Tennessee Football Recap: Vols beat Sooners

With Saturday’s win, the Vols beat their first top-15 road opponent since 2006, and while people still want this team to be like the 2022 team, this game really showed that defense can be the backbone of the team.

The Sooners managed 102 yards in the first quarter, -20 in the second, and 16 in the third. At this point, the game was decided and OU had brought in its backup QB.

Oklahoma outgained the Vols by about 125 yards in the fourth quarter, less than 50, as the Vols basically ran out of steam starting in the 8th minute. Sooners replacement Michael Hawkins Jr. showed some guts, but it was too little, too late. Given the good defense and the problems on the offensive line, I can understand why Heupel ended up being conservative and scaling back the offense.

The Volunteers defense totaled 11 TFLs, one interception, four QB hurries, four PBUs, two forced fumbles and the second safety of the season. 10 different Vols had TFLs, with Jayson Jenkins and Jaxon Moi each recording more than one TFL. Tyre West had his team-leading second sack and added three tackles and a TFL. DB Jermod McCoy had three tackles, a PBU and an interception while Arion Carter led the way with six tackles, a TFL and a PBU.

The Vols started the game slacking, but both opening drives yielded nothing. The Sooners picked up 13 yards before failing to convert on a fourth down near the halfway line. On the Vols’ first drive, Nico went 1-1 with no yards, while the only positive play was a second down. UT failed to convert on the third and short.

OU’s second drive began with a Jackson Arnold run for minus two yards, which Tyre West followed with his aforementioned second sack for minus four yards, leading the team.

The Sooners defense was all over the place on the Vols’ short game, nullifying UT’s blocking and running game.

The Vols defense struck first on Oklahoma’s third drive. Arnold completed the first throw of the drive, then the Sooners managed an 11-yard run. OU seemed to get into rhythm before McCoy lured Arnold into an interception at the 33, which he returned near the halfway line for UT.

Tennessee’s running game continued to look well under control — five runs for five yards before Nico Bru hit for a 38-yard gain. The ball flew through the air a good bit, but he finished it off by ducking and evading two or three defenders that brought the Vols to the 10-yard line. Three plays later, with a two-yard gain on the ground up the middle, Tennessee goes three points ahead.

In three drives, the Vols started twice at OU’s 50-yard line and once at OU’s 43-yard line, but were only able to score one field goal despite repeatedly having good field position.

After the FG, the Sooners ran the ball inside once for two yards and then ran it outside for a 17-yard play. Up to this point, the Sooners had success getting the ball outside of the tackles.

The Sooners ran 10 plays, had one incomplete pass, four runs of more than 4 yards, one pass of 11 yards, a pass interference by Ricky Gibson, but the defense held OU to a couple of incomplete passes that led to a field goal.

The Vols didn’t wait long – Andrej Karic was called for a false start early in the drive, and then Iamaleava completed a 14-yard pass to Squirrel White before throwing an absolute strike to Dont’e Thornton, Jr., who went 66 yards and put a Volunteer TD on the scoreboard. Thornton had single coverage on the other side, was a few steps ahead of his man, and Nico guided him perfectly to catch the ball without missing a step.

UT got the ball back, but Tennessee picked up another penalty – the fifth for 36 yards with just over a quarter of the clock running. Two plays later, Dayne Davis, filling in at left tackle for the injured Lance Heard on Nico’s blindside, was beaten at the snap and Iamaleava was sacked for a recovery at UT’s five-yard line.

Luckily, Jackson Arnold was sacked and Joshua Josephs forced and recovered the fumble. De’Sean Bishop made three straight runs totaling 16 yards to get Tennessee out of its own end zone, and Nico hit Thornton for seven yards before another Bishop run for 12 yards for a first down. Iamaleava made his second sack of the game — it looked like he just held onto the ball too long — to put the Vols on 2nd-and-12 at their own 39-yard line.

An incomplete pass to Brazzell and a failed screen play forced Ross to punt 57 yards, stopping right at the Sooners’ four-yard line.

After a false start on first down, Jayson Jenkins stormed the near side of the field and stopped the Sooners inside their goal line, giving the Vols their second safety of the season. The Vols ran two runs for five yards, attempted a pass that Nico eventually intercepted for no gain, and gave it to Bishop on third and fifth attempts, who was two yards short of first down.

