1968 Tennessee Volunteers football team

The 1968 Tennessee Volunteers football team (variously "Tennessee", "UT" or the "Vols") represented the University of Tennessee in the 1968 NCAA University Division football season. Playing as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the team was led by fifth-year head coach Doug Dickey and played their home games at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. They finished the season with a record of eight wins, two losses and one tie (8–2–1 overall, 4–1–1 in the SEC) and a loss against Texas in the Cotton Bowl Classic.

1968 Tennessee Volunteers football
Cotton Bowl Classic, L 13–36 vs. Texas
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 7
APNo. 13
Record8–2–1 (4–1–1 SEC)
Head coach
Home stadiumNeyland Stadium
Seasons
← 1967
1969 →
1968 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 8 Georgia $ 5 0 1 8 1 2
No. 13 Tennessee 4 1 1 8 2 1
No. 17 Alabama 4 2 0 8 3 0
No. 19 LSU 4 2 0 8 3 0
No. 16 Auburn 4 2 0 7 4 0
Florida 3 2 1 6 3 1
Ole Miss 3 2 1 7 3 1
Vanderbilt 1 3 1 5 4 1
Mississippi State 0 4 1 0 8 2
Kentucky 0 7 0 3 7 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Neyland Stadium installed artificial turf prior to the season;[1] it was one of four university division venues (Astrodome (Houston), Camp Randall Stadium (Wisconsin), and Husky Stadium (Washington)) with synthetic grass in 1968.

Schedule

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DateOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
September 14GeorgiaNo. 9ABCT 17–1760,603[1]
September 28Memphis State*No. 16
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, TN
W 24–1761,792[2]
October 5at Rice*No. 15W 52–025,000[3]
October 12at Georgia Tech*No. 10W 24–760,011[4]
October 19AlabamaNo. 8
ABCW 10–963,392[5]
November 2UCLA* No. 5
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, TN
W 42–1864,078[6]
November 9at No. 18 AuburnNo. 5L 14–2868,821[7]
November 16Ole MissNo. 11
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, TN (rivalry)
W 31–062,786[8]
November 23KentuckyNo. 8
  • Neyland Stadium
  • Knoxville, TN (rivalry)
W 24–760,899[9]
November 30at VanderbiltNo. 7W 10–734,000[10]
January 1vs. No. 5 TexasNo. 8CBSL 13–3672,000[11]
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

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1968 Tennessee Volunteers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB 22 Richmond Flowers
QB 10 Bobby Scott
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
LB 57 Steve Kiner Jr
LB 64 Jack Reynolds
DB 30 Jim Weatherford
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 98 Karl Kremser
P 92 Herman Weaver
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

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

Team players drafted into the NFL/AFL

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Four Volunteers were selected in the 1969 NFL/AFL Draft, the third common draft, which lasted seventeen rounds (442 selections).

Player Position Round Pick Franchise
Richmond Flowers Fullback 2 49 Dallas Cowboys
Karl Kremser Kicker 5 128 Miami Dolphins
Jim Weatherford Defensive back 15 366 Atlanta Falcons
Chick McGeehan Fullback 15 375 Miami Dolphins

[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Vols catch Georgia". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 15, 1968. p. 4B – via Google News.
  2. ^ "Vols use breaks to beat Memphis State, 24 to 17". The Danville Register. September 29, 1968. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Tennessee Vols bombard Rice". Abilene Reporter-News. October 6, 1968. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Pass mark set, but Tech falls". Oakland Tribune. October 13, 1968. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Vols edge Bama". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 20, 1968. p. 4B.
  6. ^ "Bruins buried by Vol avalanche". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 3, 1968. p. 4B.
  7. ^ "Auburn crushes Big Orange 28 to 14". The Tennessean. November 10, 1968. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Vols stuns Ole Miss with Wyche's aerials". The Cincinnati Enquirer. November 17, 1968. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Vols overcome Kentucky, 24–7". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 24, 1968. p. 5B.
  10. ^ "Tennessee survives Vandy bid 10–7". The Courier-Journal. December 1, 1968. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Texas Longhorns trample on Vols". The Palm Beach Post. January 2, 1969. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "1969 NFL Draft". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 8, 2012.