1968 Tennessee Volunteers football team

1968 Tennessee Volunteers football
Cotton Bowl Classic, L 13–36 vs. Texas
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 13
Record	8–2–1 (4–1–1 SEC)
Head coach	Doug Dickey (5th season)
Home stadium	Neyland Stadium
Seasons ←  1967 1969  →

1968 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	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
Ole Miss	3	–	2	–	1			7	–	3	–	1
Florida	3	–	2	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
Vanderbilt	2	–	3	–	1			5	–	4	–	1
Mississippi State	0	–	4	–	2			0	–	8	–	2
Kentucky	0	–	7	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion LSU, Florida, and Vanderbilt's games against Tulane; LSU's game against TCU; and Mississippi State's game against Texas Tech counted in the conference standings. Rankings from AP Poll

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.

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

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 14	Georgia	No. 9	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	ABC	T 17–17	60,603	[1]
September 28	Memphis State *	No. 16	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN		W 24–17	61,792	[2]
October 5	at Rice *	No. 15	Rice Stadium Houston, TX		W 52–0	25,000	[3]
October 12	at Georgia Tech *	No. 10	Grant Field Atlanta, GA (rivalry)		W 24–7	60,011	[4]
October 19	Alabama	No. 8	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (Third Saturday in October)	ABC	W 10–9	63,392	[5]
November 2	UCLA *	No. 5	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN		W 42–18	64,078	[6]
November 9	at No. 18 Auburn	No. 5	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (rivalry)		L 14–28	68,821	[7]
November 16	Ole Miss	No. 11	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)		W 31–0	62,786	[8]
November 23	Kentucky	No. 8	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)		W 24–7	60,899	[9]
November 30	at Vanderbilt	No. 7	Dudley Field Nashville, TN (rivalry)		W 10–7	34,000	[10]
January 1	vs. No. 5 Texas	No. 8	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	CBS	L 13–36	72,000	[11]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

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 Doug Dickey Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Team players drafted into the NFL/AFL

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

1. "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.