Tennessee football dominated NC State 51-10 in the Duke’s Mayo Classic on Saturday night in Charlotte. The Vols may have ended up dominating the scoreboard and stat sheet but the matchup wasn’t always a blowout.
Here’s five critical moments from Tennessee’s win over NC State.
Third-and-14 Conversion
The first quarter was largely a slow burn after both team’s opening drives stalled out near midfield. Tennessee opened the scoring on its second drive but it looked like they were going to have to settle for three points.
The Vols faced third-and-14 at the NC State 28-yard line after a bad read by Dylan Sampson on a second down run. He made up for it a play later, taking a shovel pass 17 yards for a first down.
Two plays later, Sampson broke a tackle and strolled into the end zone for an nine-yard touchdown. Tennessee took its first lead late in the first quarter. They never relinquished it.
Nico Iamaleava’s Freshman Mistake
Tennessee looked poised to open up the lead just a drive later when it quickly moved crossed midfield as it was controlling the game on the ground.
That’s when Iamaleava made his worst mistake of the night, forcing the ball over the middle. Bishop Fitzgerald intercepted Iamaleava and returned it 29 yards into Tennessee territory.
NC State added a field goal with its strong field position and was able to cut into Tennessee’s lead on a drive that looked like the Vols might extend its lead to double digits. Instead, NC State forced a mistake and found some rare momentum.
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Will Brooks Opens The Game Up
Tennessee answered the NC State field goal drive with a field goal drive of its own. That’s when the Wolfpack put together its best drive of the game, moving deep into Tennessee territory with a 28 yard pass and back-to-back runs that totaled 27 yards.
Another four-yard run moved NC State to the 16-yard line. That’s when Tennessee’s defensive made the play of the game. Josh Josephs pressured Grayson McCall, forcing a high throw that sailed into Will Brooks’ arm.
Brooks eluded McCall and Keenan Pili pile drove a Wolfpack player into the ground as the walk-on safety took it 85 yards for a game changing touchdown. NC State was knocking on the door of potentially tying the game. Instead, Tennessee pushed its lead to two touchdowns.
Double Dip
Josh Heupel loves to defer to the second half. It’s easy to see why because his teams have become elite at double dipping around halftime. They did the same against the Wolfpack.
Tennessee’s offense got the ball at midfield after the two-minute timeout. While a holding penalty kept Tennessee from threatening to find the end zone, they still moved into field goal range and Max Gilbert knocked in a 45-yard field goal.
Then Tennessee came out to start the second half and went 75 yards on 10 plays for a go-ahead touchdown. The Vols converted a third-and-three in the opening sequence of the drive and a fourth-and-two late in the drive. Tennessee punched it in the end zone with a beautifully designed play action pass that got Miles Kitselman all alone in the end zone.
The Vols turned their lead from 17-3 to 27-3 by double dipping around halftime. While Brooks pick six opened up the lead, this sequence all but put the game away
Tennessee Responds To Pick Six
Tennessee was in little danger of losing when Aydan White intercepted Nico Iamaleava’s pass and returned it 86 yards for a touchdown. The pick six just cut Tennessee’s lead to 37-10 late in the third quarter.
But Tennessee answered to the mistake the right way, going 60 yards for a touchdown on just five plays including a 34-yard touchdown run.
It was an impressive response to a moment of adversity.
