Editor’s note: This is a daily series revisiting 100 past Tennessee football games ahead of the Vols’ season opener against Syracuse on Aug. 30 in Atlanta. It is not a ranking of games.

Bill Battle found Condredge Holloway on the Tennessee sideline.

Deep in the shadow of the Neyland Stadium press box, which draped over the field in the late afternoon of Dec. 1, 1973, the Vols' head coach needed to know if his quarterback could go.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Holloway spent the third quarter on the bench, his bare right foot propped up on his helmet with a bandage and ice around it, the result of an injury that seemingly put Tennessee's gridiron Houdini out of its regular season finale against rival Vanderbilt.

If the Commodores defense didn't cringe as Holloway trotted back onto the field in the fourth quarter with eight minutes to go and clinging to a three-point lead, they certainly were after Holloway led the Vols' offense down field for a game-tying field goal.

"I didn't know what he could do," Battle later told reporters. "But I knew he could hand it off, and I know the offense gets a lift when he goes on the field."

What Holloway provided was more than a lift. It was jolt, a super charge back to life that brought Tennessee from almost certain defeat to a thrilling 20-17 triumph--the Vols' eighth that season.

The dazzling, reality-defying heroics of Holloway were on full display on that drive after he re-entered the game. On third-and-4 from Tennessee's own 25, Holloway faked a hand-off, rolled out and looked down field.

The short pause was followed by a run. Holloway eluded one defender, made for the sideline and then straightened his course and lunged forward for the first down.

A few plays later, it came. The Holloway special, the hallmark that wowed crowds and frustrated defenses that faced the Vols for three years.

It began as a broken play, a pocket collapsing before the arms of a Vanderbilt defensive lineman wrapped around Holloway's waste, desperately trying to pull him to the turf. No matter. He found a window, albeit a small one and then made his move.

Holloway recovered and darted a pass to Emmon Love for a 34-yard gain.

"Isn't Holloway something?" Battle said after the game, as if still in awe.

The drive resulted in a Rickey Townsend field goal that drew Tennessee even with the clock winding down.

Vanderbilt might have had a hand in its own demise.

The Commodores rallied after the Vols jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first half, with scores coming from a game-opening drive capped by a Haskel Stanback run and an 80-yard punt return from Eddie Brown.

Vanderbilt took advantage of Holloway's absence to get back in it. The Commodores offense scored two touchdowns in less than two minutes early in the fourth quarter, one scoring drive aided by a Stanback fumble.

Vanderbilt was on the cusp of landing the knockout blow following another Tennessee turnover that gave the Commodores the ball at the Vols' 22-yard line. But a defensive stand at the 1 left Steve Sloan with a decision to make.

The Vanderbilt coach opted for the field goal, which put the Commodores ahead but left them with very little room for error. Holloway made them pay for it--twice.

On the ensuing Vanderbilt drive after Townsend tied the game, the Tennessee defense stuffed the Commodores and forced a punt.

Vanderbilt punter Barry Burton gathered in the snap, stepped forward and then hesitated for a second. He kept the ball and took off, calling his own number. He went no where. Art Reynolds and Steve Poole dragged him down for no gain.

Tennessee had the ball back already within Townsend's range at the 24. The Vols centered the ball on a Paul Careathers to set up the the game-winning boot from Townsend.

It was fitting finish for Tennessee, which clinched a Gator Bowl bid against No. 11 Texas Tech later that month. A failed fake punt attempt cost the Vols against Georgia earlier in the year and a fourth down gaffe nearly cost them at Kentucky the week before.

Now, Tennessee was on the other side of it.

"We've had a lot of things go against us," Holloway said. "This time one went for us."

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