15 years. 15 years of tears, frustration, embarrassment. 15 years is what it took to set this scene — and it was beautifully imperfect. A wild 49-49 game was settled with a knuckleball kick that just barely fell across the bar.
Tennessee wins, 52-49.
TENNESSEE TAKES DOWN ALABAMA AND THE FANS ARE STORMING THE FIELD AT NEYLAND STADIUM.
WHAT A WIN FOR THE VOLS. pic.twitter.com/1MkxrkyxBA
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) October 15, 2022
And the party was on.
The entire stadium emptied. Goalposts came down. Dixieland Delight — A SONG ABOUT TENNESSEE — blared over the loudspeakers. It was perfect.
Inject this into my veins. #DixielandDelight pic.twitter.com/UpR1aCVwuT
— CL NE (@gameofclone) October 15, 2022
Hendon Hooker, fresh off of his latest Heisman performance, immediately went and found his mom.
Tennessee football QB Hendon Hooker had a special moment with his mom after the #Vols stunning win over Alabama at Neyland Stadium. #GoVols
Final: https://t.co/CTMfgbRGzc pic.twitter.com/oChWvrUUdM
— GoVolsXtra (@GoVolsXtra) October 16, 2022
Of course, you knew the goal posts were coming down.
DOWN GO THE GOAL POSTS AT NEYLAND #GBO pic.twitter.com/D1HPYlZO83
— 104-5 The Zone (@1045TheZone) October 16, 2022
This is fine. pic.twitter.com/A1Uf5ozAqS
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) October 16, 2022
…. and out of the stadium they went.
Update on the Tennessee goal post
( @LateKickJosh)
pic.twitter.com/0TW8kJcaPD— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 16, 2022
….. and down the strip they went.
THE GOAL POST IS ON THE STRIP
pic.twitter.com/mGeF92sTu8— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 16, 2022
Legend achievement unlocked.@jalinhyatt pic.twitter.com/qrZsvLMQq1
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) October 16, 2022
Hugs and hand pounds.
Heupel and Hendon. pic.twitter.com/h9CEsVJgyB
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) October 16, 2022
A cloud of cigar smoke wafts over a winning Neyland pic.twitter.com/yVJAKXeabS
— Jake Thompson (@jthomps72) October 15, 2022
Those iconic pictures from the 90s? They’ll be recreated tonight, and new ones will be added to the collection. We’ve been extremely hesitant to announce it, but tonight Tennessee officially came back.
They needed to get over the Florida hump — they did. They needed to not fall on their face at LSU — they blew them out. They needed to eventually find their way past Alabama — they did it a year or two early. Josh Heupel has worked magic, and Tennessee is on the cusp on a very special season.
Soak this one up.