Defense continues to be the story for Tennessee Football early this season, as the Vols forced the Oklahoma Sooners to bench Jackson Arnold and made it to 19 straight quarters without giving up a defensive touchdown before giving up one in the fourth in their 25-15 win at OU Saturday. The game was the SEC opener for both teams.
Josh Heupel got the best of Brent Venables in his return to his alma mater for the first time since he was fired by the school as offensive coordinator a decade ago. The Vols, ranked No. 6 in the AP Poll and No. 7 in the Coaches Poll, improved to 4-0. OU, No. 15 in the AP Poll and No. 13 in the Coaches, fell to 3-1.
OU got the ball first and was stopped on fourth down on their opening drive. UT then had an interception on OU’s second drive. However, they were locked in a slugfest. With the scored tied at 3, Nico Iamaleava found Dont’e Thornton late in the first quarter for a 66-yard touchdown pass to put the Vols up 10-3.
The two teams exchanged two fumbles apiece in the second quarter, OU fumbling both times after recovering a Tennessee Football fumble. Rocky Top also came away with a safety, and they closed out the half with a touchdown run from Dylan Sampson to cap off a 46-yard drive.
In the second half, the Vols opened things up with a field goal to go up 22-3, and then they sat on the lead. OU was able to score two touchdowns in the second half, but it was too late. It’s the first win for UT against a ranked team on the road since they beat the Georgia Bulldogs 51-33 way back in 2006.
Arnold was pulled late in the second quarter after going 7-of-16 for 54 yards, no touchdowns and one interception along with two fumbles. Michael Hawkins Jr. came in after that and finished the game. He found his rhythm in the fourth quarter and finished 11-of-18 with 131 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 21 yards.
Nico Iamaleava was 13-of-21 for 194 yards and one touchdown along with a 17-yard run to ice the game in his first SEC start. Sampson had 24 carries for 91 yards along with his score, and DeSean Bishop had 16 carries for 65 yards. Bru McCoy led the team in receiving with four catches for 92 yards, and Thornton added 73 yards along with that score.
UT finished the game with 355 yards of total offense, and OU had just 221 yards. Diving further into it, the Vols had just two turnovers while forcing three. Each team managed three sacks. Jermod McCoy had the pick, and Joshua Josephs forced both fumbles.
This is the first win for Tennessee Football against OU since the 1939 Orange Bowl, their first bowl game and SEC Championship season when to cap off an undefeated 1938. That was also the last time the Vols were in the midst of a streak this long without giving up a defensive touchdown, as they shut out 15 straight foes from 1938 to 1939.
Up next for Tennessee Football is a bye week before they head to Fayetteville, Ark., to take on Sam Pittman’s Arkansas Razorbacks. Venables and the Sooners, meanwhile, will head to Auburn to take on the Tigers next week before they get to go on their bye week.