OU couldn’t capitalize on its possession, but after two insignificant offensive plays, Nico was sacked and lost the ball for the second time. But then Arnold threw a pass to the sideline that the refs ruled a reverse pass and Tennessee recovered it. This was the second time the two teams lost the ball to the other team on consecutive plays.

The Vols launched another drive into OU territory – the third time since the game began – and Sampson failed to gain yards on the first play, but picked up yards eight and 10 on the next two plays, marking the first time he penetrated the Oklahoma defense. On the third and fifth attempts, the Vols ran a well-chosen speed option to the short side of the field, where Nico read the end and pitched to Sampson, who gained six yards and put the Vols in the red zone with two minutes left before halftime.

A 16-yard run by Sampson set up a 1-yard touchdown run that gave the Vols a 19-3 lead. UT completed eight plays, all runs, for 46 yards and Tennessee’s first rushing TD of the game.

After Arnold held the offense to just 82 total yards, going just 7 of 16 for 54 yards, one interception, one safety, two fumbles and 1 of 7 on third downs, Sooners head coach Brent Venables benched Arnold and instead started former three-star prospect and backup QB Michael Hawkins Jr.

Tennessee’s defense prevented OU’s offense from allowing passes of 15 yards or more and allowed only two runs of over 10 yards. In the first two quarters, the Vols defense had one sack, six TFLs, one interception, two PBUs, one QB hurry, two forced fumbles and the second safety of the season. The Sooners managed -19 yards in the second quarter.

On the other side of the spectrum, Oklahoma’s defense played fast and aggressive to start, but Nico managed 8-11 for 126 yards and a touchdown. The bulk of Iamaleava’s yards came from the 66-yard dime to Thornton, Jr. and a 38-yard throw-and-catch to McCoy. As the half progressed, Sampson had runs of 10 yards, 16 yards and then Bishop’s 12-yard run.

Tennessee got the ball after halftime, picked up two first downs, then completed a 50-yard pass to Thornton, Jr., but the play was called back for a holding penalty that ended the drive. That was the Vols’ sixth penalty of the game and in total it cost UT 46 yards. It put the offense on a second-and-24 from which it could not recover. A 50-yard punt by Jackson Ross gave the Sooners the ball at their own 17.

The Sooners made it three and out and the Vols answered with a six-yard first down run that enabled a 42-yard pass to McCoy on the near sideline.

Bishop managed three rushing attempts but could only gain five total yards, and Tennessee sent Max Gilbert up the field for its second field goal, this time right down the middle from 41 yards, 22-3, with about six minutes left in the third quarter.

Neither team was able to score any more points in the remainder of the third quarter, but on the broadcast, Kirk Herbstreit provided an impressive stat: On 23 Oklahoma running plays, Tennessee’s defense made contact at or behind the line of scrimmage 16 times. The Vols ended OU’s final possession of the third quarter with their second sack of the game, led by Jenkins with a number of defenders behind the line.

A 12-yard run by Hawkins Jr. in the fourth quarter got the Sooners to the half-yard line, and two plays later the young quarterback threw a ball flat for a touchdown, ending Tennessee’s national record of 16 consecutive quarters without an offensive touchdown. The true freshman orchestrated a 10-play, 68-yard run that definitely gave Oklahoma a boost.

Leading 22-9 with less than nine minutes on the clock, UT ran one yard, threw a pass that was called back for a penalty, and then ran up the middle again on third-and-14, seemingly content to leave the game in the hands of the defense.

Hawkins Jr. led the Sooners on another scoring drive in the fourth as OU outscored Tennessee 124-48 yards and outscored UT 12-3. But in the game, the Vols totaled 345 yards on offense to OU’s 222. Nico finished his day 13-21 with 194 yards and a TD while completing passes to six different receivers. Sampson had his first sub-100 yard game with 24 carries for 94 yards and a touchdown, while Bishops appears to have slipped into the RB2 spot with 16 carries for 65 yards.

Tennessee enters the off week with a 4-0 win and a top 15 win. The biggest concern on Saturday was the offensive line, which most knew could be a problem if injuries occurred. If Dayne Davis is the primary backup to LT, RT and C, the Vols will have to hope for luck with injuries or figure out what to do with the second offensive line.