It was a fitting senior night.
Tennessee’s 29-21 loss to Missouri at Neyland Stadium on Saturday was a microcosm of the past four years of home football games for the handful of Vols who participated in it, and for the thousands of senior students who watched from the stands for the final time.
For the second year in a row, UT (5-6, 2-5 SEC) squandered a chance to clinch bowl eligibility in front of a home crowd chomping at the bit for something substantial to celebrate.
Of course, the Vols took fans on an emotional roller coaster in the fourth quarter – like only a UT football team can –before the inevitable crash that so often comes just before any true exhilaration is felt.
The senior class concluded its home career with a 17-12 (4-12 SEC) record that included only one truly noteworthy win, a 23-21 victory over South Carolina in 2013.
Even that win, as satisfying as it was for the Vols, came on fall break while many students were out of town. UT sold about 3,000 tickets to area community college students to fill the student section for that noon game against the Gamecocks.
Here’s a quick look at UT’s three other SEC home wins in the last four seasons:
A 2011 overtime victory against Vanderbilt that brought UT within a game of bowl eligibility before the Vols lost on the road to a Kentucky team using a wide receiver at quarterback in the final game of the season.
A 2012 Thanksgiving weekend win over Kentucky following a loss to Vanderbilt that dashed UT’s bowl hopes.
A 50-16 win over Kentucky on Nov. 15, which only perpetuated hope that the Vols would beat SEC East-leading Missouri (9-2, 6-1).
Four forgettable years of Neyland Stadium history do not diminish the reality that UT will likely become bowl eligible with a win over Vanderbilt this week, but it’s appropriate to reflect on that frustration those years have brought.
Nobody comes to this university expecting to never have the chance to fully celebrate a monumental home victory, but that’s reality for those who will graduate in December and May.
Some will cling to the memory of Oct. 19, 2013 when the Vols beat No. 11 South Carolina and players leapt into the stands and UT coach Butch Jones directed the Pride of the Southland Band.
Others will loathe their decision to spend a few days at home or go the beach that weekend.
Either way, that happiness turned to anguish a month later when Vanderbilt beat UT in the final seconds of senior night to extend the Vols’ bowl drought.
So if UT students head to Nashville in droves in this weekend to “checker” Vanderbilt Stadium, who could blame them?
It might seem strange to celebrate a victory over a team that is 3-8 and winless in the SEC.
But if UT can manage to defeat the Commodores, this senior class – both its players and its fans – have absolutely earned the right to celebrate.
David Cobb is senior in journalism and electronic media. He can be reached at [email protected].
