Chattanooga Mocs Beat Tennessee Vols in Football - Celebrating Fifty Years Later
May 21st, 2008
“1000 Riot at UT for 1.5 Hours”
That was the headline on the front page of The Knoxville News-Sentinel on Sunday, November 9, 1958, the day after the Chattanooga Mocs beat the Tennessee Vols 14-6 at UT’s Shields-Watkins Field. Immediately following the game, students from The University of Chattanooga celebrated their win by tearing down both goal posts and parading through the streets. The scene according to UC alumni, students at the time, started out as celebratory but turned into a massive riot as Knoxville police began firing tear gas grenades. In the end, some $2,000 of damage was accumulated and ten students were arrested.
The scene from that day remains fervently alive in the hearts of many UC alumni. And on Saturday, November 8, 2008, exactly fifty years to the day, the UTC campus will honor and celebrate that famous UC football event at the home game of the UTC versus Appalachian State football game. It is fitting that the UTC Mocs will play the Mountaineers on this day. Much commotion was made at the start of last season when the Appalachian State Mountaineers beat the Michigan Wolverines at the Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan. For the general public, it led to claims that the game was the biggest upset in college football history. But it was not the first time a small school beat a major powerhouse in their own backyard. For Chattanooga fans, the Appy State game sparked the memory of their big defeat of the Vols in Knoxville, putting “to shame the Tennessee football team’s disasterous season.”
The 1958 Chattanooga Mocs Football Team
The 1958 football team reunion will coincide with the Class of 1958 Reunion and 50-Plus Weekend events that will take place on November 7-8, 2008. To learn more about the celebration, please visit www.utcalumni.com/reunions.php or call the UTC Office of Alumni Affairs at 423/425-4785 or 800/728-4882.
