The countdown to Tennessee's first season under coach Josh Heupel, its 100th season inside Neyland Stadium and its 125th season as a football program can now be measured in hours.
Volunteers players and fans alike are eager to get the 3-7 taste of last year out of their systems, and Bowling Green could be the perfect remedy given that Tennessee is a five-touchdown favorite entering Thursday's 8 p.m. kickoff on the SEC Network. After COVID-19 guidelines limited Neyland's capacity to fewer than 25,000 last season, the Vols are expected to encounter a significantly larger audience when they run through the Power T formed by the Pride of the Southland marching band.
"Our players and coaches are full of anticipation," Heupel said Wednesday during his first appearance on the weekly Southeastern Conference teleconference. "When I look back over the last seven or eight months and what we've been able to build here from where we started and how we've grown together with such accountability and connection and trust in one another - I'm just really proud of what we've done.
"We're at the point right now where it's time to go play and see where we're at."
In honor of Tennessee's milestones in Neyland and as a program, here are the season openers from yesteryear that stick out most.
THE BEST (1959): Tennessee had opened its 1958 season against reigning national champion Auburn at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, and was held to minus-49 rushing yards and 19 passing yards in a 13-0 defeat. The minus-30 total yards remains an SEC record for futility, and the 1959 encounter in Knoxville didn't offer Tennessee much more hope. Shug Jordan's Tigers entered ranked No. 3 and on a 23-0-1 surge dating to 1956, but Tennessee would hold Auburn to just nine first downs and used a 19-yard field goal in pulling out a 3-0 upset.
THE WORST (2019): Expecting something other than Georgia State's 38-30 stunner from two years ago? The Panthers were coming off a 2-10 season in 2018 but pounded the Vols with 53 rushes for 213 yards. The Sun Belt program actually led 38-23 before Jarrett Guarantano's 18-yard cosmetic touchdown toss to Jauan Jennings with two seconds remaining.
THE WILDEST (1990): The inaugural Pigskin Classic was an appealing matchup considering Colorado and Tennessee were coming off 11-1 seasons in 1989, but the teams combined for eight turnovers in their meeting. The Buffaloes were in control at 31-17 before Andy Kelly led a frantic comeback that resulted in a 31-31 deadlock when Chuck Webb scored from 4 yards out with 2:25 remaining. Johnny Majors had opted for the extra point, and the Vols got the ball back, but Webb's 25-yard run to the Colorado 16 occurred as time expired. The Vols would win the Sugar Bowl that season, but the Buffaloes would win the national championship.
THE LONGEST (2017): Tennessee's 42-41 topping of Georgia Tech in double overtime inside Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium opened what would be the fifth and final season for Butch Jones. Despite the slew of points, it was Paul Bain's block of a 36-yard field-goal attempt at the end of regulation and Darrell Taylor's hit on Tech quarterback TaQuon Marshall on a 2-point conversion in the second overtime that saved the evening for the Vols.
MOST MISLEADING (2012): After Tennessee's impressive 35-21 win over N.C. State at the Georgia Dome, third-year Vols coach Derek Dooley said: "It's one game. I already know you guys are going to say, 'We're there. We're on our way.' It's one game." How right he was. The Vols collected four interceptions against the Wolfpack, but Sal Sunseri's defense was a disaster the rest of the way as Tennessee stumbled to seven losses in Dooley's final 10 games.
MOST MEMORABLE WIN (1998): Jeff Hall's 27-yard field goal capped Tennessee's 34-33 win over Syracuse, which had a fourth quarter containing four lead changes. It served as the first step to Tennessee's scintillating run to the program's second Associated Press national championship.
MOST MEMORABLE LOSS (1980): The first Neyland crowd in excess of 90,000 watched Tennessee build a 15-0 lead against Georgia only to lose 16-15, with Bulldogs freshman running back Herschel Walker coming off the bench and proving to be the difference. Honorable mention would be the 25-23 defeat at UCLA in 1994, when starting quarterback Jerry Colquitt injured his knee on the game's first series, resulting in Todd Helton becoming the starter and Peyton Manning experiencing his first college action.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.