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Tennessee Volunteers: Taking care of the ‘Cats

By Matt Green

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 10: Head Coach Butch Jones of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after the game against the Georgia Bulldogs on October 10, 2015 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 10: Head Coach Butch Jones of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after the game against the Georgia Bulldogs on October 10, 2015 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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There are 40 days till college football season, and today we talk about one of the oldest rivalries in the SEC, even if it’s also one of the most one-sided.

After being embarrassed by Vanderbilt 41-18 in 2012, the Tennessee Volunteers made a decision to fire head coach Derek Dooley. Dooley went 15-21 in his three years in Knoxville, and the program followed that up by hiring Butch Jones.

After three straight losing seasons from 2010 to 2012, Jones took over and has led the Volunteers to a 30-21 record over the last four seasons, including back-to-back 9-4 seasons, the only SEC team besides Alabama to win nine games in each of the past two seasons.

They’ve also had a lot of success against their neighbors to the north, the Kentucky Wildcats. And that leads us to no. 40 on the Southbound and Down College Football Countdown.

Butch Jones is 4-0 against Kentucky since becoming head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers

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Since 2013, when Jones took over, Tennessee is undefeated against Kentucky, the only team in the SEC that Jones has yet to lose to. The Vols went 2-6 in SEC play in 2013, with Kentucky and South Carolina being their only conference wins.

Last season was the 100th meeting between Tennessee and Kentucky, and the Vols have dominated the rivalry to say the least. They lead the all-time series 74-14-8, and have won 31 of the last 32 matchups.

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Jones is also 3-1 against South Carolina, 2-2 against Georgia, Missouri, Vanderbilt, and 1-3 against Florida.

So while the win over Florida last season means that Jones has now beaten every team in the SEC East, he has yet to win a game against the SEC West, but that’s not exactly a Jones problem. While the Vols are 0-8 against the West since Jones arrived, they’ve actually lost 12 straight games against the division, with the last win coming against Ole Miss in 2010.

Part of the reason is that Alabama is on the schedule every year, but Tennessee has also drawn some touch matchups in the West. And it won’t get any easier in 2017, as they play Alabama and LSU from the West this season.

Jones would love to make it five straight wins over Kentucky in 2017, but if the Tennessee Volunteers are going to make it back to Atlanta for the first time since 2007, it’s going to take a lot more than that.

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