Bobby Petrella had seen the play before on Tennessee’s practice field.

He was seeing it play out again in the south end zone at Neyland Stadium on Nov. 6, 1965–and the Vols’ defensive back played it to perfection.

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As Georgia Tech quarterback Kim King rolled to the left side of the field from the Vols’ 8-yard line, Petrella knew what was next. He saw the curl route develop, then jumped in front of it.

Tennessee had the ball back, the lead and its streak of not having trailed in six-straight games preserved.

“I saw it coming,” Petrella said. “Just the way it looked in practice all week.”

Petrella’s heroics were one of several by the Vols to beat the No. 7 Yellow Jackets for the second-straight season, 21-7.

Tennessee remained unbeaten more than halfway through the 1965 season, with two ties against Auburn and Alabama.

The win over Georgia Tech was one of a number triumphs amid devastating adversity for the Vols that season.

Beating a top 10 Yellow Jackets team was a signature victory. Tennessee nearly had another two weeks before when it finished in a 7-7 draw agajant the Crimson Tide at Legion Field.

The following Monday, assistant coaches Bill Majors, Bob Jones and Charlie Rash were killed when their car collided with a train in West Knoxville.

The high of nearly topping Alabama for the first time in five years and again taking another step to towards the upper echelon of the SEC under Doug Dickey was met with grief.

Tennessee players, their helmets adorned with a black cross over the orange “T,” responded the following week with an emotional win over Houston. Then came the clash with the rival Yellow Jackets.

The Vols upset Georgia Tech in Atlanta the previous season, the first signature win under Dickey, who was then in his first season as Tennessee’s head coach.

King led a prolific offense into Knoxville, but had few answers for the Vols’ defense. Two first half drives ended in missed field goals and another two were snuffed out by interceptions, including the one by Petrella.

Tennessee surged in the third quarter after Harold Stancell picked off King and went 36 yards the other way for a touchdown.

The Vols’ offensive scored twice in seven minutes, with drives capped by a Charlie Fulton 57-yard touchdown run and a Stan Mitchell punch-in from the goal line.

Fulton was the ultimate headliner, rushing for 133 yards and totaling more than 100 more in receiving.

Tennessee lost to Ole Miss the following week by one, but won its next four to end the season with eight wins, including a thrilling 37-34 win over No. 5 UCLA in Memphis.

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