Tennessee football opened up SEC play by suffocating Oklahoma and winning 25-15 over the Sooners in Josh Heupel’s long awaited return to Norman.
The Vols were far from their best offensively but did enough good things to back up another dominant performance from Tim Banks’ defense.
Here’s four quick takeaways on Tennessee’s road win.
Tennessee’s Defense Forces Crucial First Half Turnovers
Tennessee’s defense hadn’t given up a touchdown all season when an Oklahoma strip sack gave the Sooners the ball first-and-goal at the Vols’ six-yard line early in the second quarter. They wouldn’t give up a touchdown there either.
Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold kept the ball on a quarterback keeper on first down and Josh Josephs made a huge play, punching the ball out and Tennessee recovered. The Vols ability to force turnovers, particularly in the first half, was game changing on a night their offense struggled.
On the Sooners’ first drive of the night, Tennessee turned Oklahoma over on downs at mid field when Jermod McCoy broke up a fourth down pass. Two drives later, McCoy made another play when Arnold didn’t see him in coverage and threw an interception which gave Tennessee good field position at the 50-yard line and set up a field goal drive.
Perhaps Arnold’s biggest mistake of a brutal first half came when he threw a backwards pass under pressure and Tennessee recovered the fumble. That set up an eight-play, 46-yard touchdown drive that gave the Vols’ a 16-point halftime lead.
In addition to the two fumbles, interception and turnover on downs, Tennessee recorded a safety against Oklahoma midway through the second quarter. Tennessee’s offense was largely bad in the first half, but its defense’s ability to force turnovers set them up in prime position.
Pass Protection Issues Slow Down Tennessee’s Offense
Pass protection isn’t the strength of Tennessee’s offensive line when its healthy, though it’s not a big weakness. It became a much bigger concern on Thursday night when Tennessee officially ruled out starting left tackle Lance Heard with an ankle injury.
The Vols were already having some issues in pass protection early in the game and then things got worse when starting right tackle John Campbell Jr. went down with an injury. By midway through the second quarter, Tennessee was already playing two backup offensive tackles: Dayne Davis and Larry Johnson.
Facing a strong Oklahoma pass rush, that group struggled. Iamaleava was sacked three times and he fumbled on two of them. Those fumbles didn’t prove massive as Tennessee immediately forced them back but it did slow down the Vols’ offensive momentum.
With Oklahoma struggling to score and its offensive line struggling to block, Tennessee played things very conservatively on offense as they tried to limit mistakes and play field position.
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Tennessee Creates Offensive Chunk Plays
Both teams struggled to move the ball consistently throughout the game. One of the big differences was the turnovers and the other was chunk plays.
Oklahoma only had one play over 20 yards all game. But while Tennessee’s offense wasn’t consistent, it found a way to create a handful of chunk plays.
There was the 38-yard slant from Iamaleava to Bru McCoy that set up Tennessee’s first field goal of the game. Iamaleava connected over the middle again two drives later, delivering a strike to Dont’e Thornton for a 66-yard touchdown.
Then in the middle of the third quarter, Iamaleava connected with McCoy again. This time it was down the sideline in what was a phenomenal catch from the super senior receiver. Tennessee struggled to sustain drives for much of the night but its ability to create chunk plays gave them enough offensive success to cruise to the road win.
A Moment To Give Tennessee’s Defense Its Flowers
Tennessee’s defense’s long streak of not allowing a touchdown reached 19 quarters before Oklahoma finally scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter. But despite the score, it was an elite night from the Vols’ defense.
Oklahoma totaled just 222 yards on the night and 124 of them came in the fourth quarter when Tennessee began playing a bit softer defensively.
The Vols defense recorded three sacks and held Oklahoma to just 36 rushing yards. While the sacks were a big part of that, Oklahoma’s running backs rushed for just 21 yards on 13 carries.
Tennessee’s defense completely overwhelmed Oklahoma’s offense and gave its sputtering offense enough chances and strong field position to score 25 points in the win.
