November 14th, 1998, No. 1 ranked Tennessee found themselves playing another undefeated team, the 10th ranked Arkansas Razorbacks. The winner could play for a national championship. The Vols weren’t intimidated by this matchup, at least according to defensive lineman Billy Ratliff. Not even close.
“We didn’t care who we played,” Ratliff recalled, “it was just another team we were utilizing for stats.”
Little did Ratliff know, defensive stats would be hard to come by – thanks in large part to All-American offensive guard Brandon Burlsworth.
Ratliff and his teammates sized up Burlsworth before the game began. He wasn’t a sharp dresser like the other offensive linemen. He had “coke-bottle” glasses and wore his pads as if he was in Pee-Wee football.
Once they got on the field, Ratliff and the Vols’ defense realized the guy they made fun of pre-game was about to show them how wrong they were.
“Brandon came to play that day,” Ratliff said, “He was the real deal. I didn’t have one stat, not a stat. This man was a technician. I’d never played anybody like him before in my life.”
For the first three quarters, Burlsworth owned Ratliff and Tennessee’s defense. The line was struggling. Ratliff tried to stay positive and encourage his team. He ran to the sidelines and delivered this motivational sentence.
“We’re going to get this ball back,” Ratliff said with confidence.
Arkansas had the ball. Burlsworth was a beast. What was Ratliff’s plan of attack? He thought of every technique he had been taught over the years.
Billy Ratliff had an idea. He remembered, “It consisted of me keeping my head down, like I’m running a 40-yard dash straight up the field and my helmet is going to hit the center of his chest. That gives him no way to put his hands on me.”
Ratliff made his big play.
“All I did was just push this man and he was on skates,” Ratliff said.
The rest is Tennessee football history. Ratliff shoved Burlsworth into quarterback Clint Stoerner causing him to “stumble and fumble” when Arkansas surprisingly decided to call a bootleg. No one knows if it was a designed run or Stoerner was intent on throwing the football. It didn’t matter.
Ratliff made good on his promise. The Vols’ recovered the fumble and went on to score a last-minute touchdown, winning the game 28-24, after a touchdown drive that consisted of six straight running plays.
Only one team left Neyland Stadium that night undefeated. They would remain undefeated and eventually win the national championship.
