COLLEGE STATION, Tex. – Tennessee pushed Texas A&M to double overtime, had opportunities to win the game and came up just short after Joshua Dobbs’ interception in the second overtime.
That turnover made sense to an extent. Dobbs explained that he misunderstood where Wolf was going on the route, and sailed it over his head into the arms of Texas A&M safety Armani Watts. It was a mistake, but one that regularly happens in football.
Seven total turnovers, however, is not a stat that happens with any regularity.
In fact, it’s believed the be a record for UT, with the media guide saying that six is the highest ever recorded for UT. Tennessee was an equal opportunity turnover machine – fumbling, dropping and misreading its way into the record book the wrong way.
“No. I don’t remember a game (like this) in 30-plus years,” Butch Jones said after the game. “We have to get it corrected. I’m dumbfounded because we spend so much time on ball security. Fumbles are going to occur because of the physicality of the gam – I would say more the inordinate amount. It’s a focus, it’s a concentration, it’s the ability of doing two things at once. We may take 25 minutes a day each week and work on ball security because we have to get it corrected.”
The Vols put the ball on the ground six times – losing five – while Dobbs threw a pair of interceptions. One was the overtime misread, while the other was an inexcusable drop by Jason Croom that fell into the arms of an A&M defender. The Aggies officially scored 21 points off those turnovers, but some – especially Alvin Kamara’s fumble in the first quarter – also likely took points off the board for the Vols.
“The turnovers obviously killed us,” Dobbs said. “That’s something we will have to continue improving moving forward.”
Tennessee fell to 13th in the league in turnover margin on the season (-3), while its next opponent, Alabama is currently third in the league (+5) in that category.
