It took a moment for Cooper Mays to find the words.

Moments after his five-year Tennessee career ended in a 42-17 loss to Ohio State in the Vols' College Football Playoff debut, the center sat at a table in a room tucked beneath the stands at Ohio Stadium.

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The first question asked to him was an appropriate one, about what the last five years have been like. But answering it took some time.

A lot had happened in the time between Mays, a local product from Knoxville Catholic High School and the son of a former Tennessee offensive lineman, signing with the school his father played at and the historic playoff run that had just ended in defeat.

"I don't really know how to put it into words, how to articulate what this journey and all these people that I've encountered in my time at Tennessee," Mays said. "I don't know if I've got the words to explain it."

Mays arrived just before one of the most forgettable seasons in program history. But if anyone associated with Tennessee wanted to blot that three-win campaign in 2020 from memory, the NCAA wasn't going to let them.

Then-head coach Jeremy Pruitt was fired after that season, moreso for the recruiting violations than the on-field results. Potential penalties like bowl bans and scholarship reductions hung over Knoxville like a violent storm cloud, one that would linger when Josh Heupel took over the program in January 2021.

A mass exodus through the transfer portal was well underway by the time Heupel stepped foot on campus. One after one, the Vols' roster dwindled as player sought careers elsewhere, some even to Tennessee's most bitter rivals.

Some stayed. Mays was one of them. So was Omari Thomas and Will Brooks. And though the sting of a career-ending loss in a game that was never particularly close against Ohio State lingered still in that press conference room, so did retrospect.

The Vols were on the doorstep of the playoff in Year 2 under Heupel. In Year 4, they arrived. There is still more to do. The Buckeyes' star-studded roster showed the gap between getting to that stage and winning on it.

Tennessee's 2024 team, at the very least may have laid the foundation for it.

"There's a lot of guys that played their last game in a Tennessee uniform that we're really proud of," Heupel said. "A lot of those guys have been with us since we started this journey, when I first got hired. Great leaders, great people, great players, and meant a lot to what we've built."

The path for the Vols to their biggest stage in more than 25 years was paved with record-breaking performances, come-from-behind victories and season-defining plays. Here is a look at five of them.

After more than a quarter, NC State had found life. Will Brooks snatched it back.

Tennessee had felt mostly in control in the first half at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Sept. 7, but its one-score lead was in jeopardy when Grayson McCall led the Wolfpack on their most promising drive with less than four minutes left in the second quarter.

Facing second down inside the Vols' 20-yard line, McCall tried to float a pass over Joshua Josephs, but it sailed high and wide, landing into the arms of Brooks, who was already in stride.

Only McCall stood in the way of the end zone, so Brooks side-stepped him and wasn't touched again, racing 85 yards for a touchdown that put Tennessee ahead by two scores and NC State never threatened again in the Vols' 51-10 triumph.

It was among the first signs of just how important Tennessee's defense would be in big moments in 2024 and the first of two game-changing interceptions for Brooks, the former walk-on in his final season with the program.

It was beginning to slip from Tennessee's grasp.

Slow offensive starts had plagued the Vols early in SEC play. They overcame it at Oklahoma, but missed opportunities ultimately cost them on the road at Arkansas two weeks later.

After Graham Mertz flipped a 13-yard touchdown pass to Arlis Boardingham to stretch Florida's lead to 10-0 in the third quarter at Neyland Stadium on Oct. 12, it looked like a two-score deficit was too much overcome for Tennessee's struggling offense.

In one of the most critical drives of the season, the Vols answered, scoring on a 6-yard touchdown run from Dylan Sampson to get on the board for the first time.

The Vols' defense had answered time and again, stuffing the Gators on fourth-and-1 deep in plus territory and James Pearce Jr. stripping the ball from Mertz at the goal line in the first half.

They had two more stops left in them. The first was when Arion Carter intercepted DJ Lagway, setting up another Sampson touchdown run a few plays later for the lead. Florida didn't go away, forcing overtime with a touchdown with 29 seconds left in regulation.

But in overtime, the defense came through again, keeping the Gators out of the end zone one more time and giving the ball back to the offense. Sampson scored the walk-off touchdown to win 23-17 and give Tennessee its second-straight win over Florida in Knoxville for the first time since 1990 and 1992.

Chris Brazzell II almost didn’t see it.

Missed opportunities were piling up for Tennessee against Alabama on Oct. 19 at Neyland Stadium and they couldn’t afford another at the 15 trailing by three with inside of six minutes left.

The Vols had a game-tying field goal in their back pocket, but on third-and-5, Nico Iamaleava went for the knockout blow.

His aimed for Brazzell in the end zone, who stretched out but had his face mask tugged on just before the ball arrived. He recovered quickly and hauled in the pass.

Tennessee had the lead—for good.

Alabama had a couple chances over the next five minutes, but a stop from the defense on a desperation fourth down attempt on the Vols’ side of the field and then a Will Brooks interception sealed a 24-17 win—Tennessee’s second in three tries against the Crimson Tide.

Both Iamaleava and Brazzell etched their name in Third Saturday in October lore, with Iamaleava becoming the first Vols freshman quarterback to beat Florida and Alabama in the same season in 20 years.

Dylan Sampson was on the cusp of a program record. Against Kentucky, he had his breakthrough.

Sampson had been chasing a 95-year-old record set by College Football Hall of Fame inductee Gene McEver for more than a month: single-season rushing touchdowns set in 1929 with 18.

It took more than three quarters, but he got there and in the most critical moment in the game.

After Tennessee started to pull away in the third quarter, the Wildcats answered, pulling within three with 13:31 to go.

The Vols put together a lengthy drive, ending with Sampson’s second touchdown of the game: a 6-yard rush with less than five minuets remaining to all but finish off Kentucky, 28-18.

It was his 19th score of the season, the record-breaking touchdown to put his name atop the program record books.

Sampson rushed for 142 yards in the win, one of nine games that he posted 100 or more yards on the season—more than enough to inch Tennessee closer to the playoff.

Tennessee was reeling just minutes in.

The Vols had missed out on the SEC Championship Game, but FirstBank Stadium in Nashville’s West End was now their biggest stage of the season.

After everything fell into place for Tennessee the week before, the Vols entered their annual finale against Vanderbilt needing one more win to punch their playoff ticket.

History was on Tennessee’s side, but the past hardly mattered after Junior Sherrill returned the opening kickoff 100 yards to put the Commodores up right out of the gate.

Sedrick Alexander’s touchdown run put the Vols in a two-touchdown hole minutes later and suddenly Tennessee’s playoff hopes were hanging by a thread.

The turning point came later in the first quarter when Iamaleava, who had grown up over the second half of the season, linked up with Dont’e Thornton Jr. for a 28-yard score.

Vanderbilt scored a field goal, but Tennessee scored the next 29 points to win, 36-23 and clinch a spot in the playoffs.

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