Tennessee football leaned on its defense and suffocated a floundering Oklahoma offense to earn a 25-15 win to open up SEC play on Saturday night. The Vols led 22-3 early in the fourth quarter before holding on to win after a late push by Oklahoma.
Here’s five critical moments from Tennessee’s win over Oklahoma.
Iamaleava To McCoy Gives Offense Life
Tennessee had good field position on each of its first two drives of the night. The Vols promptly went three-and-out on both drives and punted it back to the Sooners.
That’s how the early game flow was going when Jermod McCoy gave Tennessee good field position again on its third drive after intercepting a Jackson Arnold pass.
Tennessee desperately needed to capitalize on the strong field position and they did so this time thanks to one big play. Nico Iamaleava found Bru McCoy over the middle on a slant route and the super senior receiver took it xx yards.
The big play gave Tennessee first-and-goal and while the Vols’ offense couldn’t punch it in the end zone, they opened the scoring with a field goal.
The Long Touchdown That Started The Separation
Oklahoma put together its best drive of the game’s first three quarters following the Vols’ field goal drive, tying the game with a field goal of its own.
Tennessee had just one first down as the first quarter wound down and the faced second-and-one. That’s when the Vols made one of the biggest plays of the game. Iamaleava connected with Dont’e Thornton on a post and Thornton took it 66 yards for a touchdown.
On a night where Tennessee struggled to sustain drives, the long touchdown was massive. It gave the Vols a lead it wouldn’t relinquish as they scored 12 more points before Oklahoma scored again.
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Tennessee’s Defense Picks The Offense Up
I wrote and said multiple times this week that it felt like Oklahoma needed a defensive touchdown or a short field if they were going to win the game.
And midway through the second quarter it looked like they had it. Nico Iamaleava was stripped from behind on third down deep in the Vols’ own territory. Oklahoma took over first-and-goal at the six-yard line with a chance to tie the game up with a touchdown.
To quote Lee Corso, “not so fast my friend.”
Josh Josephs had other ideas, stripping Arnold on a first down designed run. Tennessee recovered and immediately pushed back what looked like a huge momentum swing for Oklahoma.
Eight Runs Lead To Six
Later in the second quarter, Oklahoma strip sacked Nico Iamaleava on third down again. This time the Sooners took over at Tennessee’s 33-yard line with a chance to cut into Tennessee’s nine-point lead. Instead, Oklahoma immediately turned it over again when Jackson Arnold threw a backwards pass and Tennessee jumped on the ball.
On a night where Tennessee’s run game was shaky, the Vols leaned on it on the ensuing drive. A drive that proved to be their best of the night.
Tennessee ran Dylan Sampson on eight straight plays as he picked up 46 yards. The Vols converted on a pair of third downs and a 16-yard run set up a one-yard touchdown.
The dominant drive on the ground gave Tennessee a very comfortable 19-3 lead at halftime.
The Two-Point Stop To Close It Out
The second half was largely a slow burn as Tennessee played conservatively and trusted its defense to get them to the finish line.
But third and fourth down penalties late in the game kept Tennessee from completely putting the game away. Oklahoma scored a touchdown with 1:01 left and needed to convert the two-point conversion to make it a one-score game.
Tennessee found the game clinching stop when Arion Carter downed a scrambling Michael Hawkins. The Vols recovered the ensuing onside kick and picked up a first down allowing them to go into the victory formation.
