Tennessee football opened up SEC play with a bang on Saturday night, welcoming Oklahoma to the conference by knocking off the Sooners 25-15 in Norman.
The game was more lopsided than the final score looks with Oklahoma scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to cut into Tennessee’s lead.
Three different Tennessee players earned SEC weekly honors for their performances in the Vols’ victory in Norman. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava is the SEC Freshman of the Week, LEO Josh Josephs is the co-SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week and kicker Max Gilbert is the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week.
Iamaleava is the SEC Freshman of the Week for the third time in just four weeks this season. The redshirt freshman quarterback completed 13-of-21 passes for 194 yards and one touchdown in the win. Tennessee’s offense struggled to move the ball consistently but Iamaleava connected with Dont’e Thornton for a 66 yard touchdown and connected with Bru McCoy on passes of 38 and 42 yards on scoring drives.
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Josephs recorded three tackles, one tackle for loss and forced two fumbles in the win while his 94.3 PFF grade wasn’t just the best on Tennessee’s roster but one of the best defensive grades in the entire country. Through four games this season, Josephs has totaled seven tackles and has the third highest PFF grade amongst EDGE rushers in all of college football.
The junior Tennessee lineman split the SEC weekly honor with LSU’s Bradyn Swinson who totaled five tackles, two sacks and one forced fumble in the Tigers win over UCLA.
Gilbert is Tennessee’s first-year starting kicker and he made all three of his field goal attempts in Tennessee’s win over Oklahoma. The redshirt freshman made field goals from 32, 41 and 27 yards while making both PAT attempts. So far this season, Gilbert has made 10-of-11 field goal attempts and is 24-of-24 on PAT attempts.
Tennessee has an open date this week before returning to the field on Oct. 5 at Arkansas.
