University of Tennessee Athletics
Inside the T - A Cool Rivalry
November 14, 2014 | Football
By Brian RiceUTSports.com
I don't know why people are surprised it's turned really cold this week. It has to be cold, Kentucky is coming to town.
Some of the coldest games I can remember attending have been against the Wildcats, both here and in Lexington. That's just what happens when a game falls on the schedule when UT-UK does, on the last or next-to-last week of the season. Moving it back a week practically dared Mother Nature to send in winter a week early. Challenge accepted.
Our friends over at WVLT say that the high Saturday will be 45, so that's about right. It hasn't hurt ticket sales, only a handful remained as of Thursday night.
That's been the case over the years, at least for games in Neyland Stadium. The coldest I can ever remember being for a football game was the 2000 UK game. The box score says it was 32 degrees at the 12:39 kickoff, my memory says that was generous. But it didn't stop 106,437 from filing through the gates of Neyland Stadium. The game went pretty well, too, 59-20 in favor of the guys in Orange on Travis Henry's Senior Day.
It was 44 degrees at kickoff for the 2004 game at Neyland, a 37-31 come-from-behind win that needed two fourth-quarter touchdowns to seal the UT victory. Phillip Fulmer's farewell game in 2008 was played in a cold rain/mist that is still etched in my memory.
There are plenty of examples in Lexington as well. Pretty well any fan that has made the trip to the Bluegrass state for the rivalry will claim to have sat on ice-coated bleachers. I can't refute that statement. Commonwealth Stadium is also perfectly situated for the wind to blow directly through, so fans in the upper deck are subject to a wind chill that has you looking for lake-effect snow.
Most people remember the 2007 game in Lexington for its four overtimes. I remember wearing four pairs of pants. I was an upper-deck fan that day. Despite the four pairs of pants and multiple jackets and sweatshirts, I never broke a sweat on the long walk from the downtown shuttle. And I still don't believe I was ever warm.
Last season was the same story for a night kickoff in Lexington. The day was pleasant enough, the night was frigid. I had zero complaints about an indoor press box seat, but spent some time in the third quarter in the stands and gained plenty of respect for the fans that braved the temperatures.
Sure, there have been Tennessee-Kentucky games played in reasonable temperatures, but they've taken place in bizarro world. Perhaps the closest Kentucky came to winning a game during UT's 26-game winning streak against the Cats came on a balmy November day in 2001. Tennessee trailed 21-0 early, but rallied for a 38-35 win in front of short-sleeved fans in Commonwealth Stadium.
Short sleeves were also worn by many fans on a 61-degree sunny day in Lexington in 2011. I think we all remember what happened there.
In researching another project, I discovered that Tennessee and Kentucky played twice in 1944, both to open and close the regular season. I don't have the box score for the Sept. 30 meeting handy, but I'd be willing to be there was an abnormal chill in the air that weekend.
A public service announcement in closing: Tennessee plays Kentucky on Oct. 31 next season. Now, I haven't consulted the Farmer's Almanac, but I'm going to go ahead and suggest your kids find a costume with a jacket.
Brian Rice is a writer for UTSports.com. Questions, comments and story suggestions are always welcome via Twitter at @briancrice.
