College Football

Tennessee Vols' 5 Most Memorable Wins With Brent Musburger Calling the Game

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 12:55 a.m. ET

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Oct 4, 2014; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers fans during the first quarter against the Florida Gators at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Longtime sports broadcaster Brent Musburger called some memorable Tennessee football games. Here are the top five Volunteers wins that he announced.

As we know, Brent Musburger is set to call it a career at the end of this month. His broadcasting dates back to the late 1970s, but he has become a staple for college football since the early 1980s on CBS, ABC, ESPN, and of course, the SEC Network.

Musburger’s recent controversies are hard to ignore, including the Joe Mixon defense during this past year’s Sugar Bowl and the way he spoke of A.J. McCarron’s then-girlfriend, who is now his wife, in the 2012 national championship game.

However, before those mistakes came a legendary career in which he called some of the most memorable games in college football history.

The most notable one may have been his broadcasting of the Doug Flutie Hail Mary to beat the Miami Hurricanes in 1984.

But in the 1990s and even in the 2000s, he called some notable Tennessee football games.

Brent Musburger even called the crazy overtime victory the Vols enjoyed this past year against the Appalachian State Mountaineers.

The Vols don’t have the history with Musburger that they had with Verne Lundquist, but Lundquist is hard to beat.

And they still have quite an impressive resume in front of Musburger.

Some of the greatest moments in the school’s history came with him in the broadcaster’s booth, and we’re going to take a look at them today.

In a reflection of Brent Musburger’s long career, here are the five most memorable Tennessee football wins that he covered.

5. 1997: Tennessee 30 UCLA 24

This turned out to be an even more impressive win in hindsight. The Tennessee Vols were riding high after winning their season opener against the Texas Tech Red Raiders 52-17. Peyton Manning, who had won over the hearts of all Vols fans that previous spring by announcing that he would stay for his senior year, had thrown five touchdowns that game.

But the next week, they would travel to Pasadena to face a UCLA Bruins team that nobody knew would be good.

After all, they had gone 5-6 the previous year, and they opened the season with a loss to the Washington State Cougars thanks to Ryan Leaf’s dominant play. So when the Vols traveled to the Rose Bowl to take on the Bruins in front of Brent Musburger, people expected an onslaught from Peyton Manning.

It didn’t happen that way.

The defense took the lead for the Vols first, as Corey Terry and Jonathan Brown converged for a sack that caused a safety, and then a hit by Leonard Little caused a pick-six that Corey Gaines returned for a touchdown.

Manning then hit Jermaine Copeland and Marcus Nash for separate touchdowns to give the Vols a 24-0 lead.

But the Bruins responded thanks to crucial special teams mistakes by Tennessee. As the Vols’ offense stalled, they mounted an epic comeback and got the ball back down only 30-24 with over four minutes to play.

That’s when Little came up big. He forced a fumble as UCLA was driving to give the ball back to the Vols, and then when they needed another defensive stand, he helped the line get a push on multiple plays to keep UCLA from scoring. He was national defensive player of the week for what he did.

The Vols held on for a 30-24 win. Musburger described it as a way to humble them, but it turned out, this was a more impressive win than people thought.

After that 0-2 start, UCLA won every game the rest of the year to finish in the Top 5 nationally and second in the Pac-10. The importance of that win in retrospect combined with the excitement of the game itself make this one of the five most memorable Vols wins that Brent Musburger called.

Apr 3, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; A view of the stadium before a soccer match between the Orlando City FC and the Portland Timbers at Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

4. 1996 Citrus Bowl: Tennessee 20 Ohio State 14

It’s one of the most memorable bowl wins in Tennessee football history. The Vols had just completed their first 10-1 season since 1989 with sophomore quarterback Peyton Manning, and in the process, they ended multiple streaks.

They got back into the Top 5 and had a chance to finish their for the first time since 1989 as well, and they also had ended a long winless streak against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

To close out the 1995 year, they faced an Ohio State Buckeyes team that was a fluke loss to the Michigan Wolverines away from playing for the national championship. They also had the Heisman Trophy winner in running back Eddie Georgie, who ironically would spend the overwhelming majority of his NFL career in Tennessee.

