1974 Tennessee Volunteers football team

The 1974 Tennessee Volunteers football team (variously "Tennessee", "UT" or the "Vols") represented the University of Tennessee in the 1974 NCAA Division I football season. Playing as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the team was led by head coach Bill Battle, in his fifth year, and played their home games at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. They finished the season with a record of seven wins, three losses and two ties (7–3–2 overall, 2–3–1 in the SEC). At season's end, Tennessee won the Liberty Bowl over Maryland. For the season, the Volunteers offense scored 211 points while the defense allowed 181 points.

1974 Tennessee Volunteers football
Liberty Bowl champion
Liberty Bowl, W 7–3 vs. Maryland
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 15
APNo. 20
Record7–3–2 (2–3–1 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorRay Trail
Defensive coordinatorLarry Jones
Captains
Home stadiumNeyland Stadium
Seasons
← 1973
1975 →
1974 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Alabama $ 6 0 0 11 1 0
No. 8 Auburn 4 2 0 10 2 0
Georgia 4 2 0 6 6 0
No. 17 Mississippi State 3 3 0 9 3 0
No. 15 Florida 3 3 0 8 4 0
Kentucky 3 3 0 6 5 0
No. 20 Tennessee 2 3 1 7 3 2
Vanderbilt 2 3 1 7 3 2
LSU 2 4 0 5 5 1
Ole Miss 0 6 0 3 8 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

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DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 7No. 12 UCLA*No. 16ABCT 17–1757,560[1]
September 21Kansas*No. 17
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, TN
W 17–371,610–72,178[2]
September 28at AuburnNo. 14L 0–2164,293[3]
October 5Tulsa*
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, TN
W 17–1067,256[4]
October 12at LSUL 10–2067,907[5]
October 19No. 4 Alabama
L 6–2874,286[6]
October 26Clemson*
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, TN
W 29–2866,334[7]
November 9Memphis State*
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, TN
W 34–668,738[8]
November 16Ole MissW 29–1750,515[9]
November 23Kentucky 
W 24–772,828[10]
November 30at VanderbiltT 21–2135,300[11]
December 16vs. Maryland*
ABCW 7–351,284[12]
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

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1974 Tennessee Volunteers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
OT 59 Dave Brady So
OT 79 Mike Caldwell Jr
WR 81 Tim Fitchpatrick Jr
G 54 Joe Mills Sr
C 52 Paul Johnson Jr
G 67 Mickey Marvin So
WR 21 Stanley Morgan So
QB 4 Pat Ryan So
TE 23 Tommy West Jr
WR 17 John Yarbrough Jr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 14 Bill Cole Jr
DE 39 Kevin Davis So
DB 10 Mike Mauck So
DE 57 Ron McCartney Jr
DT 72 David Page Jr
DB 30 David Parsons So
LB 45 Steve Poole Jr
DB 29 Russ Rabenstein Jr
LB 50 Andy Spiva So
DB 40 Ernie Ward Jr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  •   Injured
  •   Redshirt

Team players drafted into the NFL

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Despite being drafted by the National Football League, Condredge Holloway opted to play in the Canadian Football League. Holloway signed a contract with the Ottawa Rough Riders.[13]

Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Neil Clabo Punter 10 258 Minnesota Vikings
Condredge Holloway Quarterback 12 306 New England Patriots
Ricky Townsend Kicker 13 314 New York Giants
Paul Careathers Running back 15 389 Oakland Raiders

References

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  1. ^ "Vols' rally ties Bruins, 17–17". The San Francisco Examiner. September 8, 1974. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Tennessee's big plays thump Kansas". The Wichita Beacon. September 22, 1974. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Auburn defense throttles Vols". The Tampa Tribune-Times. September 29, 1974. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Late dash boosts Vols over Tulsans". The Daily Oklahoman. October 6, 1974. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Tigers overcome fumbles for win". The Daily Advertiser. October 13, 1974. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Tide crumbles Volunteers". Pensacola News Journal. October 20, 1974. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Tennessee's surge nips Tigers, 29–28". The State. October 27, 1974. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Renewed Volunteers ring MSU's Liberty Bowl bell". The Commercial Appeal. November 10, 1974. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Vols keep bowl hopes alive, topple Rebels". Kingsport Times-News. November 17, 1974. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "UK's Curci gracious in loss". The Tennessean. November 24, 1974. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Tennessee ties fumbling Vandy in final 7 seconds". The Courier-Journal. December 1, 1974. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Late Tennessee touchdown beats Terps, 7–3". The Baltimore Sun. December 17, 1974. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Weird Facts about Canadian Football, p.132, Overtime Books, First Printing 2009, ISBN 978-1-897277-26-3
  14. ^ "1975 NFL Draft". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 12, 2012.