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Oklahoma Sooners Come Back to Beat Tennessee Vols 31-24 in Double-Overtime

By Caleb Calhoun

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The Tennessee Vols football team blew a 17-0 first half lead to lose to the Sooners 31-24 in double-overtime at Neyland Stadium. The Volunteers fell to 1-1.

Different year, same story.

With a hyped up fan base, a football program starving for a win, and lots of momentum in the middle of the game, the Tennessee football team once again blew a huge opportunity.

And they will have to continue to wait for their big win under Butch Jones.

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In the largest blown lead ever by Tennessee in Knoxville, the Vols were up on the Oklahoma Sooners 17-0 in the first half and ended up losing the game in double-overtime 31-24 after Joshua Dobbs threw an interception to Zack Sanchez that ended the game.

Oklahoma had taken a 31-24 lead the drive before after Baker Mayfield threw a touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard.

Tennessee obviously could not respond.

In the first overtime, Tennessee took a 24-17 lead on a touchdown run by Jalen Hurd, and the Sooners responded with a one-yard run by Mayfield.

Mayfield led the Sooners back from a 17-3 fourth-quarter deficit with two touchdown passes.

The first was to Samaje Perine in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 17-10. Then, with less than a minute left in regulation, Mayfield threw a fade pass to Sterling Shepard to tie the game.

Mayfield finished the game 19 of 39 for 187 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He was awful for most of the game, but after throwing his second interception in the second half, he completely turned around his play.

The Vols took the momentum early in the game after Todd Kelly, returning from an illness last week to take over at strong safety, intercepted a pass on the first drive.

That led to a Tennessee field goal after the Vols failed to convert on a 3rd and Goal from the 1-yard line.

Still, they scored two more touchdowns after that on a beautiful pass from Joshua Dobbs to Josh Malone and then a run by Dobbs for a 17-0 lead.

Dobbs finished 13 of 31 for 125 yards, one touchdown, and one interception while carrying the ball 14 times for 12 yards and a touchdown.

After that lead, Oklahoma then drove into Tennessee territory twice in the first half but was held to just a field goal, making the score 17-3 at halftime.

The third quarter went scoreless, but it was not without excitement. The Vols were in Oklahoma territory twice but came away with no points after crucial mistakes, and Kelly picked up his second interception of the game in that quarter as well.

But the Vols got a couple of breaks in that quarter as well. One major break they had was a play in which Dobbs was sacked and appeared to fumble the ball, which Oklahoma would have returned for a touchdown. However, the refs ruled forward progress in a very quick whistle.

Then, Jalen Hurd had a fumble that should have been returned for a touchdown but no Sooner could recover it, so the Vols luckily fell on it.

The Tennessee defense did its part for most of the game, but it got tired late in the game with no hep from the offense.

However, Jalen Hurd did finish with 106 yards rushing and a touchdown on 24 carries.

It also did not help that Curt Maggitt went down in the first half, neutralizing the Tennessee pass rush.

The offensive line struggles really hurt the offense, and that was made worse when Jashon Robertson went out. That was the best front seven Tennessee will face all season, and at least the line was much better than they were last year.

Also, the secondary was much better. Cameron Sutton was still not seeing anything thrown his way, and Emmanuel Moseley and Malik Foreman did a great job in man-to-man coverage.

But Moseley and Foreman each slipped on different plays that allowed for big plays from Oklahoma.

Oklahoma moved to 2-0 on the year while the Vols fell to 1-1, but this one was tough to swallow. Tennessee fans are about to lose all faith in their program winning a big game, because they keep coming up short.

There was Florida in 2012, Florida in 2014, and now Oklahoma. How much more torture can Vol fans take?

Next: Bowling Green's 48-27 Victory Over Maryland Elevates Vols

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