Anyway, this was a rainy game determined by defense and running with a couple of big plays from Manning.

Ohio State struck first to lead 7-0, but as they were driving for more in the first half, they went for it on fourth and goal. The gritty Vols stuffed the Heisman winning running back at the line of scrimmage, and that gave them a wave of momentum.

With Brent Musburger announcing, Tennessee tied it up with a huge run from Jay Graham in the second quarter, and then Manning hit Joey Kent to give them a 14-7 lead in the third.

In the fourth, Ohio State tied it up, but Tennessee nailed two field goals to make it 20-14. Then, the defense consistently held the Buckeyes offense and their Heisman Trophy winner fro generating anything. As a result, they walked out of that game with a 20-14 victory.

That win in front of Musburger signified a lot, which is why it’s one of their five most memorable wins. They shut down a Heisman Trophy winner, they beat a Top 5 team, and it was close throughout.

It also meant an 11-1 finish and Top 3 ranking when the dust settled. That was all enough to put this game here.

Apr 16, 2016; Athens, GA, USA; General view of Sanford Stadium during the first half of the Georgia Bulldogs Spring Game at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

3. 1992 Tennessee 34 Georgia 31

This one gets on the list for a number of reason. The Vols were playing the No. 14 ranked team in the country, the Georgia Bulldogs were obviously a divisional rival, and it was the first conference game between the two schools with the new SEC divisional split.

Oh, and the Vols were double-digit underdogs on the road while a quarterback named Heath Shuler was starting only his second game.

But all of that drama paled in comparison to the fact that Tennessee had an interim coach at the time in Phillip Fulmer, who was on the sideline as the leader for his second straight game with Johnny Majors recovering from heart surgery.

So as Brent Musburger called this game, his focus was on Fulmer managing the head coaching duties.

And then there was the game itself.

As double-digit underdogs, this became an amazing back and forth game. Shuler became a star, leading the team in rushing and passing.

And down 31-26 late, the Vols needed an 80-yard drive to win the game. Shuler turned into John Elway and did just that. It took 14 plays and a 4th and 13 conversion, but Shuler and the Vols scored a game-winning touchdown to stun the Dawgs 34-31.

This put Fulmer on the national map as the young Vols with a new head coach pulled off a shocking upset, which makes this win memorable.

But it would still pale in comparison to what would happen the next week.

Nov 22, 2014; Knoxville, TN, USA; A general view of Neyland Stadium home of theTennessee Volunteers following the game against the Missouri Tigers. Missouri won 29-21. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

2. 1992: Tennessee 31 Florida 14

The very next week after the Vols shocked the Georgia Bulldogs on the road, Brent Musburger was back in the booth to continue the Fulmer drama as they took on the Florida Gators.

Once again, this young team with an interim coach was the underdog. Only this time, they were facing the No. 4 ranked team in the country. The world was sure that in front of a Neyland Stadium audience, reality would come crashing down in Knoxville.

It didn’t happen.

In the first game of the rivalry between Tennessee and Florida where it had divisional implications, Fulmer’s Vols dominate from start to finish.

It started with a special teams mistake by the Gators. Tennessee capitalized off of that with a touchdown run by Heath Shuler.

And as the Vols took control of the game, a monsoon took over. The heavy rainstorm knocked Musburger’s broadcast off the air for a little while, and only fans inside the stadium could know what’s going on.

Even then, though, it was hard as the rain blinded everybody.

In the midst of the pouring rain, Shuler hit Mose Phillips for a huge touchdown pass that gave the Vols a 24-7 lead.

Tennessee ended up winning the game in convincing fashion 31-14 as the broadcast returned, and Musburger put the nation on notice that Fulmer was the real deal.

Of course, all of that is why the game was memorable itself, but the fact that these last two games ended up leading to the firing of Johnny Majors and launched the career of Fulmer make them even more memorable, for better or for worse, in hindsight.

Mar 25, 2016; Key Biscayne, FL, USA; Fans watch from the grandstands in front of the downtown skyline of Miami during the match between Garbi–e Muguruza and Dominika Cibulkova (both not pictured) during day four of the Miami Open at Crandon Park Tennis Center. Muguruza won 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-5. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

1. 2003: Tennessee 10 Miami 6

It was called the prettiest, ugliest win in Tennessee football history. There’s no exterior drama here, this was no bowl game, and it wasn’t a retrospective win.

