Tennesseepicks up a critical win on the road on Saturday.
Wow. First thing that goes from my brain to my fingertips here.
The Tennessee Volunteers defeated the Mississippi State Bulldogs 41-34 in overtime in a game I’m having a hard time wrapping my brain around. Joey Aguilar was 24/40 passing for 335 yards with a touchdown and 2 interceptions, both of which came after going off of Miles Kitselman’s hands and flying up in the air. DeSean Bishop was UT’s leading rusher with 72 yards on 11 carries and the go—ahead 25-yard touchdown in overtime. Mike Matthews had 6 catches for 118 yards and Chris Brazzell II had 6 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown.
This was a game of errors and missed opportunities, and it started when UT’s Braylon Staley muffed a punt, and Mississippi State recovered at the UT 20. The Bulldogs took it those 20 yards to the end zone in 5 plays for a 7-0 lead.
After a UT field goal and some punts, Colton Hood picked off Blake Shapen and ran it 23 yards for a touchdown. State bounced back on their next two lengthy drives and took a 17-10 lead in the second quarter. But UT answered back with a 4-play 75-yard drive with Brazzell pulling in a 15-yard touchdown to draw even at 17. Max Gilbert missed a field goal, and the teams went to the half tied at 17.
After Tennessee opened the half with a long field goal drive and State answered with a missed field goal, Aguilar’s first interception gave the Bulldogs a short field, and they took a 24-20 lead on a 1-yard Fluff Bothwell touchdown run. A while later, Mississippi State was successful on a fake punt on 4th and 7 and appeared set to move on and add to their lead early in the fourth quarter near midfield.
However, Tyre West, on the next play, broke around the edge and sacked Sharpen, jarring the ball loose. Joshua Josephs scooped it up and ran it back for a 27-24 lead. After a State field goal, Aguilar’s second tip-drill interception gave MSU yet another very short field, and again, they took to the end zone on a 2-yard touchdown pass for a 34-27 lead with 8 minutes left.
But Aguilar and the offense put together one of the drives of the season to date at that point. They went 13 plays, 75 yards in just over 6 minutes and punched it in on a designed 6-yard Aguilar run to tie the game with 2 minutes left.
Tennessee quickly forced a three-and-out and the had the ball with 1:23 and all 3 timeouts at their 26. But Josh Heupel’s clock management strategy was….well, absolutely atrocious is the only way to call it. Tennessee went 30 yards to get a little bit past midfield with 4 seconds left, but with 2 timeouts left. A Hail Mary hit the ground, and the game went to overtime.
Bishop’s 25-yard touchdown on the first play of OT gave the Vols the advantage. Then, after allowing MSU to get first and goal at the six, Tennessee’s defense, for a rare change on Saturday, stiffened and turned the Bulldogs away, breaking up a pass on fourth down in the end zone to secure the win.
Tennessee heads into a very much needed bye week. So, exhale, Vol fans. A win is a win, but there’s a lot to work on after today.
Category: General Sports
