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1989 Tennessee

11–⁠1 (6–⁠1 Southeastern Conference), coached by Johnny Majors, finished No. 5 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 1989, game by game: won vs. Colorado State 17–14; won at No. 6 UCLA 24–6; won vs. Duke 28–6; won vs. No. 4 Auburn 21–14; won vs. Georgia 17–14; lost at No. 10 Alabama 30–47; won at LSU 45–39; won vs. Akron 52–9; won vs. Ole Miss 33–21; won at Kentucky 31–10; won vs. Vanderbilt 17–10; won vs. No. 10 Arkansas 31–27+43−17Won 17–14 vs. Colorado State+3Colorado StateWon 24–6 at No. 6 UCLA+18No. 6 UCLAWon 28–6 vs. Duke+22DukeWon 21–14 vs. No. 4 Auburn+7No. 4 AuburnWon 17–14 vs. Georgia+3GeorgiaLost 30–47 at No. 10 Alabama-17No. 10 AlabamaWon 45–39 at LSU+6LSUWon 52–9 vs. Akron+43AkronWon 33–21 vs. Ole Miss+12Ole MissWon 31–10 at Kentucky+21KentuckyWon 17–10 vs. Vanderbilt+7VanderbiltWon 31–27 vs. No. 10 Arkansas+4No. 10 Arkansas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2vsColorado StateW 17–⁠1479%
Sep 9at6UCLAW 24–⁠626%
Sep 16vsDukeW 28–⁠670%
Sep 30vs4AuburnW 21–⁠1446%
Oct 7vsGeorgiaW 17–⁠1460%
Oct 21at10AlabamaL 30–⁠4735%
Oct 28atLSUW 45–⁠3956%
Nov 11vsAkronW 52–⁠979%
Nov 18vsOle MissW 33–⁠2176%
Nov 25atKentuckyW 31–⁠1063%
Dec 2vsVanderbiltW 17–⁠1093%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs10ArkansasCotton BowlW 31–⁠2745%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Arkansas 31–⁠27 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 5 in the final AP poll; Southeastern Conference champions.

In program history: The 29th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 17
  2. Wk 4: 14
  3. Wk 5: 12
  4. Wk 6: 6
  5. Wk 7: 6
  6. Wk 8: 6
  7. Wk 9: 11
  8. Wk 10: 10
  9. Wk 11: 11
  10. Wk 12: 9
  11. Wk 13: 8
  12. Wk 14: 8
  13. Wk 15: 8
  14. Wk 16: 8
  15. Final: 5

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1989.

Southeastern Conference champions6–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Alabama and Auburn

Consensus All-AmericanEric Still, OG

Record
11–⁠1
Conference
6–⁠1 shared first in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 5 peak No. 5
Points
346–⁠217
Coach
Johnny Majors
Elo
1708 +170 this season
SP+ rating
21.9 No. 12 of 103; offense No. 15, defense No. 15
SRS
16.1 No. 15 of 106 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Phillip Fulmer
Defensive coordinator
Doug Mathews
Captain
Eric Still

Drafted in 1990

The 1990 draft
Rd 2Reggie Cobb RBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 3Marion Hobby DEMinnesota Vikings
Rd 4Eric Still OGHouston Oilers
Rd 7Tracy Hayworth LBDetroit Lions
Rd 7Kent Elmore PLos Angeles Rams

All-SEC

4 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1989 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1989 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Tennessee6–⁠111–⁠15
Auburn6–⁠110–⁠26
Alabama6–⁠110–⁠29
Ole Miss4–⁠38–⁠4
Florida4–⁠37–⁠5
Georgia4–⁠36–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠56–⁠5
LSU2–⁠54–⁠7
Mississippi State1–⁠65–⁠6
Vanderbilt0–⁠71–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.