Tennessee will open its 2024 campaign against Chattanooga at Neyland Stadium on Aug. 31.
In anticipation of the season opener, VolReport is highlighting a former Vols player whose jersey number matches the amount of days until kickoff.
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With 33 days to go, Johnnie Jones, who finished his Tennessee career between 1981-84 as the program’s first-ever 1,000 yard rusher, is selected.
Jones’ football career began at Munford High School in Munford, Tennessee where he rushed for 4,547 yards and 47 touchdowns over four seasons as an All-State running back.
Jones signed with the Vols in 1981 as part of a recruiting class that included quarterback and future Major League Baseball coach Alan Cockrell and linebacker Reggie McKenzie.
As a freshman, Jones’ contributions were limited. He totaled just 25 yards and four carries in a backup role, but moved up the depth chart as a sophomore in 1982.
Earning the starting spot in the running backs rotation that year, Jones rushed for more than 420 yards and four touchdowns.
Jones battled injuries in the first half of his junior campaign in 1983, but made a significant impact in his return. He scored on a 66-yard run in the final minutes that proved to be the difference in a 41-34 victory over No. 11 Alabama at Legion Field in Birmingham.
A few weeks later, Jones broke the Tennessee single-game rushing record set by Stanley Morgan nine years before with 234 yards in the Vols’ 7-0 win against Rutgers. He broke that record in the regular season finale vs. Vanderbilt with a 248-yard rushing performance.
By the end of the season, Jones had accounted for a program-record 1,116 yards and five touchdowns on 91 carries.
In his final season in 1984, Jones rushed for more than 115 yards in each of Tennessee’s first three games, including 203 yards against Washington State in the season opener.
In another close game in the waning minutes against Alabama, Jones—helped by the field position that resulted in a long punt return from teammate Andre Creamer—scored a 1-yard touchdown to pull the Vols within one.
Tennessee opted to go for the lead, scoring the go-ahead points on a quarterback Tony Robinson run for the two-point conversion to cap a 28-27 win.
Jones upped his total yardage to 1,290 yards with 10 touchdowns on 229 carries, a mark that led the SEC and ranked fifth nationally.
Following a brief stint in the NFL, Jones signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League where he spent two seasons before injuries led to his retirement from football.
Jones is a member of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2018, a street near the little league football fields was renamed in his honor in his hometown of Munford.
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