The 1939 Tennessee Volunteers represented the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

in the 1939 college football season. Playing as a member of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC), the team was led by head coach

Robert Neyland Robert Reese Neyland (; February 17, 1892 – March 28, 1962) was an American football player and coach and officer in the United States Army, reaching the rank of brigadier general. He served three stints as the head football coach at the Univ ...

, in his 13th year, and played their home games at

Shields–Watkins Field Neyland Stadium ( ), is a sports stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. It serves primarily as the home of the Tennessee Volunteers football team, but is also used to host large conventions and has been a site for several National Footb ...

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

. They finished the season with a record of ten wins and one loss (10–1 overall, 6–0 in the SEC), as SEC Champions and with a loss against USC in the 1940 Rose Bowl. Tennessee entered the season as defending

national champions National champions are corporations which are technically private businesses but due to governmental policy are ceded a dominant position in a national economy. In this system, these large organizations are expected not only to seek profit but als ...

and coach Neyland led the team to their second of three consecutive undefeated regular seasons. The 1939 Vols were also the last team in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

history to go undefeated, untied, and unscored upon in the regular season. Tennessee had two All-American performers that year:

George Cafego George Cafego (August 29, 1915 – February 9, 1998) was an American football player and coach of football and baseball. He played college football at the University of Tennessee, earning varsity letters 1937 - 1939, and professionally in the N ...

, a

single-wing In American and Canadian football, a single-wing formation was a precursor to the modern spread or shotgun formation. The term usually connotes formations in which the snap is tossed rather than handed—formations with one wingback and a ha ...

halfback, and

Ed Molinski Ed Molinski (August 20, 1917 – June 26, 1986) was a Hall of Fame college football player for the University of Tennessee. He later became a doctor after being involved in boxing, World War II, and college coaching. Football career Molinski ...

, a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

Schedule

References

{{Southeastern Conference football champions

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Tennessee Volunteers football seasons Southeastern Conference football champion seasons

Tennessee Volunteers football The Tennessee Volunteers football program (variously called "Tennessee", "Vols", "UT", or "Big Orange") represents the University of Tennessee (UT). The Vols have played football for 130 seasons, starting in 1891; their combined record of 862� ...