There was just a massive lack of respect for a 6-2 Tennessee football team as 12-point underdogs going to play a Top 5 Miami team on the road.

Brent Musburger called this game with future CBS Sports broadcaster Gary Danielson. However, because at this point the SEC had already signed its contract with CBS to always have its game of the week on that station, ABC’s Saturday college football broadcast was dedicated to slighting the SEC.

The only reason this game was on ABC is because it was at Miami. But Musburger and the ABC booth made the whole focus of the game about the Miami Hurricanes and what they needed to do to get to the national championship game coming off of a loss to the Virginia Tech Hokies.

It was their first regular season loss since 2000, and they hadn’t lost at home since 1999.

Meanwhile, Tennessee was in the midst of looking hideous for five straight weeks. They were coming off an ugly victory over the Duke Blue Devils, who were still terrible at the time, and they needed five overtimes the week before to beat the Alabama Crimson Tide, who were bad that year in Mike Shula’s first season.

Before that, they had suffered a blowout loss at home to the Georgia Bulldogs, lost on the road to the Auburn Tigers, and needed overtime and amazing punting to beat a mediocre South Carolina Gamecocks team at home.

And the year before, they had lost at home to Miami 26-3.

So going into the game, the question was not who would win. It was how much the Hurricanes would win by.

Musburger focused the entire first half on Kellen Winslow Jr.’s comments, who said his team was ‘pissed’ about their loss to Virginia Tech the week before and called their anger unfortunate for the Vols.

He then zoned in on Winslow saying they’re still the best team in the country, and then he went to another segment about Winslow saying they still belong in the national title game.

Are you getting the sense of the lack of respect the Vols were getting at this point? Well, it continued.

The Hurricanes struck first with a field goal. Then Tennessee got a field goal that was set up by a Brock Berlin interception.

Tennessee continued to keep its discipline and take advantage of how poorly coached Miami was.

In an ugly 3-3 tie, the Vols ended the half with an amazing, long drive that included two third-down conversions and a penalty on a fourth down that kept their drive alive.

Then, on fourth and goal on that drive, Tennessee called a reverse to Derrick Tinsley, and he ran it in and threw up the U sign to the fans.

Jason Allen closed out the half by knocking a touchdown pass out of Winslow’s hands. The Vols went into halftime up 10-3.

And all the talk at halftime, despite Miami being down, was about the Hurricanes still and what they needed to get to the Sugar Bowl. It was as if everybody was sure they’d get it going in the second half.

They didn’t.

Miami drove into Tennessee territory on the first drive, but could only get a field goal. After that, in one of the greatest coaching jobs ever, Phillip Fulmer made the decision to call the entire game conservatively and let Miami implode due to lack of discipline.

And he would use Dustin Colquitt’s amazing leg to keep field position in his favor.

The Hurricanes kept one Tennessee drive alive by an idiotic facemask when they had a sure sack on third down.

Then they went into Tennessee territory twice. One time, Berlin was sacked and fumbled the ball. The next time, inside the Vols’ 10-yard line, John Chavis dialed up a brilliant blitz, and Berlin threw an interception to Gibril Wilson.

It was at this point that Musburger realized that the Vols just might pull off the win, late in the fourth quarter up 10-6.

Fulmer stayed conservative and relied on Colquitt one more time. And he nailed a beautiful punt into the wind down the sideline over 50 yards.

Sean Taylor misjudged it, still tried to field it, and fumbled it. Tinsley, who scored the touchdown, ran down to recover the fumble.

With not even 200 total yards and only 81 yards passing from Casey Clausen, the Vols had shocked the Miami Hurricanes on the road 10-6 by forcing no turnovers and making no mistakes.

Brent Musburger was forced to give Fulmer and the Vols credit at this point, and Tennessee had scored a major upset over Miami and the ABC Broadcast team.

The magnitude of the upset combined with the way Musburger called the game is what makes it the Vols’ best win in front of Brent Musburger.

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