From 2000 to 2009, playing in Atlanta was the great curse for Tennessee football. It all started in 2001, when the Vols suffered their worst loss in school history.
As the No. 2 team in the country, all they had to do was beat a lowly ranked LSU Tigers team starting their backup quarterback, and they’d be SEC Champions on their way to the national championship game. But we all know the story. It didn’t happen.
The Vols suffered a horrific upset to an up and coming coach named Nick Saban. And thus began the downward spiral of a program.