1953 Tennessee Volunteers football team

American college football season

1953 Tennessee Volunteers football

Conference| Southeastern Conference
Record| 6–4–1 (3–2–1 SEC)
Head coach|

* Harvey Robinson (1st season)

Home stadium| Shields–Watkins Field

Seasons

<- 1952

1954 ->

1953 Southeastern Conference football standings

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| Conf |  |  | Overall

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Team | W |  | L |  | T |  |  | W |  | L |  | T
No. 13 Alabama $  | 4  | - | 0  | - | 3 |  |  | 6  | - | 3  | - | 3
No. 8 Georgia Tech | 4  | - | 1  | - | 1 |  |  | 9  | - | 2  | - | 1
No. 16 Kentucky | 4  | - | 1  | - | 1 |  |  | 7  | - | 2  | - | 1
Ole Miss | 4  | - | 1  | - | 1 |  |  | 7  | - | 2  | - | 1
No. 17 Auburn | 4  | - | 2  | - | 1 |  |  | 7  | - | 3  | - | 1
Mississippi State | 3  | - | 1  | - | 3 |  |  | 5  | - | 2  | - | 3
Tennessee | 3  | - | 2  | - | 1 |  |  | 6  | - | 4  | - | 1
LSU | 2  | - | 3  | - | 3 |  |  | 5  | - | 3  | - | 3
Florida | 1  | - | 3  | - | 2 |  |  | 3  | - | 5  | - | 2
Vanderbilt | 1  | - | 5  | - | 0 |  |  | 3  | - | 7  | - | 0
Georgia | 1  | - | 5  | - | 0 |  |  | 3  | - | 8  | - | 0
Tulane | 0  | - | 7  | - | 0 |  |  | 1  | - | 8  | - | 1

* $ - Conference champion

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1953 Tennessee Volunteers (variously Tennessee, UT, or the Vols) represented the University of Tennessee in the 1953 college football season. Playing as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the team was led by head coach Harvey Robinson, in his first year, and played their home games at Shields–Watkins Field in Knoxville, Tennessee. They finished the season with a record of six wins, four losses and one tie (6–4–1 overall, 3–2–1 in the SEC).

## Schedule[edit]

Date| Opponent| Rank| Site| Result| Attendance| Source

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September 26| Mississippi State| No. 17|

* Shields–Watkins Field
* Knoxville, TN

| L 0–26| 25,000| [1]
October 3| No. 12 Duke*| |

* Shields–Watkins Field
* Knoxville, TN

| L 7–21| 30,000| [2]
October 10| Chattanooga*| |

* Shields–Watkins Field
* Knoxville, TN

| W 40–7| 15,000| [3]
October 17| at Alabama| |

* Legion Field
* Birmingham, AL (Third Saturday in October)

| T 0–0| 40,000| [4]
October 22| Louisville*| |

* Shields–Watkins Field
* Knoxville, TN

| W 59–6| 15,000| [5]
October 31| at North Carolina*| |

* Kenan Memorial Stadium
* Chapel Hill, NC

| W 20–6| 27,000| [6]
November 7| LSU| |

* Shields–Watkins Field
* Knoxville, TN

| W 32–14| 23,000| [7]
November 14| at Florida| No. 18|

* Florida Field
* Gainesville, FL (rivalry)

| W 9–7| 29,000| [8]
November 21| at No. 13 Kentucky| |

* McLean Stadium
* Lexington, KY (rivalry)

| L 21–27| 37,000| [9]
November 28| Vanderbilt| |

* Shields–Watkins Field
* Knoxville, TN (rivalry)

| W 33–6| 21,000| [10]
December 5| at Houston*| |

* Rice Stadium
* Houston, TX

| L 19–33| 23,000| [11]

* *Non-conference game
* Homecoming
* Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

## Team players drafted into the NFL[edit]

Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL club

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Bill Barbish | Back | 8 | 95 | Cleveland Browns
Bob Fisher | Tackle | 10 | 115 | Pittsburgh Steelers

[12]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Maroons maul Vols". Kingsport Times-News. September 27, 1953. Retrieved March 29, 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
2. ^ "Duke defeats Tennessee, 21–7". The News and Observer. October 4, 1953. Retrieved March 29, 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
3. ^ "Vols' late splurge defeats Moccasins, 40–7". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. October 11, 1953. Retrieved August 21, 2021 - via Newspapers.com.
4. ^ "Tennessee gains 0–0 deadlock with Alabama". The Jacksonville Daily Journal. October 18, 1953. Retrieved March 29, 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
5. ^ "Vols drub Louisville". The Elizabethton Star. October 25, 1953. Retrieved March 29, 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
6. ^ "Vols trip UNC, 20–6". Durham Morning Herald. November 1, 1953. Retrieved March 29, 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
7. ^ "Tennessee stops LSU Tigers, 32 to 14". Johnson City Press. November 8, 1953. Retrieved March 29, 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
8. ^ "Late Tennessee field goal nips Florida, 9–7". The Tampa Tribune. November 15, 1953. Retrieved March 29, 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
9. ^ "Kentucky gains first victory in 18 years over Tennessee". The Owensboro Messenger. November 22, 1953. Retrieved March 29, 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
10. ^ "Vol runners humble Vanderbilt, 33–6". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. November 29, 1953. Retrieved March 29, 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
11. ^ "Houston passes and runs to topple Tennessee 33 to 19". The Wichita Eagle. December 6, 1953. Retrieved March 29, 2022 - via Newspapers.com.
12. ^ "1954 NFL Draft". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 10, 2012.

* v
* t
* e

Tennessee Volunteers football

Venues|

* Baseball Park (1892–1893)
* Fountain City Park (1894)
* Baldwin Park (1895–1900, 1902–1905)
* Chilhowee Park (1901, 1907)
* Baker-Himel Park (1906)
* Waite Field (1908–1920)
* Neyland Stadium (1921–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Alabama: Third Saturday in October
* Auburn
* Florida
* Georgia
* Georgia Tech
* Kentucky
* South Carolina
* Vanderbilt

Culture & lore|

* History
* Smokey
* "Rocky Top"
* Pride of the Southland Band
* Battle at Bristol
* Porter Cup

People|

* Head coaches
* Starting quarterbacks
* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders

Seasons|

* 1891
* 1892
* 1893
* 1894
* 1895
* 1896
* 1897
* 1898
* 1899
* 1900
* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909
* 1910
* 1911
* 1912
* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942
* 1943
* 1944
* 1945
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

National championship seasons in bold

This college football 1950s season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

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*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[T]: Ties
*[No.]: Number