45 years is a long time. So long, in fact, the last time the UTC Mocs football team traveled to Knoxville to face the UT Vols in Neyland Stadium, UTC was still called the University of Chattanooga, and Neyland seated just under 69,000.
Nearly 50,000 fans turned out for UT’s 31-0 victory on that September Saturday. When the two teams face off October 11 for the first time since 1969, the crowd will likely be twice that size. And one Mocs fan among them will be former University of Chattanooga tailback Bucky Wolford, who played on the last team to travel to Neyland. Despite the four decades, Wolford, who still looks like he could suit up and make defenders miss, says it seems like it was just yesterday that he was on the field.
Many times, memories from the field come back to him when he meets up with former teammates who, like him, have made their mark on Chattanooga after hanging up their helmets for the Blue & Gold. Wolford, who crafted a career in commercial real estate development both in Chattanooga and across the US, says he often sees old teammates like former Hamilton County high school principals Robert Smith, Angelo “Nubby” Napolitano and Don Bishop. Just last month, Wolford talked about the glory days with former UC assistant coach Harold Wilkes over lunch at Wally’s. “I played with a great group of guys and it’s great that so many of us are still around Chattanooga and get to stay in touch,” he says. “The bond that you create with the guys you played with is something you never forget and you never want to lose.”
Other times, the memories come back to Wolford with a sharp pain in the right shoulder, the one he separated early in the 1969 matchup against the Vols’ vaunted defense, which featured future NFL linebackers Jack “Hacksaw” Reynolds and All-American Steve Kiner, who was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year that season. Reynolds went on to be a first-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers and Kiner followed him as a third-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys.
Until 1969, the Mocs played the Vols consistently, facing off 39 times since football began at UC in 1904. During those years, Chattanooga managed two ties and two wins, the last coming in 1958 with a 14-6 upset. Wolford recalls that, in 1967, the Mocs played the Vols very tough and led UT 13-7 before ultimately falling 28-13. The 1964 team lost 7-6 in head coach Doug Dickey’s debut at UT.