Cigar Aficionado

It was a beautiful day for football—and cigars—at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee this past Saturday. Once again, the stakes were high for the Third Saturday in October rivalry between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Alabama Crimson Tide. Neither No. 7 Alabama or No. 11 Tennessee could afford to get their second loss of the season, and potentially a ticket out of the newly expanded, twelve-team College Football Playoff. After a back-and-forth SEC slugfest, the home team was victorious once again, with Tennessee winning 24-17 in a nailbiter, kicking off a raucous, cigar-filled celebration in the Great Smoky Mountains.

The game started quite slow for both teams, but was particularly ugly for the Volunteers, who found themselves trailing 7-0 at halftime. But Tennessee caught fire in the second half, scoring all of their 24 points in the final two quarters. The Tide had a chance to tie things up at the end of the game, before Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe was intercepted for the second time, sealing the deal for Tennessee. The crowd immediately went into a frenzy, and with nearly 50 seconds still in the game, fans instantly began lighting up cigars in the stands as the Volunteers took a knee to run out the clock.

The final play was a fitting end to what was generally a sloppy game, filled with turnovers and penalties on both sides. Some of the cigar smoking followed a similar pattern, with a number of fans and players struggling to get their cigars properly lit. One fan offered a humorous scene for national television, lighting up the “Cigar Game” smoke from OZ Family Cigars with the full-length outer wrapper still attached. The cigar was released this year by Ozgener as a limited-edition, Tennessee retailer-exclusive. The cigars were created for Volunteer fans and the team, as Ozgener supplied the Tennessee locker room with the cigars for the post-game tradition. Clips posted on social media showed players lighting up properly after the victory was secured. 

Overall, the celebration was rowdy once again, with fans storming the field and taking the goalposts with them amongst a sea of orange and cigar smoke. As is usually the case, many fans came armed with their own cigars, patiently waiting at the ready to light up once their team had victory securely in their hands.

For those not familiar with the tradition, the Third Saturday in October is not only one of college football’s most spirited rivalries, it’s also capped off each year with victory cigars, both from the winning team and the fans. The rivalry dates back to 1901, and there’s not a lot of love lost between the two colleges, which are only about 300 miles apart from one another. Since 1961, tradition calls for victory cigars for the winner. In recent years, the rivalry and the victory tradition has grown in acclaim, thanks in part to Tennessee’s re-emergence as an SEC powerhouse, which was cemented two years ago in their massive upset victory over Alabama. 

The two programs had a virtually identical start to the season leading up to the rivalry matchup, as each team went 5-1 in their first six games. For Alabama, the remainder of the season is do-or-die mode, as one more loss will likely end their chances of making the College Football Playoff. The loss Saturday is the first time since 2007 that the Tide have lost twice before the end of October, something only seen once when Nick Saban was head coach. 

Tennessee has more control of their fate after Saturday, but making the playoff is certainly no guarantee. The Volunteers still have a pair of ranked matchups remaining, including a date with the currently ranked No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs on November 16. 

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