History of Tennessee Football in Nashville

With the Tennessee Volunteers kicking off this season against the Virginia Cavaliers in Nashville, here is a look at the history of Vols football in the music city.

The Tennessee Volunteers kick off their 2023 football season in Nashville for a neutral-site contest against the Virginia Cavaliers. Kickoff is scheduled for noon E.T. in Nissan Stadium. 

This is certainly not the first time the Vols will play a neutral site game in the music city. Over the past several years, there have been many instances where the Volunteers have come to Nashville for a game. Here is a look back at those matchups. There are four other times when Tennessee has played neutrally in Nashville, one of which was a season-opening game. 

Since 2010, the Vols have played in three Music City Bowls in Nashville. In those games, they are 1-2. Their one win in the bowl game came in 2016 against Nebraska. The final score was 38-24, and quarterback Josh Dobbs had 409 combined passing and rushing yards. The other two games were losses against North Carolina in 2010 and a loss against Purdue in 2021. Both losses came in overtime periods. The loss against Purdue was the final game in head coach Josh Heupel's first entire season with the Vols.

Former Tennessee WR Jalen Hurd

The Vols also played a season-opening game in Nashville against Bowling Green in 2015. It was a crushing win for the Vols 59-30. Former Volunteer running back Alvin Kamara had an incredible game with 144 yards and two rushing touchdowns. Gadget player Jalen Hurd also put up an incredible performance with 123 yards and three rushing touchdowns in a field day for the Tennessee offense. This upcoming game in Nashville will be the fifth the Vols have played in Tennessee's capital since 2010. They have a mixed showing in that time in music city, and this upcoming game will tip the scale between a winning and losing record. 

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