Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols’ 56-0 win at Vanderbilt
1. Big plays on special teams broke it open.
He has been knocking on the door ever since Tennessee football’s win over the LSU Tigers, but Dee Williams finally came through in this one. Williams broke the game open with a 73-yard touchdown run to put the Vols up 21-0 in the first half. He followed that up with a 19-yard punt return later in the game.
On a fake punt by Vanderbilt, the play worked, but Williams tackled Matt Hayball after his 21-yard run and forced a fumble, which UT recovered. The Vols scored touchdowns on both of those subsequent drives, so it certainly helped to turn this game into a blowout for Rocky Top.
Beyond Williams, though, the Vols benefitted from a missed field goal by Vanderbilt’s Joseph Bulovas early in the second quarter. That field goal was only from 39 yards out, and UT was only up 14-0 at the time, so it certainly could have made things more interesting if he made it.
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However, missing that helped put the Vols in control. Taking all of these plays into account, special teams resulted in a 24-point swing for Tennessee football. The Vols would have won anyway, and they likely would have won in a blowout, but these plays certainly made it look a lot more convincing than it otherwise would have.