1992 Tennessee Volunteers football team

The 1992 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the 1992 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Volunteers were a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), in the Eastern Division and played their home games at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. They finished the season with a record of nine wins and three (9–3 overall, 5–3 in the SEC) and with a victory over Boston College in the Hall of Fame Bowl. The Volunteers offense scored 347 points while the defense allowed 196 points.

1992 Tennessee Volunteers football
Hall of Fame Bowl champion
Hall of Fame Bowl, W 38–23 vs. Boston College
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Eastern Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
AP	No. 12
Record	9–3 (5–3 SEC)
Head coach	Johnny Majors (16th season; games 4–11) Phillip Fulmer (games 1–3, bowl game)
Offensive coordinator	Phillip Fulmer (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Larry Marmie (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Captains	Todd Kelly J. J. McCleskey
Home stadium	Neyland Stadium
Seasons ← 1991 1993 →

1992 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Eastern Division
No. 10 Florida xy	6	–	2	–	0			9	–	4	–	0
No. 8 Georgia x	6	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 12 Tennessee	5	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
South Carolina	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Vanderbilt	2	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Kentucky	2	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Western Division
No. 1 Alabama x$	8	–	0	–	0			13	–	0	–	0
No. 16 Ole Miss	5	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 23 Mississippi State	4	–	4	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Arkansas	3	–	4	–	1			3	–	7	–	1
Auburn	2	–	5	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
LSU	1	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Championship: Alabama 28, Florida 21
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

Johnny Majors was to enter his sixteenth season as the Volunteers' head coach for the 1992 season. However, in August, Majors underwent emergency quintuple bypass surgery, and as a result Phillip Fulmer was named interim head coach.^[1] After Fulmer led the Vols to a 3–0 start, Majors returned and led Tennessee to a 5–3 finish. By the end of the season, the university bought-out the remainder of Majors' contract, and on November 29, Fulmer was named as the Volunteers' new head coach effective after the Hall of Fame Bowl.^[2] However, on December 4, Majors announced he would not coach the team in the bowl game, and as a result Fulmer went on to coach the Volunteers to 38–23 victory over Boston College in his first game as Tennessee's full-time head coach.^[3] The school officially credits Majors with a record of five wins and three losses (5–3) and Fulmer with four wins and zero losses (4–0) for the 1992 season.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 5	1:00 p.m.	Southwestern Louisiana*	No. 22	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN		W 38–3	95,110	[4]
September 12	3:30 p.m.	at No. 14 Georgia	No. 20	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA (rivalry)	ESPN	W 34–31	85,434	[5]
September 19	3:30 p.m.	No. 4 Florida	No. 14	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	ABC	W 31–14	97,137	[6]
September 26	4:00 p.m.	Cincinnati*	No. 8	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	PPV	W 40–0	96,597	[7]
October 3	7:30 p.m.	at LSU	No. 7	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	ESPN	W 20–0	68,318	[8]
October 10	12:30 p.m.	Arkansas	No. 4	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	JPS	L 24–25	95,202	[9]
October 17	3:30 p.m.	No. 4 Alabama	No. 13	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (Third Saturday in October)	ABC	L 10–17	97,388	[10]
October 31	12:30 p.m.	at South Carolina	No. 16	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC (rivalry)	JPS	L 23–24	71,529	[11]
November 14	1:30 p.m.	at Memphis State*	No. 23	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN	PPV	W 26–21	65,234	[12]
November 21	1:00 p.m.	Kentucky	No. 20	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)		W 34–13	94,110	[13]
November 28	2:30 p.m.	at Vanderbilt	No. 18	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN (rivalry)	PPV	W 29–25	41,000	[14]
January 1	11:05 a.m.	vs. No. 16 Boston College*	No. 17	Tampa Stadium Tampa, FL (Hall of Fame Bowl)	ESPN	W 38–23	52,056	[15]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[16]

Roster

1992 Tennessee Volunteers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 12 Cory Fleming Jr RB 33 James Stewart So QB 21 Heath Shuler So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DE 58 Todd Kelly Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Johnny Majors (games 4–11) Phillip Fulmer (games 1–3, bowl) Coordinators/assistant coaches Phillip Fulmer – Offensive coordinator/offensive line David Cutcliffe – Quarterbacks/passing game coordinator Charlie Coe – Running backs Randy Sanders – Wide receivers Mark Bradley – Tight ends Larry Marmie – Defensive coordinator Ray Hamilton – Defensive line Bob Maddox – Defensive line John Chavis – Linebackers Tim Keane – Defensive backs Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Team players drafted into the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Todd Kelly	Defensive end	1	27	San Francisco 49ers
Dave Thomas	Defensive back	8	203	Dallas Cowboys

• Reference:^[17]

References

1. "Slowed by Surgery, Majors Back with Vols". The Tuscaloosa News. Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Associated Press. September 22, 1992. p. 4B. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
2. "Fulmer New Vols Coach". The Tuscaloosa News. Tuscaloosa, Alabama. November 29, 1992. p. 1B. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
3. "Majors Decides to Not Coach Tennessee in its Bowl Game". The Daily News. Middlesboro, Kentucky. December 5, 1992. p. 8. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
4. "Tennessee tramples USL, 38–3". The Crowley Post-Signal. September 6, 1992. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Vols shock 'Dogs, 34–31". Kingsport Times-News. September 13, 1992. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Vols one again reduce Gators to road kill, 31–14". The Orlando Sentinel. September 20, 1992. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Rocky UC easily topped, 40–0". The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 27, 1992. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Vols ramble by LSU, 20–0". The Jackson Sun. October 4, 1992. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Arkansas stuns No. 4 Tennessee". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. October 11, 1992. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Bama still owns Vols". Johnson City Press. October 16, 1992. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Stumbling Vols fall short". The Commercial Appeal. November 1, 1992. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Beating Tigers never grows old". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. November 15, 1992. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "UT's Majors rides out a winner". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. November 22, 1992. Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Vols outlast Vanderbilt in Majors finale 29–25". The Atlanta Journal & Constitution. November 29, 1992. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "Fame is fleeting: BC overwhelmed". The Boston Globe. January 2, 1993. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "1992 Tennessee Volunteers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
17. "1993 NFL Draft". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 19, 2012.