The Tennessee Volunteers are just days away from kicking off the Josh Heupel era and the 100-year anniversary season of Neyland Stadium.
Neyland’s 10 decades are filled with pleasant memories for the orange-clad faithful.
The 1939 team not yielding a point that entire regular season. The 14-13 upset of No. 1 LSU in 1959. The early 1970s wizardry of quarterback Condredge Holloway. Ending Alabama’s 11 straight series triumphs in 1982. And perhaps the loudest moment in the stadium’s history: Clint Stoerner’s fumble in the 1998 comeback win over Arkansas.
Yet memories are what Tennessee fans are having to cling to more and more amid a 78-82 stretch since the start of Phillip Fulmer’s final season in 2008, which happened to be the year Alabama took off under Nick Saban. Going toe to toe with Alabama and pummeling Vanderbilt have been replaced by getting routed by the Crimson Tide and going toe to toe with the Commodores.
Other Southeastern Conference power programs such as Auburn, Florida, Georgia and LSU are either beating Alabama on occasion or playing in New Year’s Six bowls with regularity, but Tennessee is now 23 years removed from its most recent league crown – easily marking the longest drought in program history – and 14 years from its last appearance in an SEC title game, with Oklahoma and Texas soon packing their bags to join the neighborhood.