Tennessee football: 5 best seasons in program history
By Ethan Lee
No. 4: Tennessee football claims a national title in 1951
Just one season after claiming a national title, the Vols went on to claim another one in 1951. In what was something of a revenge game, Tennessee started the 1951 season by defeating the Mississippi State Bulldogs in a shutout, handing MSU a 14-0 loss. Tennessee then beat a ranked Duke team for the second straight year, knocking down the No. 16 team in the country 26-0.
A 42-13 win against Chattanooga gave the Vols a No. 2 ranking before Tennessee faced Alabama. The Vols had no issue beating Alabama as UT defeated the Tide in Birmingham 27-13.
Over the next two weeks, Tennessee’s next two opponents were completely unable to score a point against the Vols. Tennessee walloped Tennessee Tech 68-0 and then knocked down North Carolina 27-0.
The Vols then rattled off huge wins over Washington & Lee and Ole Miss before they shutout No. 9 Kentucky, winning 28-0. To wrap up the year, Tennessee beat Vanderbilt by eight points, giving Tennessee a perfect regular season.
The perfect regular season earned Tennessee another SEC title, something the Vols failed to earn the previous season.
And after that perfect regular season, Tennessee took on Maryland in the Sugar Bowl. Tennessee’s trip to New Orleans quickly soured as the top-ranked Vols lost by double digits to No. 3 Maryland. The Associated Press, along with various others, still awarded UT the national title, but losing in the Sugar Bowl had to sting a bit in what could have been a perfect season.