Breaking news:.Former Tennessee head coach Bill Battle passes away after…
With a 7-3-2 record, the football season of 1974 will never be remembered among longtime Tennessee fans on the level of their championship seasons, or maybe even the recent resurgent ones under coach Josh Heupel.
But for drama that turned out mostly well, it ranks up there. And for then-head coach Bill Battle, it was especially a season full of ups and downs, including losing both his parents within days of each other. And that came for him amid the pressures of trying not to lose games as fans were questioning if the program was declining.
connection with the 50th anniversary of that unusual season, the Shopper News is looking back with a recap that includes future star Stanley Morgan, who uniquely played two offensive positions that year. As he remembered in a recent phone interview with a laugh, “At the start of the week, I didn’t know what position I would play.”
The season was almost like two in one as well, as the team struggled greatly in midseason but rallied to win or tie the last six games. After several good seasons were followed by some struggles in late 1973, Vol fans had grown restless in those days when social media was simply the talk on the street.
Vanderbilt in 1974
On Sept. 7, in a rare nationally televised afternoon game at Neyland Stadium (normally, fans depended on radio announcer John Ward to keep them updated), the two teams tied, 17-17.
However, Tennessee perhaps felt better than this periodic California rival, as it rallied late against the Bruins, which were led by star quarterback John Sciarra and first-year coach and future NFL great Dick Vermeil. The star of the game was, you guessed it, senior quarterback and three-year starter Condredge Holloway.
