Tennessee made history for Josh Heupel on Saturday night against Texas A&M.
None of Heupel’s previous 50 wins as a head coach were achieved when his team scored less than 30 points – until now.
Thanks to a stingy defense and a strong running game, No. 17 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC) defeated Texas A&M (4-3, 2-2 SEC) 20-13 before a sellout crowd at Neyland Stadium that honored favorite son Eric Berry for his College Football Hall of Fame selection.
It was fitting that on a day when Berry was feted, the secondary picked off two passes in the final 3:30 to secure UT’s first-ever regular-season win over the Aggies.
“How about that, man, wow,’’ Heupel said post-game. “I haven’t been involved in one like that in a long time.’’
How about never – as a head coach.
The Vols throttled A&M’s run game – 54 yards on 28 carries – and harassed quarterback Max Johnson into two picks, two sacks and countless pressures.
Meanwhile, the Vols ran for 232 yards against the No. 1 run defense in the SEC. A&M was allowing 84 rush yards per game. UT’s Jaylen Wright had 136 – 52 more than A&M’s average – on 19 carries.
When you outrush an opponent by 178 yards, win the turnover battle and score a special team’s touchdown, your odds of winning are exceptional.
“I love the resiliency of our football team,’’ Heupel said. “Our line of scrimmage was relentless. We dominated it.’’
In a game that featured subpar play by both quarterbacks, interceptions by UT defensive backs Gabe Jeudy-Lally and Kamal Hadden late in the fourth quarter sealed the deal and assured that Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher would lose his 11th game in a row on the road to a ranked SEC team.
And Tennessee won its 13th home game in a row – only the second time in 50 years the Vols have accomplished that feat.
Tennessee scored on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Joe Milton to tight end Jacob Warren, two field goals by Charles Campbell and an electrifying 39-yard punt return by Dee Williams – which proved to be the play of the game.
A sequence involving Williams was monumental for Tennessee. First, he downed a punt at the A&M 1-yard line midway in the third quarter. After a UT stop, he returned a punt for a score, giving UT a 14-10 lead it would not relinquish.
“Dee’s punt return changed the game,’’ Heupel said. “That was a huge momentum swing.’’
A&M answered with a 68-yard drive to set up a field goal, cutting the lead to 14-13.
After a Milton interception in the end zone, A&M’s Randy Bond missed a 50-yard field goal that would have given the Aggies the lead with 8:34 left in the game.
After a UT field goal put the Vols up 17-13 with 3:48 left, Jeudy-Lally picked off Johnson and returned the ball to the A&M 6-yard line, setting up a field goal.
On A&M’s next series, Hadden did the honors with the game-sealing pick near midfield with 22 seconds left.
A question was recently asked if UT could rely on its defense to win a close game.
The answer: A resounding yes.
“Our expectation and standard is to play elite defense here,’’ said Heupel, whose initial defense at UT was ravaged by players transferring out of the program.
Tennessee won despite a poor game from Milton and some questionable decisions by Heupel.
Milton was only 11 of 22 for 100 yards with an end-zone interception. He ran out of bounds when he could have picked up a first down with more effort. He threw an incompletion out of bounds on a fourth-and-2. And he was sacked on a fourth-and-7 on the first possession of the second half.
Heupel didn’t have his best game, either.
“It didn’t look like I made a lot of right decisions at critical moments,’’ Heupel said.
He passed up trying a 35-yard field on UT’s second possession, misfiring on a fourth-and-2. He went for fourth-and-7 at the A&M 29 to start the third quarter, leading to a sack. And with 2:41 left at the A&M 9, he called a pass that was nearly intercepted at the goal line, stopping the clock and allowing A&M to preserve a timeout.
Another decision that seems curious is UT’s unwillingness to play Williams on offense.
He is clearly one of the team’s most dynamic players and he practiced on offense – moving over from cornerback — for days leading up to the A&M game.
“It can be a little frustrating,’’ Williams said of his limited opportunities to touch the ball, “but the best thing to do is always stay ready.’’
Has he lobbied to play offense?
“Yes,’’ he said. “When that time comes, I’ll be ready.’’
Considering the way UT’s offense stalled against A&M and the injury to wideout Bru McCoy, Tennessee needs as many playmakers on offense as it can get.
That includes Wiliams – and it includes getting him the ball.
