Tennessee Football Game Day
A Tennessee football game day is a rite of passage. Neyland Stadium should be a staple on any sports fan’s bucket list and that’s something I got to check off this year.
Football On Rocky Top!
Tennessee 38, Bowling Green 6
“Brett, I cannot believe you made your first trip to Neyland on a Thursday night against Bowling Green.”
The amount of times I’ve been told my game choice sucked is significant. But hear me out, this one mattered. For one, I’m a third-generation BGSU grad. Also, I locked this in when it was still on Saturday.
What a beautiful day it is when Volunteer football is being played on Rocky Top. A Tennessee game day– regardless of the day of week– is matched by few and beaten by even fewer. We began our game day downtown at Market Square, a collection of local eateries and hole-in-the-wall shops and bars. I’d personally recommend a burger from Stock & Barrel (and one of their Tennessee whiskeys).
Parking’s free around Market Square for the whole day if you: a) get there early and b)don’t mind getting some exercise in. A mile and a quarter walk to Neyland Stadium sends you right past tailgaiters and through campus. It’s well worth the walk to sightsee.
A few places in the country have Sailgaiting. Baylor, Washington, and Tennessee are the ones I’m aware of, though others may exist. Despite my best attempts, I didn’t get to sailgate. But seeing the boats on the Tennessee River with partiers and fans is delightful. Other traditional tailgaters flood the streets around campus. After all, this is the SEC we’re talking.
Get to campus early because the band walk-in is one of the finest in the country with one of the most iconic fight songs.
Tennessee Football Game Day: Neyland Stadium
Plenty of college football stadiums are revered, but a select few are truly hallowed ground; Neyland Stadium is hallowed ground. It’s a historic stadium with few changes made since its final expansion in 1996. For my entire life, this stadium’s more or less looked the same.
That’s not an indictment– the simplistic look, gigantic scale, and historic charm makes Neyland Stadium great.
Like many old stadiums (it broke ground in 1921), the concourses are like dungeons: dark, cramped, winding. But there’s just something different about being at Neyland.
Tennessee Football Game Day: The Atmosphere
The Tennessee fans were beyond accommodating. Southern hospitality was at its finest that day– likely because what kind of threat did BG pose to them?– and we were greeted with plenty of “Welcome to Rocky Top” and smiles. Fans make or break a game day and Vol fans absolutely made this one.
The fight song Rocky Top is my favorite in the country. Good thing, because it’s played to death. I mentioned making sure you catch the band walk pregame and I mean it. They wind their way down through campus and under the UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE bridge right into Neyland. It’s spectacular and thousands of fans participate. Maybe even tens of thousands.
I can imagine what the atmosphere for a Tennessee football game day against a Florida or Alabama is like. Against Bowling Green, it was excited (to begin, the excitement died down when the Vols took control). Against a big time SEC rival, this place must go nuts.
The student section is pretty intimidating given its size. The orange poms are a staple and they can get rowdy. Yes, I did see what happened against Ole Miss this year.
The one thing that doesn’t seem like a big deal until you’re there is the PA system was having difficulties. Not having a PA announcer is bizarre and creates dead air in between plays. Not ideal for Week 1.
The Game
Tennessee beat up on the little guy 38-6. What more is there to say?
In all seriousness, the score didn’t accurately paint the photo. The Falcons really hung in there and it was a 14-6 game at halftime. In fact, this was just 28-6 going well into the final quarter.
Game Day Grades
Stadium: A. Sometimes an old and musty stadium is good for the sole. The history is in the walls of this place. I love it.
Tradition: A+. Almost nowhere has as much history and tradition as Tennessee. Rocky Top, Running Through the T, Smokey their dog mascot, the checkered end zones, I love it all.
Atmosphere: C. I have to put my wide-eyed amazement down for this one. It was an 8:00 p.m. Thursday night kickoff against Bowling Green. I’d be lying if I said it was an amazing atmosphere. The PA system not working really didn’t help, either. Against a big-time rival with a primetime Saturday kickoff I’m sure turns the tables.
Tailgating: A. Any place that Sailgates gets an A from me.
Fans: A. They’re passionate, friendly, and dedicated. Tennessee provided some of the best fan experiences I’ve had along the journey and they’re definitely the kindest. Now, if I walked in on the Third Saturday In October wearing the wrong colors, maybe it’s a different story.
Extracurriculars: B-. Knoxville is a cool college town with a quaint but really nice downtown area. Great Smokey Mountain National Park is nearby, but Knoxville is pretty far removed from places. It’s a three hour drive from Nashville and Atlanta, and four hours from Charlotte. If you aren’t in a position to drive in reasonable, you’ll have a heck of a time getting here. The drive, however, is well worth it.
You should revisit Neyland for a night game against a competitive opponent. Neyland at 100% and you can’t hear the PA system. Neyland has also had several hundred million dollars worth of renovations the last two offseasons with more already on the way. Added a the lights for night game light show, 2nd jumbo tron, party deck, improved concourses, renovated the exterior for more appealing look, enhanced sound as the sound system is legit now but the crowd still gets louder in competitive games, working on improving wi-fi as they are re-doing the cable to the stadium (very costly project) to make WiFi available for all. Danny White is making the game day experience at TN very entertaining. Light shows, fireworks, music, he’s even managed to put a very good product on the field to compete as TN will legit compete for a spot in the playoff. Maybe you could feel Neyland’s history and knew the old giant could still be great. Neyland is maybe the oldest stadium in the SEC. Opened in 1921 with a capacity of like 2,000. Coach Neyland who the stadium is named after and was designed by is one of the best football coaches ever in college football but doesn’t get the credit he deserves IMO due to leaving the program to serve as a General in US military during WW2. You should read a little about Robert Neyland and his wide range of accomplishments. One of which was being coach of TN as he was hired to stop losing to Vanderbilt. Well he stopped losing to them and eventually stopped losing to pretty much anybody. He built the TN program into a top team nationally winning a Natty. Then he gets called to WW2 as he was a General who graduated from West Point. During the war TN’s football program declined and when he returned he once again took over a .500 program. He quickly had them back to a top program winning another 2 national championships before retiring and becoming AD. Neyland won national championships before and after serving multiple years during WW2. Each time he had to rebuild the program when he arrived. Had Neyland not had to leave and serve in the military then return and rebuild the program. Neyland would likely be revered as one of the best coaches ever in college football as he likely would’ve won many more than 3 considering he served 5+ years in his coaching prime then another 2 seasons to rebuild the program. He lost almost a decade…If he had won 1/2 of those years he finishes with 7 national championships. Not unrealistic considering he won 1 before and 2 after his service with many years between being head football coach. Neyland also made the design for a much more modern Neyland stadium that would give a home field advantage by being louder due to holding in sound being built up, 2 decks, instead of out like Big 10 stadium (Michigan). General Neyland’s team was the last team in college football to not give up a point for an entire season. They were scored on in the bowl game but much like now the bowl game wasn’t taken seriously since team and individual awards had done been awarded. Sorry for the book but I find the history pretty cool. Neyland also came up with the 7 game maxims that are recited by the entire team before each game as they still hold true to being a key to victory. If I did get some details wrong I’m sorry. I wrote this without fact checking. Hope you enjoyed it.