University of Tennessee Knoxville - Volunteer Yearbook (Knoxville, TN)

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The VOLUNTEER sincerely thanks Mr. Phillip Fulmer, a sophomore guard for the Vols, for his contribution to this story. 15

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Kentucky was going to be no push-over as they had beaten Mississippi earlier in the year. During the entire week of practice we really worked hard. The coaches did not bear down on us any harder, it was just that we were out to prove to everyone how much pride we did have. We all knew we were still a great team. On the last day of practice that week Coach Dickey told us that if anybody wasnit proud to be a Tennessee Volunteer then not to show up at the airport when we left for Kentucky. Everyone went to Kentucky, and we won 3126. Kentucky went after us this game, the way every team has gone after us this year. Our defensive secondary reacted very slow, especially in the latter part of the game as Kentucky gained over 400 yards passing. But we shut off their running game completely. This was a disappointing game for us in that we really didnt get back in the kind of groove we were hoping for. We wanted to humiliate Kentucky, but as it turned out we were lucky to be alive. Kiner, Reynolds, and Gary Kreis, all played outstanding games. Kreis caught 11 passes as a matter of fact. J ack Reynolds, 1 would say, was the most consistent player on the team. Week in, week out he turned in good, solid games for us. Reynolds was robbed when he wasnlt named to the All-SEC Team. For our final game of the year we played Vanderbilt, and we knew we were in for a difficult game. Although Vandy wasnit a powerful team, they were beginning to mold into a real fine squad. Besides the fact we were playing at home, we had one small thing going for us. With a victory over Vanderbilt we could win the SEC title. We beat Vanderbilt with a final score of 40-27. The game wasnit as close as the score might have indicated as they scored their last two touchdowns off our second-string defense. All of our players were really psyched up for this game. Watson, Bobby Majors, and Young played particularly well. 1969 was a very good year for us. Considering some people thought we would finish no higher than sixth place in the SEC, I would say we did rather well. That is, if you consider winning the SEC with a 9-1 record and going to the Gator Bowl good. I wouldnit want to pick out a player-of-the-year for our team because in every game a different player stood out. This year was simply a team effort. Anything good that happened was a result of team-work. I guess our most outstanding characteristic was our desire. We worked hard and we learned to execute. This was a good year and I suppose Pm glad it is over. But, just between you and me-I canit wait until next year.! 14l

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