George Cafego came out of the coal mining district of West Virginia to become one of Tennessee’s backfield stars. Hall of Fame Coach Bob Neyland called Cafego a “practice bum. On the practice field he couldn’t do anything right, but for two hours on a Saturday afternoon he did everything an All-American is supposed to do.” After a 6-3-1 sophomore season, Cafego led the Volunteers to two consecutive unbeaten regular seasons. In 1938 the Vols topped their regular season with 17-0 victory over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. The following year, 1939, the Vols did not allow a point to be scored against them in the regular season. Late in the season, Cafego was injured and played only a minute of the Rose Bowl loss to Southern California. Despite missing four games, he became a repeat All-American. Cafego returned to Tennessee as an assistant for thirty years before retiring in 1984. In his three years as a player at Tennessee, Cafego had a spectacular nickname, “Bad News,” and gained 2,139 yards in total offense. He averaged 6.1 yards every time he carried the ball. He ran, passed, did all the punting, and returned kicks. In 1937 he had a 60-yard punt return against Virginia Tech; in 1939 he had a 70-yard punt against Louisiana State.
