Ad Disclosure
Tennessee has decided to move its season opener against Appalachian State to Thursday night.
The Vols haven’t played a Thursday night regular-season game since beating Ole Miss 41-3 in Memphis in 1996. Some fans may be unhappy since attending a weekday game is more difficult, especially for the ones that travel.
However, Tennessee will get good exposure from this and Saturday noon games tend to bring out sluggish teams. Most importantly, it gives UT a few extra days to prepare for its big Week 2 matchup against Virginia Tech in the “Battle at Bristol.”
This news got us thinking about the best games played recently on a Thursday by current SEC teams, so here’s our top five:
No. 5: (11) TENNESSEE 28, LOUISVILLE 11 (1991)
This one makes the list just because of the history it made. The No. 11 Vols were on the road in the first Thursday night game ever televised by ESPN, which is a big deal considering how much this concept has taken off since then.
Howard Schnellenberger’s Cardinals were thrilled to be playing a primetime matchup like that against a national powerhouse in front of a then-record crowd in Louisville. The school was coming off its first 10-win season in 66 years of football that was capped by a 34-7 win over Alabama in the Fiesta Bowl.
While it was the season opener for Tennessee, it was the second game for Louisville, which was coming off a 24-14 win over Eastern Kentucky that extended its winning streak to eight.
The Vols’ Carl Pickens, who led the SEC in receiving yards the previous season, stuck a knife in the heart of the fans twice. He caught a 75-yard touchdown and returned a punt 67 yards to the house in the fourth quarter for the winning 28-11 margin.
That loss was just the first of many for the Cards, who went a disappointing 2-9.
No. 4: MISSISSIPPI STATE 36, OLE MISS 28 (2001)
The Egg Bowl saw a couple classics on Thursday around the turn of the century. This one reminded us why rivalries make us throw out records.
Eli Manning and Ole Miss were 6-3 entering the game but were coming off back-to-back losses to Arkansas and Georgia. Mississippi State entered 2-7, having lost seven of its last eight.
Still, MSU led 36-21 after this score from Ray Ray Bivines.
Manning made it a one-possession game, 36-28, after a TD pass with a little over three minutes left as he tried to mount a late comeback against the Kevin Fant-led Bulldogs. Trailing by the same score with 1:49 left, Manning had Ole Miss on MSU’s 28-yard line facing fourth-and-9 before throwing a fateful interception, his third of the game.
MSU Running back Dicenzo Miller had 182 yards from scrimmage while receiver Justin Jenkins had 7 catches for 116 yards.
No. 3: OLE MISS 39, VANDERBILT 35 (2013)
What a way to kick off SEC action. This was a back-and-forth affair that saw Ole Miss take a 10-0 lead before Vanderbilt stormed back to lead 21-10 at halftime.
The teams played a wild second half. Vanderbilt took a 35-32 lead with about 1:30 left in the game on an Austyn Carta-Samuels 34-yard touchdown toss to Steven Scheu. However, the very next play from scrimmage resulted in Ole Miss’ Jeff Scott racing 75 yards to the end zone to put the Rebels up 39-35 with 1:07 left.
Still, the Commodores still had hope after a Rebels penalty put Carta-Samuels and company at midfield, but he threw an interception at the Ole Miss 27-yard line to end that hope.
No. 2: (18) MISSISSIPPI STATE 23, (23) OLE MISS 20 (1999)
The Bulldogs thwarted their rivals again in this thriller on Thanksgiving in Starkville. Mississippi State scored 10 points in the final 27 seconds to rob the Rebels.
MSU QB Wayne Madkin scrambled and found C.J. Sirmones at the 15-yard line before he ran in for a score, capping an 88-yard drive to tie the game at 20-20 with 27 seconds left. Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe, despite not having much time, decided not to play for overtime.
That plan would backfire as Romaro Miller threw a pass that was deflected, intercepted and returned 27 yards. That set up Scott Westerfield, who nailed a game-winning 44-yard field goal with four seconds left.
The fans stormed the field and took down the goalposts after the victory. Jackie Sherrill’s Bulldogs, who were the defending SEC West champs, would go on to record their first 10-win season since 1940.
No. 1: TEXAS 27, TEXAS A&M 25 (2011)
Thursdays weren’t kind to the Aggies in 2010 and 2011 as the former Big 12 school experienced some serious déjà vu those two years.
In 2010, the Aggies squandered an early 14-0 lead against Oklahoma State to lose on a 40-yard field goal as time expired. In 2011, the school let an early 13-0 lead slip away against Texas to lose on a perfectly similar 40-yard field goal as time ran out.
And in both games, a huge defensive touchdown was key to spoiling Texas A&M’s Thursday. Against the Cowboys, it was a 63-yard scoop-and-score for a touchdown by James Thomas. Against the Longhorns, it was a 58-yard pick-six by Carrington Byndom.
The difference with this one is that Ryan Tannehill and the Aggies took a late 25-24 lead with 1:48 left. However, they left the door open by not making the 2-point conversion. That allowed Case McCoy to put Justin Tucker in range for the game-winner.
Also adding to the disappointment: It was in College Station, and it was Texas A&M’s last game against rival Texas before leaving for the SEC. The two schools had played every year since 1915 prior to that.
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
