Players Who Stood Tall
By Tom Mattingly
In the history of the Tennessee-Alabama rivalry, the series that defines the “Third Saturday in October,” there are many players who have stood tall when each year’s game was on the line.
Former Tennessee defensive back Jimmy Weatherford, a Vol All-American selection as a senior in 1968, will never be confused with Alabama’s Terrence Cody, but they do share one thing in common.
Each of them was a tough competitor, asking and giving no quarter. Each blocked a field goal that saved a win for their team when Tennessee and Alabama squared off. That very quickly brings to mind Bob Neyland’s game maxims, his guidelines for success on the gridiron, particularly No. 6: “Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.”
Cody, often known as “Mount Cody,” saved the 2009 game for the Crimson Tide by knocking aside Daniel Lincoln’s game-winning attempt. Happiness reigned supreme across Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Weatherford did likewise in 1968 at Neyland Stadium. He came off the right side of the defensive formation to block a Mike Dean attempt that would have won the game for the Crimson Tide.
He had changed places with Nick Showalter and somehow got a hand on the kick. The final score was 10-9, second victory over the Tide and Bear Bryant in as many years for Doug Dickey and the Vols. It was the first win over Alabama in Knoxville since 1960.
“What did we have to lose?” Weatherford said afterwards. “They were going to win if we didn’t block the field goal. It was that simple. So I went after it. It was just a chance, one of those oddities that worked, like throwing the dice and winning.”
That game was a tough one for Tide partisans to swallow. That has been true on both sides in the Tennessee-Alabama series all the way back to the legendary “Hack, Mack, and Dodd” (and Quinn Decker) Tennessee backfield of the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Alf Van Hoose of the Birmingham News had this priceless analysis: “The stage was set to make it one of college football’s all-time classics. The scene was fitting. Perfect. Storied old Neyland Stadium on a golden October Saturday. All it took was a 36-yard field goal by little Mike Dean. But in these cruel times, there is sometimes a jagged ending. Old prince and pauper tales may have been replaced. Life is hard.”
They don’t write game stories that way anymore.
What Van Hoose wrote could have also applied to the feelings of those fans on the Tennessee side on Oct. 24, 2009, when Cody spoiled the day for the Vols. The term “Life is hard” also came down on Vol fortunes on that day.
Weatherford’s big play was an integral part of the success Dickey had enjoyed at Tennessee. After Dickey’s fifth year at Tennessee, Alabama had won twice, by one (1966, 11-10) and 11 points (1964, 19-8), Tennessee had won twice by one (1968, 10-9) and 11 points (1967, 24-13). There had also been one tie (1965, 7-7). All the games except one (1964) had come down to the final seconds. Dickey ended his tenure in Knoxville with a three-game win streak against Alabama, after two losses and a tie.
Dickey was battling the Bear on even terms.
The Vols laid the wood to Alabama a year later on Legion Field by 41-14. There was a small plane that flew over Legion Field that day with a message for both sides: “This is Big Orange Country.” On that day, the Vols were in the catbird’s seat.
As Vol fans looked toward the 1970s, life was good.
As history records, however, there was danger lurking in the shadows. In early 1970, Dickey confirmed rumors he was heading home to Gainesville. Bill Battle, a stalwart for Bryant in the early 1960s in Tuscaloosa, got the nod to lead the Vols.
After a 24-0 Tennessee win that season, the series took an ominous turn.
Between 1971 and 1981, it was all Alabama. There were close games in 1971, 1972, and 1973, maybe even in 1976 and 1979. That was the year the Vols were all over the Tide, ahead 17-0 before the Tide rallied for a 27-17 win.
After Tennessee dominated the series between 1995 and 2006, 10 wins and two losses, Nick Saban showed up in Tuscaloosa and won 16 of the 17 contests. That was another ominous turn.
He did lose in his final Neyland Stadium visit by 52-49 in 2022. He may have lost that night, but he won a bunch in the preceding years, much as had happened to Bryant when he lost in his last appearance in Neyland Stadium.
Those of us who were there, either in Knoxville, Birmingham, and/or Tuscaloosa over the years, remember very well the way things transpired. They also won’t forget the contributions Cody and Weatherford made to the history of the series.
