Although the UT Volunteers won in a blowout, Tennessee football relied on big plays in their victory against the University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers.
From key turnovers to skill players stepping up, Tennessee football was able to move to 4-5 on the year with a huge homecoming win over the UAB Blazers. The Vols dominated all night en route to a 30-7 victory.
This game came down to numerous big plays for UT, particularly in the first half. When you force four turnovers and score 20 points off those turnovers, that’s going to happen. In fact, looking at the key moments, we had to combine some of the turnovers with some of the big offensive plays.
As always, big moments can be one play, which they usually are, or multiple plays as one entity. We actually had more of those than we usually do. Let’s break it down here. These are the turning points that affected the flow of the game in Tennessee football’s win over the UAB Blazers.
Bryce Thompson interception to open the game
Talk about setting the tone. It was clear that the way to beat the UAB Blazers was to force them to throw interceptions. Bryce Thompson got the message a bit early, and he picked up an interception on the first play.
That pick was something many people missed, as ESPNU hadn’t gotten to the game yet and WatchESPN wasn’t updated. But it happened, and in the process, the Vols got a 3-0 lead after a Brent Cimaglia field goal.
Brent Cimaglia 53-yard field goal after Bryce Thompson’s second pick
Yes, Bryce Thompson built off of what he did with a second pick. At that point, UT was up 6-0 after they had a field goal drive the last time they were on offense. This interception allowed them a chance to go up by two scores.
Following the pick, though, UT’s offense stalled again. But they trotted out Brent Cimaglia for his toughest test of the season. He had to try a 53-yard field goal after already making a 48-yarder. Well, he nailed the kick. And UT went up 9-0.
UAB fumbles while down 9-0
After going up 9-0, Tennessee football still needed a big play to take control of the game. And they managed to get one on the very next offensive possession for the UAB Blazers, taking advantage of their improving pass rush.
Darel Middleton tackled Tyler Johnston III as he was trying to run for it while under pressure, and he fumbled in the process. Aubrey Solomon recovered the fumble, and all of a sudden, the Vols had the ball up by two scores.
Ty Chandler touchdown run after roughing-the-passer penalty
Despite being up two scores, the Vols looked as if they were only about to extend a two-score lead. Jarrett Guarantano was sacked for a loss of six yards in the red zone, and that was going to bring up 3rd and 18 from the UAB 22-yard line.
But Hubert Owens, who robbed the Vols on an unnecessary roughness penalty two weeks prior with Darrell Taylor, called Garrett Marino for roughing the passer. UT took advantage and scored a touchdown the next play with an 11-yard run by Ty Chandler to go up 16-0.
Tennessee’s 43-yard touchdown drive after Bryce Thompson’s third pick
Despite their 16-0 lead, that was technically only two scores for the Vols. And they had to punt on their next drive. So in the second quarter, Bryce Thompson stepped up again, getting his third interception after a deflection.
This time Tennessee football finally cashed in. They drove 43 yards for a touchdown, capped off by a Jauan Jennings run from the two-yard line in the wildcat. That got them a 23-0 lead and put them in control en route to their victory.