Tennessee football fans cascaded Shields-Watkins Field with debris, firing water bottles, liquor bottles, mustard bottles and golf balls from the stands.
One golf ball flew in the direction of Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin. The game was delayed about 20 minutes to clean and clear the field.
It was the worst display of sportsmanship by the Vol Nation at Neyland Stadium in the 40 years I’ve covered Tennessee. Ole Miss prevailed on Oct. 16, 2021, over the Vols, 31-26.
(Jimmy’s blog is brought to you by Rick McGill Airport Toyota. Rick McGill has an amazing inventory and great specials on new and preowned vehicles with easy financing. Rick McGill – your full-service Toyota Dealership.)
That’s the last time a team not named Georgia beat Tennessee at Neyland Stadium.
Since then, coach Josh Heupel is 21-1 at home, falling only to Georgia.
Since then, Tennessee has beaten Alabama and Florida twice at home.
Since then, Neyland has been a most difficult venue for opposing teams.
Will it be difficult for No. 3 Georgia (2-0) as the 15th ranked Vols (2-0) enter the dangerous waters of SEC action with the ESPN GameDay crew making its way down the Tennessee River?
Tennessee football is 5-6 when GameDay comes to Knoxville. Can it get to 6-6? Not without fan support, Heupel hinted.
“We look at us being at our best,” Heupel said. “And we’re going to need our fans to be at their best too.”
(Jimmy’s blog is brought to you by Matlock Tires, a full-service tire center that offers top-quality tire brands, expert service and installation. Matlock Tires has 5 convenient locations to serve you. That’s where I go to get my tires and oil changes.)
Neither Georgia nor Tennessee has been strongly tested, although the least impressive display was Georgia’s 28-6 win over Austin Peay, a game in which the Dawgs led 14-3 at halftime. The Dawgs were unable to score on first-and-goal from the APSU 1-yard line at the end of the first half.
Tennessee, meanwhile, shipwrecked the East Tennessee State Bucs 72-17, setting a modern-day scoring record and surpassing 700 total yards for only the fifth time in school history.
Under Heupel, there is little to no chance of a repeat of the Georgia State upset in 2019.
Why? Check out these scores in previous seasons against weaker opponents: 69-3 over UT-Chattanooga, 71-0 over Kent State, 56-0 over UTEP, 56-0 over Tennessee Tech, 63-6 over Akron, 59-10 over Ball State, 59-3 over UConn, 60-14 over South Alabama, 65-24 over UT-Martin.
The only win by fewer than 30 points was 30-13 over Austin Peay in 2023 – and that’s the outlier.
In the past three years, Tennessee football has ranked wins at home over Alabama (twice), Florida and Kentucky.
But it’s 0-2 against ranked Georgia teams at Neyland. Heupel is 25-2 against everyone else.
(Jimmy’s blog is brought to you by Marcos Garza Law Firm, attorneys that care about their clients. You want a local, proven, quality attorney in your corner. Led Marcos Garza help you. Learn more at Garzalaw.com)
The Vols aren’t the only team Georgia has dominated in recent years. UGA is 55-5 since 2021. They have two national championships. They win at home. They win on the road. They win at neutral sites.
They have won at Neyland Stadium.
But they haven’t won on the road with quarterback Gunner Stockton, a rebuilt offensive line and a receiving corps that dropped an NCAA-high 36 passes a year ago.
It will take mistakes by Georgia and a near perfect game by Tennessee football to pull the upset.
But unlike previous matchups against Georgia, Tennessee has a puncher’s chance to snap an 8-game losing streak to the Dawgs.
