The former #8 Tennesee Volunteers have just done the improbable. On Saturday, October 15th, the Volunteers beat the Coach Nick Saban-led Alabama Crimson Tide in a close game of 52-49. Tennessee was able to secure the win by a last-second 40-yard field goal from kicker Chase McGrath. The victory ended a 15-year-long losing streak to Alabama that dated back to Tennesee’s first win in 2006.

The Volunteers were able to move up to #3 in the College Football Rankings as Alabama bumped down to #6 with their first loss of the season. Head Coach John Heupel has led his team to a perfect 7-0 season so far and the future is looking bright, as the roster contains stars like wide receiver Jaylin Wyatt, who put up five touchdowns and 203 yards (a new school record) in the win. 

Upsetting one of the best teams in the nation wasn’t overall the best part of the night, for Tennesse fans and students had other ideas in mind. Once Tennessee secured the win, thousands of fans stormed the field in celebration of the historical win. Orange scattered the 100 yards worth of turf, especially around the goal post which went on a little journey. Students began tugging at the post in attempts to bring it down, climbing on it, and jumping on others’ shoulders, all in hopes of keeping alive the school’s tradition. 

They were successful in the end as fans from the upper sections of the stadium looked down on the massive goalpost working its way up the stands. The students were miraculously able to get it out of the stadium, to which they took it on a trip from Neyland Stadium all the way down to the Tennesee River where they threw in the near $10,000 goalpost.

The goalpost had stood tall since 1998 when the team went undefeated and won the national championship against Florida. It was both then and now, nearly 25 years apart, that Tennessee students shared a very common goal: win, and take that goalpost down.

University of Tennesee fans have already raised $90,000 for the school to buy a new goal post although the school has already placed an order for a new pair. The night may have looked like it was full of highs, however, thirteen fans were arrested and the University was fined $100,000 for fans storming the field by the NCAA.