By Tom Mattingly
One of the most controversial bowl games in Tennessee history was played on Dec. 20, 1971, at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. It was No. 9 Tennessee and No. 18 Arkansas squaring off for the first time since 1907.
A crowd of 45,210, equally divided between fans of the competing schools, was present to see the game between the two border state universities.
It was a cold, cold night, but fans of both schools remember the game for markedly different reasons.
It didn’t take long for the competitive juices to start flowing between the two teams and their fans.
There was an early squabble about who would be named the home team and wear the school color jerseys. After careful consideration, A. F. “Bud” Dudley, founder and executive director of the Liberty Bowl, declared Tennessee the home team, thus settling the issue.
“Tennessee accepted the bid officially first because Arkansas had to accept with a stipulation,” said Dudley. Dudley’s action allowed the Vols to choose to wear the orange jerseys and name three of the five game officials.
“If we had made Arkansas the home team, the Tennessee folks would have run us out of town on a rail,” he said.
“The game is being played in Tennessee,” added Dudley. “UT is our state university, and we don’t want the governor down on our necks.” That explanation had to have irked Arkansas partisans – even until today, 55 years later.
Here’s how the Vols lined up in Bill Battle’s second season as Vol head coach, with some memorable names dotting the roster.
Joe Thompson and Stan Trott were the wide receivers, with alternate captain Gary Theiler at tight end. Across the offensive line were Gaylon Hill and Joe Balthrop at the tackles, alternate captain Phillip Fulmer and Bill Emendorfer at the guards, and Tom Johnson at center.
Defensively, Ken Lambert and Carl Johnson were the ends, Frank Howell and John Wagster the tackles.
Team captain Jackie Walker, Ray Nettles and Jamie Rotella were the linebackers, with the secondary composed of Conrad Graham, David Allen, Bobby Majors and Eddie Brown. Majors was also the punter, with George Hunt handling placekicking duties.
When the game finally started, it was a tight and tense defensive struggle.
Arkansas looked to have the game in hand at 16-7 in the fourth quarter, when Bill McClard knocked home his third field goal, but officials somehow detected holding in the offensive line, an unusual call to be sure, and the Vols dodged a major bullet.
It’s hard to remember that call happening before or since, so to say Hog head coach Frank Broyles was exercised about the turn of events would be an understatement.
Then there was an Arkansas fumble in front of the Vol bench, with a mad scramble for the pigskin. The officials awarded Tennessee the ball, but Johnson, who was right in the middle of it all, said the Vol fumble recovery was a con job.
“It’s obvious the Arkansas guy fell right on the ball,” he said. “Everybody not involved in the pile, including those on the bench, pointed toward the Arkansas goal and said ‘our ball.’”
Long-time football observers would call that one of the oldest tricks in the book, with the officials awarding the Vols the ball. The Vols accepted the change of possession graciously and moved quickly to the game-winning score.
An Arkansas website highlighted the highs and lows of the season and agreed with Johnson’s remarks.
“As a sophomore in 1971, Joe Ferguson led the Hogs to an 8-3-1 mark. The high was a thrilling 31-7 thumping of Texas as Ferguson passed the Steers into submission in the rain at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
“The low came in a crushing 14-13 loss to Tennessee in the Liberty Bowl. There were two highly questionable calls by game officials, including Tennessee alum Preston Watts, that erased a field goal and gave a fumble to the Vols after Razorback Tom Reed clearly recovered the fumble.”
The game also witnessed some last-minute heroics from Vol fullback Curt Watson, who scored the winning TD and the last of his career with seconds to spare in the 14-13 win that had looked very much in doubt moments earlier. Curt finished his Tennessee career with 2,364 yards rushing. Hunt booted the extra point to establish the final margin.
The run covered 17 yards and featured a nifty move on the edge that gave Curt a clear path to the end zone. Thompson helped immeasurably with a key block on two Razorbacks that freed Curt for the score.
The 1971 team was dubbed the “offensive defense,” with the Vols setting NCAA records for most touchdowns off interception returns (7), most yardage gained on interception returns (783), and the highest average per interception return (31.3). Walker set an NCAA career record for most touchdowns off interception returns (5).
The Vols finished with a 10-2 record and began preparations for 1972, one that resulted in a second consecutive 10-2 season.
