Johnny Mills set the single-game receiving record with 225 yards against Kentucky in 1967 .
Sometimes record-setting performances happen in unexpected places, at unexpected times.
It was a television game in the days when there were precious few games on the tube.
In the ninth game of the 1966 season, Nov. 19, Tennessee, unranked in Associated Press top 10, and Kentucky squared off at Neyland Stadium, with the game being regionally televised on ABC. That was the good news.
The bad news, history tells us, was that the other televised game that gray November Saturday, the one fans in the Knoxville area couldn't see, was Notre Dame versus Michigan State, the famed "Tie One for the Gipper" game in East Lansing, Mich.
Notre Dame gratefully accepted a 10-10 tie against the Spartans, on their way to winning a national championship despite Alabama sitting there at season's end at 10-0 and 11-0 after a win over Nebraska in the Sugar Bowl.
In Knoxville, there was considerable history made on Shields-Watkins Field. Tennessee fans watched in amazement as the Vols continued the development of a passing attack that amassed yardage in unprecedented big chunks.
Johnny Mills, a wide receiver from Elizabethton wearing No. 85, caught seven balls for 225 yards that day, all from quarterback Dewey "Swamp Rat" Warren, to set a pass receiving yardage record that stood nearly 35 years, before being broken in the 2001 LSU game, the night Kelley Washington caught 11 for 256 yards.
Mills had receptions of 33 and 41 yards in the first quarter, 12 and 33 yards in the second, a 13 yarder in the third, and a 72- and 21 yarder in the fourth. The 72-yard play was for a touchdown. The Vols eventually prevailed 28-19.
"Johnny was another of those route-runner, good-catcher-type guys who did not have great speed, but had the ability to maneuver himself into the openings," his head coach, Doug Dickey, said. "He knew how to fake and move, set up the defender, then end up somewhere catching the ball."
Mills and Warren were part of an amazing sophomore class that had to have caught Dickey's eye in his maiden season in 1964, including Austin Denney, Paul Naumoff, Mack Gentry, Joe Graham, Bobby Morel, Tom Fisher, Art Galiffa, Harold Stancell, Ron Widby, Doug Archibald, and Jerry Smith, all starters sometime during their careers.
"Johnny was a competitor," Warren said this week. "He didn't think anybody could cover him one-on-one. He had great hand-eye coordination. He had moves that could fake me out. He always said, 'I can get open.' "
Mills led the 1966 team with 48 catches for 725 yards, both record numbers at that time. Mills more than doubled what All-America Buddy Cruze did in 1956, in terms of receptions and yardage.
Mills' performance did serious damage to the record books. No UT player had caught more than 23 passes up to that time. Moreover, the player who did catch 23 balls also was named Johnny Mills, based on his performance in 1965.
A number of big-name Vols have taken their best shot at Mills over the years.
Willie Gault came closest with 217 yards against Vanderbilt in 1981. Then came Carl Pickens with 201 against Kentucky in 1990, Stanley Morgan with 201 against TCU in 1976, Peerless Price with 199 against Florida State in the 1999 Fiesta Bowl, and Anthony Hancock had 196 in the 1981 Garden State Bowl. It's an impressive group, but none of them could match what Mills did. Mills' effort literally stood the test of time over the generations.
Mills keeps it all in perspective.
"I remember thinking after the game that I had a great senior season made all the better because I had broken my arm in the 1965 UCLA game," Mills said this week. "It was not for sure I was even going to get to play in 1966. I remember finishing the game and looking up in the stands, knowing it was the last time I would ever play in Neyland Stadium. It was a bittersweet moment."
Mills had a spectacular two-game run in 1965 and 1966, in which he caught 10 passes against UCLA and came back in the season opener against Auburn to catch 11. He was All-SEC in 1966, one of four Vols named.
He held the receiving record for 35 years. Few records have lasted as along as Mills' did.
Mills says he's getting stronger after a recent heart attack. His wife has promoted him to "greeter" at Mills Greenhouse. His grandchildren keep him busy.
