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Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vol 23-22 Gator Bowl win vs. Indiana

By Caleb Calhoun

JACKSONVILLE, FL - JANUARY 02: Eric Gray #3 of the Tennessee Volunteers runs for a 22-yard gain in the first half of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against the Indiana Hoosiers at TIAA Bank Field on January 2, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
JACKSONVILLE, FL - JANUARY 02: Eric Gray #3 of the Tennessee Volunteers runs for a 22-yard gain in the first half of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against the Indiana Hoosiers at TIAA Bank Field on January 2, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images
(Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images /

In a Gator Bowl thriller, Tennessee football beat the Indiana Hoosiers 23-22. Here are five things we learned from the Volunteers’ victory.

What an insane finish! After trailing 22-9 with less than five minutes to go, Tennessee football scored one touchdown, recovered an onside kick and then scored another before making two defensive stands for a 23-22 win in the Gator Bowl over the Indiana Hoosiers in Jacksonville, Fla.

With the win, the Vols finish the season 8-5 and on a six-game winning streak to close out Jeremy Pruitt’s second year on the job. Indiana, meanwhile, fell to 8-5 on the season. It was the first bowl for both teams in three years and the fourth straight bowl win for Rocky Top, all of which came against Big Ten schools.

The SEC, meanwhile, moved to 7-2 in bowl games and has one more big one with the LSU Tigers facing the Clemson Tigers in the national championship game. Rocky Top became the first team all year to lead a comeback down by 13 or more points with less than five minutes to go.

Early on, Tennessee football jumped out to a 6-0 lead after only two field goals in three trips to the red zone. But then they allowed an Indiana field goal and a second-half touchdown. After throwing a pick-six to make it 16-6 in the Hoosiers’ favor, the Vols made it 16-9 with another field goal. Then they allowed two more field goals to fall behind 22-9 before their comeback.

It was an incredible display of mental toughness for this team, which has fought through and overcome so much all season long. But for how incredible it was, the way they came back to win this game was also fitting given the way they have been turning things around all season.

UT came from behind in four of its six wins that closed out the season, and this was the second time the Vols came back from two scores down in the second half to win. Simply put, they have been doing things like this all year. Here are five takeaways from Tennessee football’s victory.

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