Phillip Fulmer pulled in Jason Allen with one hand with a cigar clinched in the other.
Moments before, Allen tipped away a Brody Croyle pass in the end zone to secure a 51-43 win over Alabama in five overtimes at Bryant-Denny Stadium — Tennessee’s last in Tuscaloosa.
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In the 100-plus years of the Third Saturday in October rivalry to that point, there hadn’t been a match up quite as exhilarating, thrilling and draining as that Oct. 25, 2003 meeting.
Tennessee entered on a two-game skid, falling at Auburn and getting routed by Georgia at home the previous week, dropping the Vols to No. 22 in the AP Top 25 poll with a 5-2 record and putting its SEC eastern division aspirations in jeopardy.
"I think many of us as coaches look at it as, ‘play the next one,” Fulmer said. “We didn’t have many of those kind of seasons where you had back-to-back losses but we were trying to get back on a good track."
Now, here stood Fulmer in a cramped visitors locker room in the depths of Alabama’s stadium, greeting exhausted but smiling players as they entered the door one by one, including quarterback Casey Clausen.
Clausen went by the nickname “Ice Man,” in part because of his uncanny resemblance to Val Kilmer’s character in the 1986 film “Top Gun,” but it might as well have applied to his ability to win close games.
He put on a masterclass vs. Alabama.
Tennessee trailed 20-13 with 85 yards between it and the game-tying score and the Vols were out of timeouts with less than two minutes on the clock.
It took seven plays to get Tennessee on the doorstep. Set up by a screen pass to Mark Jones, the Vols were at the 1-yard line when the play came in: Right Rambo 6 Power B Flat.
Clausen faked the hand off to Jabari Davis, who went high and into the teeth of the Alabama defense. Clausen rolled out and hit Troy Fleming, completely unaccounted for in the end zone for the touchdown.
“Casey was cool as hell,” Fleming said. “He had that ‘It’ factor and a calm, quiet cockiness and always thought he was going to win. When he lost, he’d be torn up from all of that what ifs, replaying the game over in his head. He’d tell us on Monday about how if we had done this or ‘did you see that play when?’ I loved playing with the ‘Ice Man.’”
There were a host of other heroes—the kind that only the Third Saturday in October could produce.
Fleming's score with 25 seconds left didn't ensure overtime. Alabama's Tyrone Prothro nearly returned the kickoff for a touchdown, slowed down only by kicker James Wilhoit, who tugged on Prothro's facemask in the process.
The 15-yard penalty gave the Crimson Tide a chance to win in regulation with a 45-yard field goal attempt that was partially blocked by Mondre Dickerson, forcing the ball to fall harmlessly to the turf, well short of the goalpost.
Then there was C.J. Fayton.
The sophomore wide receiver only had two receptions before the second overtime but facing fourth-and-19 and a 34-27 deficit, offensive coordinator Randy Sanders called on Fayton in the huddle during a timeout before the play.
“We were over on the sideline and coach Sanders was talking about the play and what we were going to do,” Fayton said. "You just know breaking that huddle that the ball is coming to you in that critical point in the game against our biggest rival. I just remember that feeling lining up at the line at that point and knowing the ball is coming to you, so you better make it happen.”
Fayton admits there was some anxiety as he stepped on the field, but once the ball was snapped, his focus shifted to the play call.
Tennessee lined up with four wideouts, three of which went vertical. Fayton crossed the field and slipped by two defenders, finding enough space more than 20 yards down field. The Vols had new life.
“I remember before the snap, lining up and looking at the defense and just some of the nerves and all that knowing that at this point in the game it’s fourth down, knowing that more than likely this ball is coming to you,” Fayton said. "Before that ball is snapped, just all those thoughts go through your head. What’s going to happen and all the possibilities and making sure I get my read right and get the coverage right and find that open spot. When that ball is snapped, it’s just all football.”
"CJ made a lot of good plays but probably not one better than that one in his career," Fulmer added.
The first down extended the Tennessee drive and extended a game that began nearly four hours before. The Vols scored again on a Clausen pass that was tipped and fell into the hands of James Banks.
Banks, who finished with seven catches for 103 yards, caught his second touchdown on Tennessee's ensuing possession, this one for the lead in the third overtime.
Alabama had a conversion of its own that covered 15 yards on third-and-13, then Shaud Williams scored on a 12-yard run to force a fourth overtime.
“The mindset (in overtime) was ‘damn, somebody’s defense please make a stop,” Fleming quipped.
