Tennessee vs. Alabama: The 10 biggest upsets in rivalry history

The Third Saturday in October is like any other rivalry.

There are the matchups that are easy to forget.

There are the classic showdowns that are unforgettable.

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There are blowouts that weren’t supposed to be blowouts that one fan base will never forget and the other would rather pretend never happened.

There are cliffhangers, and there are games that left you hanging.

There are controversial endings, and the games you wish would never end.

There are the matchups that make fans of one side really upset, and then there’s the true lifeblood of any rich college football rivalry: The Upsets.

And with that, we have this Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium. It’s Alabama vs. Tennessee, and it’s October Something or Other, and it’s time to get it on for the 104th time.

The 3rd-ranked Crimson Tide are about a touchdown favorite. The surging, 6th-ranked Volunteers are looking to beat Bama for the first time since 2006, looking to take over the SEC and looking to announce their arrival as a national power again.

To do all that, Tennessee will have to pull off one of those Rivalry Upsets that are so darn memorable, that are filled with so much glory and joy, especially the ones at home. And in tribute of that potentially happening on Saturday, we give you the 10 biggest upsets in the history of the Alabama-Tennessee rivalry:

10. Oct. 20, 2007: Alabama 41, No. 20 Tennessee 17

We start with the Tide win that started their 15-game win streak over the Vols that still exists today. It was Nick Saban’s first season in Tuscaloosa, and Alabama wasn’t Saban Alabama quite yet. John Parker Wilson (remember him?) passed for a career-high 363 yards and 3 touchdowns, and DJ Hall had a school-record 13 catches for 185 yards to lead Bama to its most lopsided win in the series since 1986.

The Crimson Tide had lost 10 of the previous 12 meetings to their hated rival, so this win in Tuscaloosa was clearly a changing-of-the-guard type of victory in the series. And 15 years later, Alabama is still the guard in charge of the rivalry, until proven otherwise — maybe this Saturday?

9. Oct. 18, 1952: Tennessee 20, No. 18 Alabama 0

The unranked Vols not only upset their rivals from Tuscaloosa, they shut them out in Knoxville to hand Bama its first loss of the season. Tennessee sealed the victory in the 4th quarter when Pat Shires tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Frank Alexander and Jimmy Wade scored on a 4-yard run.

This was the Vols’ 3rd win in a row in the series, and it came against a Tide team that would finish 10-2 and win the Orange Bowl. Meanwhile, the victory spurred the Volunteers to an 8-2-1 season and a berth in the Cotton Bowl, where they lost to Texas.

8. Oct. 15, 1960: Tennessee 20, No. 15 Alabama 7

Another even-year matchup in Knoxville, another upset victory for the host Vols over a ranked Tide team. Early turnovers doomed Bama on this day, as a fumble by Ray Abruzzese on the first play of the game set up Tennessee’s first score on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Bill Majors to Charles Wyrick. Later in the 1st quarter, Tommy White fumbled and Cotton Letner returned it 41 yards for a TD and a 14-0 lead, and the Vols were on their way to more upset glory.

Tennessee wasn’t overwhelming that year, finishing 6-2-2, but it was on that wonderful October day as it handed Bama its only loss of the season. The Tide went 8-1-2 in 1960, Bear Bryant’s 3rd in Tuscaloosa.

7. Oct. 21, 1989: No. 10 Alabama 47, No. 6 Tennessee 30

Yes, the Tide were ranked 10th going into this Top 10 showdown in Tuscaloosa, but the Vols were riding high at No. 6 and the fact that Bama put up 47 points on Tennessee that day gives this upset some juice. The Volunteers were undefeated coming in, too, before getting blitzed at Legion Field in Birmingham.

This was the only blemish on the Vols’ 11-1 season that ended with a victory in the Cotton Bowl over Arkansas. Tennessee finished No. 5 in both major polls that year and might’ve won the national title if not for 1 awful day against Alabama. Meanwhile, the Bill Curry-led Tide were on their way to a 10-0 start and had bigger dreams before crashing and burning at the end of the season with losses in the Iron Bowl and to Miami in the Sugar Bowl.

6. Oct. 19, 1991: No. 14 Alabama 24, No. 8 Tennessee 19

Two years later at Legion Field, Bama did it again to Tennessee in a showdown of ranked teams. The Tide trailed 6-3 in the 4th quarter that day when quarterback Danny Woodson left the game with a hamstring injury. In came backup Jay Barker, and he rallied Bama with 3 touchdowns in the final quarter to help the Tide beat the Vols for the 6th straight year.

