The Tennessee Volunteers’ hopes of returning to the College Football Playoff flatlined on Saturday night inside Neyland Stadium, as they lost 33-27 to the Oklahoma Sooners to fall to 6-3 on the season.
The numbers say Joey Aguilar had a good day passing at 29/45 for 393 yards with 3 touchdowns, but 2 costly interceptions on ill-advised passes cost the Vols in the first half. DeSean Bishop led a putrid rushing attack (35 carries for 63 yards) with 38 yards on 12 carries. Braylon Staley was Tennessee’s
most notable pass catcher with 5 catches for 75 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Tennessee started things the right way, with a 9-play, 75-yard touchdown on the game’s opening drive that capped with a Staley 5-yard touchdown. But Tennessee went from going up by double digits to putting OU right back in the game. With Tennessee in field goal range, David Sanders, Jr. whiffed on a block, Aguilar was hit and fumbled, and R Mason Thomas picked it up, gave TE Miles Kitselman a ride before bucking him off like a fly, and rumbled to the end zone for a touchdown.
That was an enormous turning point in the game, and Tennessee’s offense couldn’t punch it in the rest of the half. Max Gilbert gagged on a 37-yard field goal, while OU’s kicker knocked through two 50+ yard kicks in the first half to take a 16-10 halftime lead. The last of those came when Tennessee was trying to get a late score, and Aguilar threw it up with a safety deep and waiting. That was his second interception late in the second quarter.
Tennessee started right in the second half by forcing an OU punt and going back up 17-16 on a 54-yard Staley catch and run touchdown where Chris Brazzell II sprung him with a nice block.
But OU’s offense figured some things out with Tennessee’s defense and moved the ball much better in the second half. Mateer ran time and again, and the Vols struggled to slow them down. After OU’s Tate Santell booted his fourth field goal and second from 55 yards early in the fourth quarter to take a 26-17 lead, the Vols pushed down and had a 4th and 1 in OU territory. Aguilar threw to backup TE Jake Van Dorselaer, who turned and looked for the ball late as it bounced off his facemask and to the turf, and the Vols were in a terrible spot with around 8 minutes left.
A late interception by Edwin Spillman gave Tennessee a sliver of life, and Tennessee drove 55 yards and got in the end zone on a pass to Mike Matthews with a little under 2 minutes left. However, an onside kick recovery by OU was followed by a 43-yard run to the 1 and a touchdown on the next play to slam the door shut.
The loss pretty much knocks Tennessee out of the College Football Playoff, so now it’s just a matter of what lower-tier bowl Tennessee will end up at. Next up is homecoming against New Mexico State on 11/15 after a bye.
