The 1953 Tennessee Volunteers (variously Tennessee, UT, or the Vols) represented the University of Tennessee in the 1953 college football season. Playing as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the team was led by head coach Harvey Robinson, in his first year, and played their home games at Shields–Watkins Field in Knoxville, Tennessee. They finished the season with a record of six wins, four losses and one tie (6–4–1 overall, 3–2–1 in the SEC).

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 26	Mississippi State	No. 17	Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN	L 0–26	25,000	[1]
October 3	No. 12 Duke*		Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN	L 7–21	30,000	[2]
October 10	Chattanooga*		Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN	W 40–7	15,000	[3]
October 17	at Alabama		Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Third Saturday in October)	T 0–0	40,000	[4]
October 22	Louisville*		Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN	W 59–6	15,000	[5]
October 31	at North Carolina*		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	W 20–6	27,000	[6]
November 7	LSU		Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN	W 32–14	23,000	[7]
November 14	at Florida	No. 18	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	W 9–7	29,000	[8]
November 21	at No. 13 Kentucky		McLean Stadium Lexington, KY (rivalry)	L 21–27	37,000	[9]
November 28	Vanderbilt		Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	W 33–6	21,000	[10]
December 5	at Houston*		Rice Stadium Houston, TX	L 19–33	23,000	[11]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Team players drafted into the NFL

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