No. 6: 2010
Head Coach: Derek Dooley
Record: 6-7 (3-5, SEC)
Best win(s): vs. Ole Miss, vs. Kentucky
Key offensive players: Tyler Bray, Luke Stocker, Denarius Moore
Key defensive players: Janzen Jackson, Nick Reveiz, Chris Walker
Tennessee’s program was in shock. Phillip Fulmer’s replacement, Lane Kiffin, had bolted less than a month before National Signing Day to take the head job at USC. The Vols were desperate.
Along came Derek Dooley. A desperation hire by Athletic Director Mike Hamilton in hopes he could somewhat replicate the legendary career of his father — former national championship-winning Georgia head coach Vince Dooley.
Dooley had come from Louisiana Tech, where he compiled a 17-20 record over three seasons. He did put together a nice staff, with Jim Chaney retained as offensive coordinator and current California head coach Justin Wilcox calling plays on defense. A depleted roster and recruiting class damaged by Kiffin’s departure set low expectations on the season, and an early-season double-overtime win over an eventual 4-8 UAB squad showed wins would be hard to come by.
Tennessee (2-2) traveled to No. 10 LSU in early October, and hung with the Tigers the entire game during a defensive slugfest. With JUCO transfer Matt Simms at quarterback, the Vols led 14-10 in the final seconds. LSU was driving to win, and a high snap sailed over quarterback Jordan Jefferson’s head at the goal line as the clock hit zeros. Tennessee spilled onto the field and Dooley was lifted by his players, celebrating a shocking upset.
The celebration was cut short when realization set in that an error on a substitution resulted in too many men on the field, and LSU was able to try again with an untimed down. The Tigers punched in the score, and Tennessee was heartbroken with a 16-14 loss.
Going into November, the Vols were 2-6 and without much hope. Enter Tyler Bray, a true freshman quarterback, who replaced Simms and threw for five touchdowns in one half at Memphis in his debut. Bray gave Tennessee a jolt on offense that helped it to a four-game win streak against the weakest part of its schedule, finishing at 6-6 and bowl eligible. UT was headed to Nashville to the Music City Bowl to take on Butch Davis’ North Carolina team. The Vols had a 20-17 lead with 30 seconds left. North Carolina had the ball on its own 20-yard line with no timeouts, but quarterback T.J. Yates led the Tar Heels down the field, aided by a personal foul penalty on freshman defensive back Janzen Jackson. The penalty placed North Carolina inside the UT 40 with five seconds taken off the clock.
What followed was one of the craziest finishes in recent college football history. North Carolina was inside the Tennessee 20-yard line with ten seconds left, and there was confusion from the Tar Heels about whether they were spiking it or kicking a last-second field goal. The field goal unit ran onto the field, but Yates was under center, and snapped the ball to spike it with his kicker and holder behind him with one second left. The clock hit zero, and Tennessee rushed the field after the head official came over the microphone and said the game is over.
The officials did review the play, and ruled that there was one second left when Yates spiked the ball, although North Carolina did have too many men on the field. The five-yard penalty was issued, and North Carolina booted a game-tying field goal that led to a double-overtime, 30-27, Tar Heels’ win.
Tennessee had figured out a way to lose two games by way of having too many men on the field, and one of them was because the opposing team was guilty. The game prompted the NCAA to adjust its rulebook, to where a penalty by an offensive team without timeouts in the final minute would result in a ten-second runoff.
The Vols did have a future star in Bray, and positives to draw from the 2010 campaign. Tight end Luke Stocker was drafted in the fourth round by the Tampa Bay Buccanneers, while wide receiver Denarius Moore went to the Oakland Raiders in the fifth round after a season of 981 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.