Wearing orange-and-white checkerboard overalls with no shirt, Charles Lothamer stood nearby Hodges Library on the University of Tennessee campus with a plastic Home Depot helmet in his hand.
The Tennessee freshman had been awake since 7 a.m. on Friday and it was now 10 a.m. on Saturday. But no amount of sleep deprivation could prevent Lothamer from missing out on all the excitement surrounding his first big football game as a college student.
The Vols were hosting No. 1 Texas with President Donald Trump in attendance, and Lothamer had no doubt he would be ready for the noon kickoff.
“No energy drinks or anything,” he said. “The adrenaline will kick in as soon as the game starts.”
Tennessee and Texas had all the trappings of an idyllic fall college football Saturday. The pageantry was befitting of a showdown between two decorated programs that were meeting for the first time in the regular season and first time in Neyland Stadium.
The color orange was in abundance as far as the eye could see, with the bright shade of Tennessee (Pantone 151C) largely outnumbering the burnt version of Texas (Pantone 159C).
Among the storylines was the return of a quarterback named Manning playing in Neyland. Texas quarterback Arch Manning is the nephew of legendary Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning, who was one of many celebrities and dignitaries in attendance.
However, it was defense that stole the show in front of a sellout crowd of 101,915. Tennessee suffered a 20-17 loss to the Longhorns after a late comeback attempt fell short. The Vols were troubled all game by the fierce Texas pass rush, with Longhorn junior edge Colin Simmons recording a program single-game record five of Texas’ 10 sacks.
“Our fans were phenomenal today,” UT head coach Josh Heupel said. “We walked in the stadium at 9:30 and it’s 40% full. Unbelievable environment. They’re the best and (we) thank them, and sorry that we didn’t have better execution to come away with the win.”
Grand presidential entrance
Trump’s attendance at the game necessitated an increased security presence around the Tennessee campus, including the United States Secret Service.
Given Tennessee’s issues with bottlenecks at prior home games, many worried about the logistic quagmire that would result with Trump’s arrival. Officials did trial runs on Friday with a practice motorcade run featuring dozens of police motorcycles.
Tennessee instituted measures to help alleviate the inconveniences. Fans were allowed to enter the stadium at 9 a.m. ET, and concessions, including alcoholic beverages, were half-priced for the first hour. The strategies worked, with the stands nearly full an hour before kickoff and the crowd juiced for the game.
Carrying the President and several Tennessee political leaders, Air Force One did an unexpected low flyover that wowed the Neyland crowd on the way to nearby McGhee Tyson Airport. Trump arrived at the stadium just before kickoff and departed near the end of the third quarter.
Gary Braden’s family has owned Tennessee football season tickets for 71 years. Braden played for the Vols from 1973-76 as a defensive back. He has witnessed a lot of big games at Neyland, including rivalry showdowns with Alabama, Florida, and Georgia over the years
“They’re all at this level. Now, adding the President and some of that stuff is pretty cool. And then the fact that there’s a Manning on both sides makes it cool,” Braden said. “But the intrigue is always UT and UT, the history of the two states and that we’ve really never played each other except in a bowl game.”
New Rocky Top memory
Lothamer and his friends attended the Tennessee and Texas women’s volleyball match the night before the football game, which Texas won in five sets in a reverse sweep. They walked over to the Ayres Hall lawn after and saw students were camping out for GameDay, even though they had been told it was prohibited. The group went back to the dorms to get some gear to stay the night.
The Tennessee students overran the barriers to get into the GameDay “pit” early in the morning, but were escorted back out by police. They were let in again at 6 a.m., and Lothamer had a prime viewing spot for the first few hours of the show before the Knoxville native needed a break to get ready for the main event.
Although the Vols didn’t get the win, Lothamer had a memory that will last a lifetime.
“I’ve been to a bunch of Neyland games, and this is definitely the craziest one that it’s been,” he said. “It’s a great atmosphere. Rocky Top in Tennessee is the best college atmosphere that there is in this country.”