From 2007 to 2021, Tennessee Football went a combined 1-29 against the Florida Gators and Alabama Crimson Tide. Heading into two Saturday’s ago, UT was a combined 3-31 against those programs dating back to the same time frame. The Vols just beat both of them within a week.
After beating the Alabama Crimson Tide 24-17, the Vols did something they hadn’t done since 1970, which is beat Bama and Florida in back to back weeks. Since the teams began playing annually in 1990, they pulled off something they had only accomplished five times in the previous 34 years, which was beat them in the same season.
Most impressively, though, Tennessee Football did it in less than seven days. Since the Florida game was a night game and the Bama game was in the late afternoon, Rocky Top actually managed to beat both teams in less than a week. And they held both opponents to 17 points, doing it with defense.
Who saw this being possible the day the Vols lost to the Arkansas Razorbacks on the road? Battered Vol Syndrome was kicking in once again when that happened, and all the excitement behind what Josh Heupel had built through the first four weeks of the season was out the door.
Well, it’s time for some perspective. Sure, Florida and Alabama aren’t what they traditionally have been, but that hasn’t stopped them from owning Tennessee Football in the past. Heck, Florida has been a mediocre program ever since Tim Tebow left.
Somehow, though, the Vols could never beat them. Also, it’s not like Alabama hasn’t had mediocre teams that beat superior teams from UT. Go back and look at their winning streak from 1986 to 1992. UT had the better team clearly in 1987, 1989 and 1990 but would still lose.
The point is that regardless of how good or bad the teams are, these two programs have been kryptonite for Rocky Top ever since they started playing both annually. You can’t just point to the decade of dysfunction and the horrendously bad coaches UT hired to make that case.
Heupel’s accomplishment is even more impressive, though. He is now 4-2 against these two programs after the Vols had just two wins against them from 2005 to 2021, going 2-32 during that time. That includes the Mike Shula era at Bama along with the bad Florida years.
As a result, it’s time for Tennessee Football fans to show a bit more excitement. They are a top 10 program heading into their bye week with wins over their two most hated rivals of the modern era. It may have been ugly, particularly against Florida, but who cares? The Gators never cared about beating them ugly.
