"Season Poster's" most intriguing TSIO and DSOR games from 1970-2000

Sorry , not an officiating post or ragging another team all the while denying I'm ragging another team.

Started playing and following football in 1969 as 7 yr old. Note I stated "intriguing" not necessarily best. Anyhow, Friday afternoon ,I'm dragging after going to and staying for the whole UAB game last night so maybe this will get me over the finish line. Since this is the TSIO we'll go with Ala and Tenn first.

1972: Alabama 17, Tennessee 10 (Knoxville). Old fashioned defensive slugfest. Looked like they were headed for a 10-10 tie. Now, in 1968 Tennessee won 10-9 after Alabama's onside kick failed. Ala got the ball back and had a FG blocked on last play of the game. Almost same scenario, down 10-9 late in the game Coach Bryant wanted to go for two.but one of his defensive coaches, Pat Dye talked him out of it. On UT's first play budding and future superstar Conredge Holloway has the ball stripped on the Vol 22 or so. Alabama's wishbone superstar Terry Davis scored on the next play and Alabama held on.( good or bad, this was the first game where the "Pride of the Southland Band" played Rocky Top.)

1973: Alabama 42, Tennessee 21 (Birmingham). This one made my list since this was the first one of these I attended. Alabama was in year 3 of the wishbone and just pulverizing teams. Tide wins the toss ,kneels down ball on 20. Keeper or hand-off? Know, fake hand off and Gary Rutledge hits Wayne Wheeler for an 80 yrd bomb where he could have tip toed from the 25 in for a TD. Alabama got up 21-0, but Tennessee tied it up early in the third. Alabama wore them down and Tennessee made some crucial turnovers.

1979: Alabama 27, Tennessee 17 (Birmingham) Johnny Majors second year and he was really starting to accumulate talent. Alabama was #1 and seemed certain to win again but Tennessee was improving. Tennessee got up 17-0 and missed a bomb at halftime by about three inches from hitting Anthony Hancock. Alabama got their act together and pulled it out, scoring late in the 4th to put out of reach. Awesome game,but this sort of started Majors' roller coaster rides. After scaring Alabama to death, they lost to Rutgers the following week.

1982: Tennessee 35, Alabama 28 (Knoxville) Alabama was ranked #2 and Tennessee was 2-2-1 still on Majors' roller coaster. One of the losses was a season opener at home to Duke and the tie was in Baton Rouge to heavily favored LSU. Alabama led 21-13 but Tennesse scored 22 straight including two two point conversions to go up 35-21. Alabama scored again and was driving at the end before a Walter Lewis interception in the endzone as Tennessee ended their 11 game losing streak to Alabama.

1983: Tennessee 41, Alabama 34 (Birmingham) Lot of big plays in this one as Tennessee's Johnnie Jones ran 66 yards for the winning td with three minutes left. Alabama got the ball back,made one first down and then couldn't move. On 4th down and 1:30 left and NO timeouts, new Alabama coach Ray Perkins elected to punt and Tennessee ran out the clock.

1990: Alabama 9, Tennessee 6 (Knoxville) Tennessee may have had the best ,most talented team in the country. But somehow they would find a way to falter. New coach Gene Stallings started off 0-3-0 but came to Knoxville 3-3-0 and an 11 point underdog to 4-0-2 Tennessee.But anyone who followed the rivalry knew that was free money (I sure did!) as poor Johnny Majors just freaked out over Alabama. In a game Tennesse really should have won 31-10 the Vols tried a fg near the end of the game. It was blocked about as soundly as anything you've ever seen in a HS game. The artificial turf may have helped but it must have gone 40 yds backwards. Phillip Doyle nailed one as time expired to win, 9-6.

1995: Tennessee 41, Alabama 14 (Birmingham) Fulmer knew how big the Alabama games were but he didn't have analysis paralysis like Majors. In his third try after a 17-17 in 1993 and a 17-13 loss in 1994 , Tennessee wasted zero time looking for their first win since '85. Peyton Manning hit Joey Kent on the first play for an 80 yd td and soon got up 21-0.

Auburn-Georgia "The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry"
1971: Auburn 35, Georgia 20.(Athens) Both teams unbeaten and ranked in the top 10. This was probably the game that won the Heisman for Pat Sullivan. "Sullivan and Beasley" put it out of reach. Georgia's only loss. Vince Dooley would go on to beat his brother, Bill at UNC, 7-3 in the Gator Bowl

1978: Georgia 22, Auburn 22 (Auburn) One of the many controversial games between these two. Auburn appeared to score on a long run from midfield on the last play of the half but William Andrews was ruled down at the 6 inch line and time ran out. Georgia came into the game unbeaten at 5-0-0 in SEC play. A win would give them the Sugar Bowl as 'the most recent appearance rule' favored them as Alabama went after 1977 and was also 5-0-0 in SEC play. Down 22-15 with 6:00 left, Georgia cut it to 22-21 and kicked the extra point and tied, 22-22. Georgia did get the ball back but never threatened.

1979: Auburn 33, Georgia 13(Athens) 'Intriguing.' No offense to a 'good' Georgia team but the Sugar needed luck not missing out on a 'great' Alabama team in 1978. You would think the Sugar would have tinkered with its 'most recent' rule. Nope. Georgia lost its first four OOC games and WON their 5 SEC games. If 5-4-0 Georgia beats Auburn, they go to the Sugar Bowl over #1 Alabama. Fortunately for the Sugar, that didn't happen

1983: Auburn 13, Georgia 7 (Athens). Simply a great game where Auburn won a share of its first SEC title since 1957 ending Georgia's three year reign.

1986: Georgia 20, Auburn 16 (Auburn) . Even with a loss to Florida , Auburn had the inside track for the Sugar as the Sugar didn't want homestate LSU. Georgia won 20-16. But the game is most known for Georgia fans running on the field after the game tearing up turf. But then Auburn thought it would be a good idea to not only turn water cannons on the boys on the field but the remaining Georgia fans IN THE STANDS.

1992: Georgia 14, Auburn 10 (Auburn) rock'em sock'em. Georgia basically sat on Stan White at the 1 and the refs let the clock run out.