Tennessee football finally won a close game and played four quarters
Even with the excitement behind Josh Heupel’s program, anybody watching Tennessee football just knew they were done at the Kentucky Wildcats in the second quarter. The Vols hadn’t won a close game all year, and up to that point, they hadn’t beaten any team anybody considered decent.
Beyond that, all of the Vols’ success had come in the first quarter. For the year, they have been outscored on average in the second, third and fourth quarters and had relied on first quarter dominance just to get to 4-4 at that point.
So when they turned the ball over on a fumbled snap early in the second quarter after Jalin Hyatt was ruled out of bounds on a 41-yard grab that could have been a touchdown to put them up 21-7, there was no reason to believe in them. Sure enough, Tennessee football allowed back to back Kentucky touchdowns, with a three-and-out in between, and fell behind 21-14.
On their next offensive drive, the Vols suffered a false start, and then Hendon Hooker got sacked to bring up a 3rd and 18. All of a sudden, UT was in danger of punting to Kentucky and falling behind even more significantly. Hey, they were blown out by the Florida Gators and Alabama Crimson Tide despite leading early in the second, so it wasn’t crazy.
But then everything changed. Hooker found Velus Jones Jr. for a 14-yard pass. Josh Heupel decided to gamble and go for it, and Hooker drew a pass interference on a short pass to Jones. The Vols had new life. They capitalized and tied it up with a touchdown two plays later.
From that point on, it became clear that Tennessee football was a different team off its bye week. The Vols answered every Kentucky threat and stayed in control of the game en route to their 45-42 win. They got a fourth down stop and a 19-second field goal drive to go into halftime up 24-21.
Answering Kentucky’s touchdown to open the second half with a touchdown drive of their own, getting a pick-six, engineering a fourth-quarter touchdown drive to go up by 10 again and forcing two turnover on downs in the fourth quarter secured the victory. Rocky Top became mentally tough and found a way to win a close game, beat a quality team and play for four quarters.
None of that was on their resume under Heupel. They hadn’t won a game by fewer than 26 points before Saturday. In both of their one-score losses, they had the ball twice late with a chance to tie or take the lead and couldn’t seal the deal.
Against the Pittsburgh Panthers, the Vols were stopped on a 4th and goal, and then Hooker threw an interception, all while they trailed 41-34. Then, trailing 31-26 against the Ole Miss Rebels, they were one inch short on a 4th and long completion, and after getting the ball back in Ole Miss territory, Hooker got hurt. Joe Milton III inexplicably ran out of bounds as time expired.
Then there’s the factor of how easily the Vols can let teams pull away. They were up on Florida 14-10 in the second quarter and had the ball down only 17-14 in the third quarter. However, they were down 31-14 by the start of the fourth quarter and lost 38-14. Against Alabama, they led 14-7 in the second and were down 31-24 in the fourth, only to lost 52-24.
Simply put, there was no reason to believe the Vols would pull off this close win, and there was every reason to fear a collapse in the second half. None of that happen. They turned a huge corner, and with a winning season now effectively guaranteed Heupel’s first year, that’s a huge deal.
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It’s worth noting that just as Tennessee football was holding off Kentucky, the South Carolina Gamecocks were blowing out Florida, turning them into a quality win for UT as well. That’s a story for another day, though. What’s important here is that Tennessee football beat a top 20 team on the road, its first top 25 win since beating Kentucky in 2018, by playing for four quarters.