Tennessee Football: The 7 Best Victories of the Last 7 Years

When things are bad and you have to reflect off recent memories to feel good about your team, there are certain games that stand out more than others.

Whether it was a blowout, a struggle or an overtime nail biter, they all have their place in the record books.

Here is a look back over the last seven years of each season's most memorable wins for the Volunteers.

If I left any out, drop me a note at the bottom.

2004

2004 was a good year for the Vols.

The only conference games lost was against Auburn early in the season and again in the SEC Championship.

The third game of the year came against a Ron Zook-lead Florida Gators team. As usual the Gators were favored to come in and hand the Vols their first loss of the season, but Tennessee decided to play a better game.

Chris Leak threw for 286 yards on the day, but the combined efforts of QB Eric Ainge,and TBs Cedric Houston and Gerald Riggs wore down the Florida defense and kept the game close. Finally, with mere seconds left in the game, the Vols got a break when Florida retaliated on a shove and was called for the penalty, forcing Florida to punt. 

Four plays later K James Wilhoit wrote his name in the Vols' history books.

2005

2005 got off to a rough start for the Vols losing to Florida in the SEC opener 16-7. Many wondered whether Eric Ainge had used all of his magic the previous season.

The next game found the Vols visiting the Bayou Bengals whilst still recovering from the onslaught of hurricane Rita. The nation wept for them all, and many folks rallied behind LSU.

The first half spelled trouble for the Vols, as they departed the field for the locker room, the score read 21-0. QB JaMarcus Russell and RB Joseph Addai seemed virtually unstoppable. But, the Cajuns forgot they let their QB backup defect to the Vols.

With six minutes gone from the third quarter, QB Rick Clausen stepped up and filled in for the struggling Eric Ainge, then he pulled some magic out of his helmet. By the time Les Miles could realize it, the OT score was 30-27, and the Vols skipped all the way back to Knoxville.

2006

On a warm, 2006 October evening, the Vols traveled to Athens, GA to do battle between the sacred hedges. And as usual, the Vols had some trouble on the road.

Joe Tereshinski seemed on the verge of an All-American performance when the Vols limped into the locker room at the half, down by 24-7. Whatever happened in the locker room must have been a great motivator.

The third quarter saw Vol supremacy from Eric Ainge who went 25-of-38, Arian Foster and LaMarcus Coker combined for 109 yards rushing, Robert Meachem and Bret Smith had a 192 yards receiving, Antwan Stewart, Jonathan Wade and Jonthan Heffney all had an interception each and Britton Colquitt had 144 yards on three punts.

The 51-33 win would be Phillip Fulmer's most devastating victory against an SEC team.

2007

Coming off a horrible 41-17 loss to Alabama, the Vols were not in the mood to play anybody the following Saturday.

The media hounded the Vols saying that, again, the dark lord of football Steve Spurrier would plague Tennessee with another embarrassing defeat. The newspapers were running cartoons with grim reapers ready to sweep in on Smokey, and for the most part, the press agreed that the Vols would lose soundly to South Carolina.

The Gamecocks' QB Blake Mitchell put on a passing clinic as he went 31-of-45 including a one-yard rush for a TD, but even with a 160-yard rushing effort by RB Cory Boyd, South Carolina just couldn't put the game away.

Five quarters and a field goal later, the Vols sent Steve Spurrier back to Columbia holding his visor with a 27-24 defeat.

2008

The final season of Phillip Fulmer's career could have been worse but not much.

The Vols only conference victories came at the feet of the SEC bottom dwellers, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Kentucky, but if you had to pick one out of the three, it would have to be the Kentucky game.

The very last game for Phillip Fulmer as a Vol, he had never lost to Kentucky in his 17 years, and he helped keep the streak alive. It was bittersweet for every Vol regardless of their feelings for Fulmer, because it marked the end of an era that had marked Tennessee as an SEC powerhouse for the better part of Fulmer's tenure.

Anyway you look at it, it was nice to send the big man out on a win.

2009

The high point of the Lane Kiffin's only season with the Vols was a bit of Halloween trick and treat, courtesy of South Carolina and Steve Spurrier.

In the pregame warm-up, the Vols came out in their traditional home-game orange jerseys, and even the Vols players had no clue what was in store for them when they back back to the locker room.

Fast forward to the opening of the power T. Vols cheered on as the flags appeared, accompanied by the cheerleaders and Smokey, then the Vols with the brash Lane Kiffin took the field donned in black-out jerseys.

Taking a page from Georgia, the Vols used the intimidating color to their advantage and pummeled the nationally ranked No. 22 Gamecocks 31-13.

2010

Coming off a 50-14 win over Memphis, pretty much everyone that could breath expected that it wouldn't get any better that season.

The next week the Vols hosted Ole Miss and hoped there might be a shred of redemption that could restore some of the shame the Vols left behind in that 42-17 loss in 2009 at Ole Miss. 

The Vols knew they had a QB that could get things done, but another 300-yard game just seemed irrational.

Little did they know that he would do just that plus 23 yards, and Tauren Poole added 107 yards with two TDs to put the icing on the cake. 

At the end, the Vols matched the previous outting with another 50-point game, final score 52-14.