FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Tennessee’s undefeated season came to a close on Saturday night as the Vols’ offense fell flat on their face in a 19-14 loss at Arkansas.
Here’s five quick takeaways.
Critical First Half Fourth Down Stops
Arkansas moved the ball in impressive fashion against Tennessee in the first half. The Razorbacks went 74 yards on 16 plays to open the game before having to settle for a field goal.
Then on the next two drives, Tennessee’s defense bowed up on too fourth-and-shorts to keep Arkansas from adding points. On the second drive, Arkansas picked up one first down before facing fourth-and-one at the Tennessee 34-yard line. Taylen Green found Var’Keyes gum on the roll out but his knee was down as he caught it just short of the line to gain.
Arkansas’ next drive started at its own five-yard line and quickly became its own one-yard line after a false start and negative run. But a busted coverage on third-and-15 led to a first down and Arkansas picked up another third-and-long before moving into scoring range.
That’s when the Razorbacks faced fourth-and-one at the Tennessee 20-yard line. Green looked to scramble on the rollout that time but Jeremiah Telander and Will Brooks pushed him back just short of the first down for a turnover on downs.
Even Arkansas’ fourth drive got inside of Tennessee’s territory but ended in a missed field goal.
After dominating the game and having four good drives in the first half, Arkansas only had a 3-0 lead to show for it.
Arkansas’ Defensive Front Manhandles Tennessee In The First Half
Tennessee got both its starting offensive tackles back following the open date. That led to optimism that the Vols’ offense would be able to open it up and put opponents on their heels.
Nothing of the sort happened in the first half Arkansas’ defensive front absolutely manhandled Tennessee up front. Before its two minute drive to end the first half, Tennessee had just 19 total yards of offense. Even after a two-minute drive that yielded no points, the Vols had just 76 total yards of offense in the first half.
Tennessee could not get its run game going in the slightest and Arkansas was able to tee off on the Vols on obvious passing downs. Arkansas sacked Nico Iamaleava three times in the first half and xx times overall with an abundance of more pressures.
The Vols receivers weren’t consistently getting open and Nico Iamaleava was far from perfect, but the way Arkansas’ defensive front controlled the game was the biggest reason Tennessee was stagnant offensively.
More From RTI: How Tennessee Was Represented At College Gameday In California
Tennessee Takes Control To Open The Second Half
The opening drive of the second half felt massive after the abysmal first half from Tennessee’s offense. It started shaky enough. A pair of short Bru McCoy catches led to third-and-one and him limping off the field.
Tennessee picked up the first down on the ground and then after the next play, Dont’e Thornton limped off the field. A second down incompletion led to third-and-four and that’s when the dam finally broke. Dylan Sampson went 53 yards up the middle and punched it in from four yards out a play later to give Tennessee its first points and lead of the night.
The Vols’ defense kept the momentum going when they forced Arkansas’ first three-and-out of the game on the opening drive of the half. James Pearce Jr and Arion Carter met at the quarterback for a third down sack.
Tennessee then had its best field position of the night, starting at its own 41-yard line. Propelled by a pair of Arkansas personal fouls and a third down connection between Iamaleava and Chas Nimrod, Tennessee went 60 yards in seven plays for a touchdown.
After not scoring in the first half, Tennessee looked like it took control of the game in the first seven minutes of the third quarter with a pair of touchdowns. That didn’t prove to be sustainable.
Tennessee’s Passing Offense Lets Them Down
It felt like Tennessee would coast after the red hot start to the second half but that proved to not be the case. Arkansas immediately answered with a touchdown to get the game to one score.
And while Tennessee’s offensive line played better in the second half and the Vols had some success, they never could get anything going through the air. There was blame to go around. The pass protection still wasn’t great, receivers struggled to get open and Iamaleava did not make many tough throws.
The big missed opportunity came on third-and-seven early in the second quarter. Squirrel White had a step behind the Arkansas defense and Iamaleava well overshot him. It wasn’t a layup by any means but on a night when Tennessee struggled to move it, they needed to make the play.
Iamaleava connected with Thornton for one long play on the final drive of the game but after that the passing attack fell flat again.
Tennessee ended the game with just 156 yards passing.
The Vols’ Defense Finally Gives In
Tennessee asked its defense to step up time-and-time again in the game and particularly as they clung to a 14-10 and then 14-13 lead.
But as the Vols’ offense failed to ever get anything sustainable going after the first two drives of the second half, Tennessee’s defense couldn’t hold up.
Arkansas started its final drive of the night at its own 41-yard line with 3:21 to play. On the first two plays of the drive, the Razorbacks moved it all the way to the Tennessee 22-yard line on a screen pass and long run. After the Razorbacks totaled another 10-yard run, Tennessee seemingly let Arkansas score a go-ahead touchdown with 1:17 to play.
