For the second time in three weeks, Tennessee football found itself trying to win an overtime SEC game. This time, however, the Vols actually came out on top, scoring a 41-34 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs on the road to hand Jeff Lebby’s team their first loss of the year.
UT, ranked No. 15 in both polls, stopped MSU on four plays inside the 10-yard line, the final play of the game being a tipped pass on 4th and goal in OT, to pull out the victory. The Vols got the ball first in the extra period and scored on the first play of the game with a 25-yard run by DeSean Bishop.
This is the second SEC game for the Vols of the year, and both of them went into an extra period. The first one was at home against the Georgia Bulldogs, which they lost 44-41. It was MSU’s first SEC game, although they did beat the Arizona State Sun Devils three weeks ago at home.
In a back and forth matchup, Tennessee football scored two defensive touchdowns. Their first trip to the end zone was a pick-six by Colton Hood to give them a 10-7 lead in the first quarter. Then, trailing 24-20 in the fourth quarter, Tyre West strip-sacked MSU quarterback Blake Shapen, and Joshua Josephs returned it to the end zone for a score.
MSU got its own points off turnovers as well, scoring its first touchdown off a muffed punt by Braylon Staley to take a 10-7 lead at the time and taking the lead back in the fourth quarter after Aguilar’s second interception of the game with the score tied at 27, a ball that bounced off Miles Kitselman’s hands. Simply put, it was a sloppy game by both teams.
However, when the moment arrived, Aguilar was there, as he led the Vols on a 13-play 75-yard touchdown drive in which he ran it into the end zone in the fourth quarter to tie the game up at 34. Aguilar finished the game 24-of-40 with 335 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions while running for another 21 yards and a score.
Once again, Tennessee football had two 100-yard receivers, as Chris Brazzell II had six catches for 105 yards and a score, and Mike Matthews had six catches for 118 yards. Bishop led the team in rushing with 11 carries for 72 yards and that score, and Star Thomas had 10 carries for 33 yards. Peyton Lewis added 10 yards on three carries.
On MSU’s side, Shapen completed 18 of 29 passes for 180 yards, one touchdown and one pick. However, Fluff Bothwell was the star on the ground, carrying the ball for 134 yards on 23 touches with two scores. Davon Booth added 58 yards and a score on 17 carries.
Defensively, the Vols had five sacks in the game. West himself had two, and Caleb Herring added one and a half. Josephs and Tyree Weathersby each assisted on a sack, and Dominic Bailey had one. MSU, meanwhile, had two sacks, one by Zakari Tillman and the other by D.J. Reed. Tillman and Jahron Manning each had an interception for them.
With the win, Tennessee football improves to 4-1 and 1-1 in SEC play. MSU, meanwhile, falls to 4-1 and 0-1 in league play. UT has a bye next week and will then host the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, will visit the Texas A&M Aggies before they have their bye.
