Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols’ 36-23 win at Vanderbilt

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All the Vol fans who showed up in Nashville were scared of a major disappointment early as Tennessee visited the Vanderbilt Commodores, but Josh Heupel’s team gave them something to cheer for in the end. Here are the five things we learned from the Vols’ victory to effectively clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Another horrible start

For the second straight week, UT started the game off horribly. They were scoreless in the first quarter against the UTEP Miners last week, and Vandy took the opening kickoff back for a touchdown this week. UT then fumbled on its first offensive drive, and the ‘Dores cashed in to go up 14-0 and led 17-7 entering the second quarter. However, the Vols then reeled off 29 straight.

Big plays early dictated the game

We mentioned the kickoff return and fumble, but Vanderbilt also stopped Tennessee on a fourth down and forced an interception by Iamaleava thanks to him underthrowing a clear touchdown pass. However, the Vols got their own big plays, as they forced a fourth down stop on Vandy, came away with a pick of their own and had an 86-yard touchdown pass. A 50-yard field goal was also part of that.

Passing game continues hot streak

Despite the interception by Iamaleava, he continues to finish the year strong, as he completed for 257 yards and tied his career high of four touchdowns, which he first set last week. Dont’e Thornton had three catches for 118 yards to lead the team, but he did leave the game due to injury, which leads to our next takeaways.

Injuries

Again, Thornton getting hurt changed things up, but he wasn’t the only Tennessee player who got banged up. Bru McCoy got hurt in the pregame. Dylan Sampson had to leave due to an injury on a run at one point before returning, Peyton Lewis had to leave the game due to injury, and Squirrel White was taken out late due to a cheap shot. Nonetheless, the Vols persevered.

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Defense was completely dominant when needed

You can’t blame the defense for falling behind 14-0 given the fact that it was due to a kickoff return and a fumble. After that, though, the Vols went on a run outscoring Vanderbilt 36-3, and the defense forced a safety while holding Vandy to just 212 yards. A lot of those yards were on a meaningless touchdown drive when they led 36-17, so this unit was superb.

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