"Man, we were prepared to fight for 10 overtimes, I felt like,” Davis said. “It was a slugfest and we laid it on the line. We didn’t really get caught up in the overtime. Of course, you want to get the game over...We just made up our mind that we were going to fight and win. I remember looking at guys in the huddle and we were still ready to go."
Tennessee didn't quite need 10 overtimes, but it did go to five after both teams traded field goals in the fourth.
The Vols had the ball first and had third-and-1 inside the 5 when Clausen play-faked and ran to his right. He got around the Alabama defense and dove for the pylon.
One year shy of the introduction of replay in college football, Clausen was ruled out at the 1-yard line but it hardly mattered. He kept the ball on the next play up the middle and scored for the go-ahead touchdown. His pass to Banks on the two-point conversion gave Tennessee a 51-43 lead.
The 'Ice Man' had done it again.
“(Clausen) was just fearless. Just calm in the pocket and never really being razzled by any kind of atmosphere,” Davis said. “He made everybody better and was confident in his players. Nothing was too big for him. Winners win. I don’t give a damn if you put him in five overtimes or you put him in a rain game, he’s going to find a way to get it done.
"It’s just his type of swagger. Sometimes, that moment could be too much with what was on the line. With Casey, it was just another game.”
On fourth-and-2 from the 15, Croyle opted for a pass to the end zone, but it didn't catch Allen off guard. Appropriately, it was the Muscle Shoals, Alabama native that capped off a breakout game with the play that sealed the win.
Tennessee players made their way to the tunnel, sharing in the cheers with Vols’ fans while silenced Crimson Tide fans watched in disbelief.
Inside, cigars were handed out — the spoils of victory for the winner. It was followed by chants of, "We don't give a damn about the whole state of Alabama! We're from Tennessee!”
“It was unbelievable,” Fayton said. “It’s Alabama. We’re at Alabama. Just seeing their crowd silenced when Jason Allen batted down the ball at the end. Just seeing their crowd silenced and running in the locker room and celebrating with your teammates after that long game. The tradition of the cigars and being in that room and singing in that locker room, I can envision it like it happened yesterday.
"That small, old locker room and we’re in there singing with our cigars getting passed out. Just that tradition, which still lives on. That’s one of the things that makes that rivalry special and it makes Tennessee special.”
For the first time in 15 years, a Tennessee locker room was filled with cigar smoke after the Vols snapped a decade and a half long losing streak to Alabama with a 52-49 win at Neyland Stadium a year ago.
The cigars were supplied by Davis, who now sells them to benefit his "Legends of Tennessee" football camps.
"I don’t think nobody lit up social media and put on a show like we did last year when we beat Alabama," Davis said. "It made my business a lot of money with me doing the cigars for the team and having a cigar brand. I was really excited last year and I’ve got a lot of people who ordered cigars this year. I’ve still got a good feeling that we can make something special happen."
Tennessee can end another streak against Alabama on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS), four days short of the 20th anniversary of the win that defined the Vols' 2003 season.
After beating Alabama, Tennessee won every game left on its schedule, including a 10-6 triumph at No. 6 Miami that ended the Hurricanes' 26-game home winning streak.
It wasn't enough to reach the SEC Championship Game, though. The Vols were in a three-way tie in the division with Florida and Georgia and the Bulldogs ended up in Atlanta with the tie-breaker, but Fayton credits finding a way to win at Alabama as the turning point in Tennessee's conference title game run the following year.
"To go on the road at a place like Alabama and come out of that long game with a victory, really was big,” Fayton said. “As you could see throughout the rest of the season, our confidence grew. I really think it played an even bigger part for the guys that stayed that next year. In ‘04, I think that team overachieved because of the confidence that was built through ‘03 and then getting some of those big-game experiences, going to Miami and winning.
"For me as a young receiver, it just grew my confidence and allowed me to go on and do some bigger things because we had been there and done it. It helped us grow confidence-wise.”
As the SEC shifts towards a new era in college football — one where realignment has altered the state of long-standing rivalries, Tennessee and Alabama seems safe for now.
For those who have played in it, they hope it stays that way.
“It’s one of those great rivalries that you go to Tennessee or Alabama to play in,” Fulmer said. “I had a chance to play in it as a college player, had a chance to coach in it as an assistant coach and had a chance as a head coach. It’s special. Each Saturday holds its own dynamics. I think of all the players that had a chance to play in that game for both teams, the coaches that coached for both teams and it happens when fall is changing colors. It’s a beautiful, beautiful opportunity."
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