The victory ignited Bama, which finished 11-1 that season and would win the national title the next year under Gene Stallings. Meanwhile, it was Tennessee’s 2nd straight loss in a 9-3 season under longtime head coach Johnny Majors.

5. Oct. 19, 1985: No. 20 Tennessee 16, No. 15 Alabama 14

One of Majors’ crowning moments at Tennessee was on this day in Birmingham when the Vols overcame a season-ending knee injury to star quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Tony Robinson. Behind backup QB Daryl Dickey and a ferocious defense nicknamed the “Orange Crush”, the Volunteers squeezed out a win and never lost again, going 6-0-1 to end the season.

Tennessee finished No. 4 in both polls that season, capped by a Sugar Bowl win over Miami, despite losing Robinson, while Bama went 9-2-1 in Ray Perkins’ 3rd season as head coach.

4. Oct. 15, 1983: Tennessee 41, No. 11 Alabama 34

Two years earlier was another treasured Legion Field conquest for the Vols, who overcame a 27-17 3rd-quarter deficit to stun the Tide and give Perkins a forgettable introduction to the rivalry. Alan Cockrell had 3 touchdown passes and ran for another score, and Johnnie Jones’ 66-yard TD run with 3 minutes left lifted Tennessee to the dramatic upset.

It was Bama’s 2nd straight loss as Perkins went 8-4 in that first season in Tuscaloosa, while Tennessee overcame a 1-2 start to finish 9-3 in Reggie White’s final season in Knoxville.

3. Oct. 17, 1987: Alabama 41, No. 8 Tennessee 22

The Vols hadn’t given up more than 22 points in any of their first 5 games coming into Legion Field, but the Tide turned big-time that day in Birmingham. It was the 2nd straight year that Bama overwhelmed Tennessee, following its 56-point explosion the season before in Knoxville. The 1987 win really got the Tide rolling in the series, as they would rip off 7 straight wins over the Vols from 1986-92.

This one really stung Tennesse though because it was Curry’s debut season and the Tide weren’t all that great that year, finishing just 7-5 after 3 straight losses to end the season. But the unranked Crimson Tide happened to be really good that particular day in Birmingham. A guy named Jeff Dunn, a freshman who was making his first start, threw for 229 yards that day, including a 90-yard touchdown that was the longest in school history. It was the Vols’ only SEC loss that season, and they finished 10-2-1.

2. Oct. 20, 1990: Alabama 9, No. 3 Tennessee 6

Bama started that season 0-3 and was going nowhere in Stallings’ opening season in Tuscaloosa. But you could make an argument that this was one of “those” wins that helped turn a program around and point it toward the national championship that the Tide would win just 2 years later.

Alabama held a Tennessee offense that had already scored 40 or more points 4 times that year to 2 field goals, at Neyland Stadium.

It was the Vols’ 1st loss of the season and their only SEC loss that year, and they did finish in the top 10 in both major polls. But the Tide’s defense was too much for Tennessee on that October Saturday, as Alabama recorded its 5th straight win in the rivalry. Stacy Harrison blocked a potential game-winning field goal by Greg Harris with 1:35 left, and the Tide were set up at the Vols’ 37-yard line. And that set up Philip Doyle’s 3rd field goal of the day, a 48-yarder as the clock ran out. The Tide only finished 7-5 that season, but they had bragging rights over the Vols.

1. Oct. 16, 1982: Tennessee 35, No. 2 Alabama 28

Not only was this a landmark upset victory for the Vols because it was at home and because the Tide were ranked 2nd coming in. It broke Bama’s 11-year stranglehold on the rivalry that began in 1971. Tennessee limped into this matchup with the powerhouse Crimson Tide with just a 2-2-1 record, and nothing screamed at you that things were suddenly going to change in the rivalry. But they did, in front of 95,342 fans at Neyland Stadium, and the Vols would go on to win 4 in a row over the Tide.

It was a momentary changing-of-the-guard moment in the rivalry and it was also the end of an era because it was Bryant’s last season as Tide head coach. So the Vols got the last laugh against Bama’s legendary figure and handed a 5-0 Tide team its 1st loss of the season. They also started Bama on a downward spiral, as the Tide lost 3 of their last 4 games to finish 8-4. And though Tennessee only went 6-5-1 that year, that 3rd Saturday in October in Knoxville encompassed everything Vols fans could ever want.

Could it ever get any better?

Check back in another 3 days.