In an effort to generate some positive energy before Saturday’s big game, we thought it would be fun to review Arkansas’ wins over Tennessee. Unfortunately for the Razorbacks and their fans – but fortunately for the purposes of this post – there are only three of them. Each was truly one to savor, so let the savoring begin:
1. Arkansas 25, Tennessee 24 – Knoxville, Oct. 10, 1992. This is, without a doubt, my favorite all-time Razorback football victory, in large part because it was so shocking – and also because I was there. I was in college in Memphis at the time, and a number of friends thought I was nuts to make the six-hour drive to Knoxville. After all, Arkansas came into the game with an interim head coach, a 1-4 record that included a season-opening loss to The Citadel (that loss being the reason there was an interim head coach) and a freshman quarterback (Barry Lunney Jr.) making the first start of his career. The Vols, on the other hand, were ranked fourth in the country and had a 5-0 record.
My decision to go to Knoxville wasn’t looking so great with about two and a half minutes left in the game. Tennessee had a 24-16 lead and appeared to have victory well in hand. Then, Orlando Watters returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown. After a failed attempt at a two-point conversion, the Hogs recovered an onside kick and gobbled up enough yardage for Todd Wright to attempt a last-second 41-yard field goal.
Johnny Majors, then the coach of the Vols, called a timeout or two to try and ice the kicker. During one of the timeouts, a UT fan sitting one row behind me and quaking with a whiskey-fueled rage turned to the woman with him and growled, “I can’t believe we’re about to lose to this chickenshit team!”
Seconds later, Wright’s kick was good, just barely if I recall correctly, and that “chickenshit team” had pulled off a truly stunning upset.