Life he says is good.
"Everybody had a time. I had my time," Mills said. "They probably look at those old videos and say, 'Boy, the guy sure is slow. He sure does run archaic routes.' But as they mature, they'll probably think he wasn't bad for his time."
Mills wasn't bad for his time, or anybody else's.
Tom Mattingly is the author of "The Tennessee Football Vault: The Story of the Tennessee Volunteers, 1891-2006" (2006), now available in second edition at fine bookstores, and "Tennessee Football: The Peyton Manning Years" (1998). He was actually in attendance at the 1966 Kentucky game. Comments may be sent to tjmshm@comcast.net. His News Sentinel blog is called "The Vol Historian."
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Comments » 13
midnite__VOL writes:
I saw Johnny not long ago, his health looks good. A fine man in our proud town.
rockytopatl writes:
Sometimes with Mattingly, we need a translator. What the heck is "Mills Greenhouse?" I also have no idea what the famed "Tie One For the Gipper" is all about. Did George come back from the dead and play in that game?
That said, I am old enough to remember Mills, the Swamp Rat and Austin Denny. That passing attack is what turned me into a lifelong Vol.
mattingly writes:
Do we have to explain everything? "Mills Greenhouse" is the family business in Elizabethton. "Tie One for the Gipper" is a not-so-subtle takeoff on "Win One for the Gipper" the key moment in the movie "Knute Rockne All-American." It reflects Coach Ara Parseghian's strategy to play for the tie in 1966 against Michigan State and have the Fighting Irish still win the national championship. That's all.
midnite__VOL writes:
Mills Greenhouse is Johnny's business located in Elizabethon.
tnmargo writes:
I have thought all season that Johnny should be honored as a Legend of the Game!
rockytopatl writes:
Yes, if something you write creates a question, you should answer it with three words of explanatory background, "Mills Greenhouse, the family business." Not all of us live in Elizabethton. And yes, your Gipper line is not subtle at all. It's obtuse as all get out. Many of your readers weren't even alive in 1966 or have never seen that movie.
mattingly writes:
Should have written "tongue in cheek alert" before that comment. No offense meant or taken. The term "Win one for the Gipper" was used in the Reagan Administration, used many times by the President himself. Bottom line: All of us should work hard to write with more clarity.
rockytopatl writes:
No offense taken here either! I strive to do the same myself.
riversetvol writes:
66 was a strange year. Alabama was 2 time defending NC and went 11-0, but lost out in the polls to a Notre Dame team that went 9-0-1 and didn't even go to a bowl. In those days Notre Dame thought it was beneath them to play in a post-seson game.
Spurrier won the Heisman because he kicked a FG to beat a 4-6 Auburn team but he wasn't even the best QB in the SEC. Snake Stabler who led the Tide to their undefeated season was a better passer and runner than Spurrier.
In addition to being a great receiver I remember Johnny Mills used to put on some impressive diving exhibitions at the newly opened Student Aquatic Center.
richvol writes:
Until Seivers came along Mills was the best receiver UT ever had and he was especially great in critical situations. He made spectacular catch after catch. I'll never forget him laying out prone,about two feet off the ground,and catching one of Warren's passes with one outstretched hand on 4th down. He and Denny made a great pair of receivers.
InertGas writes:
Hey Johnny...I remember you.
jack_2222#231746 writes:
Tom Fisher- a 6'3" 230 pound LB with speed in 1966. Unheard of.
His death was as untimely as it was premature.
leedsvol2007 writes:
As I remember Mills and Austin Denney made some truly great catches in the 1966 Gator Bowl that featured Tennessee and Syracuse.
I remember watching the highlight reel of that game as a junior in High School the night before a game.
That Syracuse team featured Larry Csonka and Floyd Little. Csonka is a Hall of Famer and Floyd Little is one of Denver's all time great backs.
There is a hit Paul Naumoff made on Csonka in that game that is one of the great tackles of all time.
Those teams for there era were excellent and I bet the highlight films would still be fun to watch.
GoVols!
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