Pigskin on "turkey day" may now mean the NFL, but it used to be a Tennessee Volunteers football tradition. The Thanksgiving holiday forged some of the fiercest rivalries for the Vols and all of college football.
The very first time Tennessee played Alabama was Thanksgiving Day in 1901. The game was in Birmingham and was delayed when angry Alabama fans stormed the field because they disagreed with an offsides penalty. Police were unable to clear the field and the game ran out of daylight. The ref called the game off because of darkness with the score tied 6-6 and the ball at Alabama's 10-yard line.
The Crimson Tide and the Volunteers played on Thanksgiving Day in Birmingham seven more times before UT found a new team to tackle on the holiday.
From 1913 to 1938, every Thanksgiving Thursday featured a football matchup between Tennessee and Kentucky. The teams were scheduled to play on Thanksgiving in 1939, but that year President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the Thanksgiving holiday a week earlier to extend the Christmas shopping season.
The game on what was supposed to be Thanksgiving in 1939 was the last time Tennessee played a Thursday game for the holiday. Since then, the Vols have played on the weekend after Thanksgiving and always against Kentucky or Vanderbilt. Tennessee has traditionally feasted on the Commodores and Wildcats. Since 1949, the Vols have only lost eight times on Thanksgiving weekend.
This season the Vols are in the cellar, but have plenty to play for Saturday against Vanderbilt. A victory would be meaningful for senior day and maintain some prideful streaks.
A loss to the Commodores would mark the first time since 1964 that Tennessee lost to both Vanderbilt and Kentucky in the same season.
Even more daunting, a loss would be the first time Tennessee has failed to win a single SEC game in a season.
Tennessee fans are pulling for a victory to continue a winning holiday tradition and give the team something to be thankful for during a difficult season.