality.

The game went the requisite 60 minutes, with the Vols winning.

"Never again would the Vols catch a team looking the other way," Bebb wrote. "The Vols were in the football business to stay."

And "stay" they did.

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 has seen every Tennessee-Alabama game since 1966, and 46 out of the last 50. He may be reached at tjmshm@comcast.net. His News Sentinel blog is called "The Vol Historian."