The cautionary tales had been authored before previously undefeated and fourth-ranked Tennessee kicked off Saturday night at Arkansas.
Earlier in the afternoon, top-ranked Alabama had become Vanderbilt's Roger Maris game; in the Commodores' 61st contest against an AP Poll top-five foe, they felled the Tide, 40-35. Ninth-ranked Missouri had been gashed by No. 25 Texas A&M, 41-10.
A week ago, then-No. 5 Ole Miss had been toppled at home by unranked Kentucky.
Before Tennessee sophomore quarterback Nico Iamaleava had scampered out of bounds without so much as throwing the football with the game on the line in its last snap, Michigan and USC also had lost on the road to unranked conference foes.
Add the Vols to the list. Arkansas 19, Tennessee 14. The Hogs scored the game's first three points and its final 16; the Vols were severely disjointed and eventually banged up on offense the remainder of the game.
It all left Hogs coach Sam Pittman to wonder aloud on the field in the delirious aftermath if his boss might be upset at the raucous scene splayed around Pittman on the field, where fans quickly mobbed Arkansas' players and coaches and celebrated all across the turf.
"Well, two now," Pittman said of being the head coach joyously responsible for fans rushing the field, the last one in 2021 after the Hogs beat rival Texas. "I think the A.D. (Hunter Yurachek) is going to be mad .. or maybe he won't be.
"I don't know, and right now I don't care."
SOMETHIN ABOUT A PRIMETIME STRIPEOUT GAME FOR THE HOGS pic.twitter.com/BOjx0RRVhP
— Arkansas Razorback Football (@RazorbackFB) October 6, 2024
Arkansas faces a likely fine from the SEC, and Pittman is correct; Yurachek likely doesn't care. The Hogs had losses away from home against then-No. 16 Oklahoma State and now-ranked Texas A&M by a combined 12 points when they entered this contest.
They had lost nine games by single digits since the start of the 2022 season before they rallied to win this one.
And they did so without their starting quarterback, Taylen Green, who was injured late in the second half when a Tennessee defender hammered Green below the knees and was subsequently flagged for roughing the passer on the play.
Redshirt-freshman Malachi Singleton did just enough, along with the Hogs' defense, to help pull out the stunning upset in which Tennessee had entered the contest as more than a two-touchdown favorite per professional oddsmakers.
"What a great couple of drives there at the end, the defense ended up keeping us in it and then at the end won the game for us," said Pittman, a former Tennessee offensive line coach. "I'm so proud for the kids, the coaches, these folks, and I'm glad you could come here and see us win one.
"Wasn't that awesome? ... He made a good throw or two, did a great job with his legs and it's a big, big win for the University of Arkansas.
"(Defensive coordinator Travis Williams) T-Will and the guys had 'em ready to play. They played hard the entire night. We didn't turn the football over; nor did they. But I said, if we are the same in turnovers in anybody in the country, we can play with them. Tonight, we proved it."
Under Josh Heupel, Tennessee now has had baffling, head-scratching setbacks on the road -- sometimes multiples -- in each of Heupel's three-plus seasons.
A year ago the Vols fell on the road by double digits to a Florida team that finished with a losing record and at Missouri in the worst loss of Heupel's head coaching career -- at UCF and now Tennessee.
In 2022, with a likely College Football Playoff berth on the line, Tennessee was hammered in a blowout-loss at South Carolina.
In 2021, Tennessee lost by 24 points in the season's opening month at Florida, a program ranked at the time but that would fire head coach Dan Mullen before season's end.