Tennessee football: Five key moments that defined Vols turnaround for 2019
2. Defensive goal-line stand at the Kentucky Wildcats
Against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, Tennessee football did what it couldn’t do against the BYU Cougars by having a late third down conversion to hold onto its lead. But that pales in comparison to what they had to do against the Kentucky Wildcats.
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In this instance, they would have to do another thing they failed to do against BYU: Hold their own defensively. After Jarrett Guarantano came in again and put them ahead, bringing them back from 13-3 down at halftime to a 17-13 lead, the defense seemed to secure the win with back to back fourth down stops. But then Ty Chandler fumbled the ball and allowed Kentucky one more chance.
They drove all the way inside the five-yard line, and UT even had a substitution penalty out of a timeout that drew them close. So they had 3rd and goal at the 1. And this time, UT’s defense would make a stand. With lots of help from Daniel Bituli, the Vols stopped Kentucky on back to back run plays.
Goal-line stands like that are the work of championship teams, not teams who started a season 1-4. But this was not your everyday UT team. Jeremy Pruitt’s second group of Vol players had poured all of their resiliency onto that drive, and it showed with the stop of the season.
light. Related Story. Five biggest reasons for Vols 2019 turnaround
The defense being able to do that proved that these guys actually know how to win now and even expect to win even when their backs are against the wall. That’s a huge deal for this program as it tries to reach a bowl game down the stretch of the season.