What happened the two times Tennessee Football opened the season against Syracuse

No. 24 Tennessee opens the new season against Syracuse Saturday at Noon Eastern Time on ABC in the Aflac Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The Vols wouldn’t mind the season playing out the way it did the last two times they opened against the Orange.

September 1, 2001: No. 8 Tennessee 33, Syracuse 9

CaseyClausen threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to DonteStallworth on Tennessee’s first offensive play, but the Vols were sluggish on offense on the way to a 33-9 win at Neyland Stadium.

Clausen completed 14 of 27 passes for 136 yards and the touchdown, Stallworth had three catches for 55 yards and TravisStephens ran 14 times for 111 yards.

Tennessee led 12-3 late into the third quarter — ConstantinRitzman recorded a safety and AlexWalls kicked a 24-yard field goal in the second quarter — before tacking on three touchdowns in the second half. Stephens had a 4-yard touchdown in the third quarter and CoreyLarkins scored on runs of 38 and 16 yards in the fourth. 

From there, Tennessee would win at Arkansas a week later and beat LSU the week after that in Knoxville. After a 26-24 home loss to Georgia, the Vols would win seven straight to go to the SEC Championship Game as the No. 2-ranked team in the country. 

LSU upset the Vols 31-20 in Atlanta, ending Tennessee’s run to the national title game and instead going to the Citrus Bowl for a 45-17 win over Michigan, capping an 11-2 season in which the team was never ranked lower than 11th. 

Sept. 5, 1998: No. 10 Tennessee 34, No. 17 Syracuse 33 

JeffHall kicked a 27-yard field goal on the final play of the game and No. 10 Tennessee kicked off its run to the BCS National Championship and an undefeated season with a 34-33 win over Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. 

JamalLewis ran 20 times for 143 yards and a touchdown, TeeMartin completed 9 of 26 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns — he added 81 yards rushing and another touchdown on the ground on nine attempts — and PeerlessPrice caught six passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns. 

DonovanMcNabb completed 22 of 28 passes for 300 yards and two touchdowns for Syracuse. The Orange ran for 191 yards and a touchdown on 47 attempts as a team, but couldn’t pace the 250 rushing yards and three touchdowns Tennessee ran for on 33 attempts. 

Tennessee would beat No. 2 Florida 20-17 in overtime in Knoxville two weeks later, moving up to No. 3 in the polls, and was ranked No. 1 by mid-November, after an 8-0 start.

After surviving an upset bid from undefeated and 10th-ranked Arkansas on November 14, the Vols would rally in the fourth quarter to beat Mississippi State in the SEC Championship Game, then handle Florida State 23-16 in the Fiesta Bowl to win the first BCS national title and the program’s first since 1951.

December 31, 1966: Tennessee 18, Syracuse 12

Tennessee didn’t start the 1966 season with Syracuse, but ended it with an 18-12 win over the Orange in the Gator Bowl to cap an 8-3 season.

The year started with a win over Auburn in Birmingham, with other wins over South Carolina, Army, Chattanooga, Kentucky and Vanderbilt. The Vols lost 6-3 to Georgia Tech in Atlanta in Week 3, then lost to Alabama at home, 11-10, a week later. Ole Miss beat Tennessee 14-7 in November. 

In the Gator Bowl Tennessee would build a 6-0 halftime lead on two GaryWright field goals and DeweyWarren threw two touchdown passes in the second half, sandwiched around a BillYoung interception. The combo of FloydLittle and LarryCsonka ran for a combined 333 yards and two touchdowns in the loss. Warren completed 17 of 29 passes for 244 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.