Tennessee football hasn’t had great luck near the end of October throughout the past couple of seasons.
The Vols have lost 15 straight games against Alabama, a game known for being played on the third Saturday of October. The latest entry, a 52-24 loss to the Crimson Tide under first-year head coach Josh Heupel, came on the fourth Saturday of the month.
On Halloween though, the Vols have fared differently. Tennessee is 13-3 on Oct. 31 — perhaps a nod to the Vols’ pantone, or maybe just a fired up atmosphere toward the holiday in general.
Here’s a look at four of Tennessee’s most notable Halloween games.
Kentucky — 2015
Tennessee’s most recent Halloween game came in the 2015 season. Then first-year head coach Butch Jones led the Volunteers, consisting of Josh Dobbs, Alvin Kamara and Jalen Reeves-Maybin against Kentucky.
The Vols came into that matchup winners of 29 of the last 30 against the Wildcats. Tennessee came out on top once more in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Kroger field in Lexington, 52-21.
South Carolina — 2009
Naturally, a Halloween game happens every seven years or so. Tennessee’s most well-known contest came against South Carolina in 2009.
Most Vols fans remember this night pretty vividly. Another first year-head coach, Lane Kiffin, decided Tennessee would bring back black jerseys against the Gamecocks as an ode to the holiday itself.
“It’s a players’ game, and our players had been begging for them for a while,” Kiffin said. “I think it gave us some energy. I think you saw that in the way they came out and played early.”
Kiffin picked up his first ranked win as head coach that night, but the black jerseys were the star of the show in Tennessee’s 31-13 win over No. 21 South Carolina. Perhaps enhancing the atmosphere of the crowd and the players that day was a sour taste in the mouth of Vols fans from the week prior, where Tennessee had lost by a missed field goal to No. 1 Alabama.
South Carolina — 1998
South Carolina made another appearance against the Vols on Halloween in 1998.
It’s an understatement to say 1998 was a good season for the Vols, and a 49-14 victory over the Gamecocks on the road was perhaps their most dominant.
For one, Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin broke the NCAA record for consecutive completed passes with 24 dating back to the week prior, a 35-18 win over Alabama.
For another, it was the last SEC game where the Vols were not ranked No. 1 in the nation.
Boston College — 1987
Not every game sounds as good as those previously mentioned on Halloween. One of Tennessee’s three losses on Oct. 31 came against Boston College in 1987.
This is by far the most horrifying on the list for Tennessee fans. Tennessee entered the game 5-1-1, amassing a rare tie against No. 3 Auburn.
A loss to Alabama meant the Vols were out of contention for the No. 1 seed, but a top-10 finish and salvageable season were still on the table.
After beating Georgia Tech the week prior, the Vols travelled to Boston College, a team ranked 4-4 with several bad losses to Rutgers and West Virginia, 37-16.
That didn’t stop Boston College QB Mike Power from embarrassing the Vols, 20-18 in by far their best win of the season.
For the Vols though, it was truly terrifying — a fitting emotion for the holiday itself.
Tennessee was able to salvage their season with a Peach Bowl victory against Indiana, 27-22. The Vols finished 10-2-1.
