The Tennessee Vols made it interesting in the fourth quarter, but they held on to defeat the Arkansas Razorbacks 34-31 on Saturday evening at Neyland Stadium.
Joey Aguilar and the passing attack had a relatively muted game, going 16/25 for 221 yards and a touchdown. However, Aguilar extended his NCAA-best 200+ yard passing streak to 30 games. DeSean Bishop ran for 146 yards and a touchdown before leaving in the third quarter with an apparent leg injury. Braylon Staley, who also left the game in the second
half with an apparent injury, led all pass catchers with 6 catches for 109 yards.
Tennessee’s defense started off on its heels, as the Hogs went 75 yards in 9 plays for a 7-0 lead. Tennessee drove 75 yards on their own first drive over 7 plays and punched it in on a 17-yard Bishop run. In fact, that would be the story of the first half, matching Arkansas scores with Tennessee scores. After both teams traded field goals, Arkansas went back up by a touchdown on an 11-play, 6-minute drive over 75 yards that ended on a Mike Washington, Jr. 1-yard touchdown run. Tennessee answered back quickly after Staley turned in a 42-yard catch to get Tennessee into Arkansas territory. Aguilar found Kitselman near the corner of the end zone from 8 yards to tie the game at 17, which would be the halftime score.
The second half hit a defensive stalemate for much of the third quarter. Tennessee’s offense notched a field goal and punted twice, but the defense answered the call with a forced fumble in the red zone, a turnover on downs, and a three-and-out over the Hogs’ next three possessions. And that opened the door for Tennessee to take the lead. Bishop scrambled down to the Arkansas 7-yard line late in the third quarter, but he was brought down on a hip drop tackle that put him down for a while. He got up under his own power and walked off, but he did not return to the game and was declared out on the broadcast. Peyton Lewis powered in from 2 yards to give Tennesee a 27-=17 lead.
From there, the Vols put some distance between them and Arkansas in the fourth quarter. Joshua Josephs forced a Taylen Green fumble early in the fourth quarter where he chased the fleet-footed QB down from behind and hit him as he was throwing. It was ruled a fumble recovered by Tennessee at the Arkansas 19 on the field and was upheld after review. Four plays later, Lewis bowled across the goal line for a 34-17 lead.
But Tennessee would let Arkansas get back into it. The Hogs went 81 yards in 5 minutes and found the end zone on a 9-yard touchdown to Rohan Jones. Tennessee failed to convert on third down and had a 4th and 3 at the Arkansas 44 with a chance to effectively put the game away. However, Josh Heupel elected to punt instead with 5 minutes left, and the Hogs would turn it into 7 more points 80 yards later. With a little under 3 minutes left, a coverage bust left Arkansas WR Kam Shanks wide open in the middle of the end zone, and suddenly it’s 34-31.
Aguilar took things into his own hands then, running for 28 yards into Arkansas territory on the first play and giving the crowd a scare when he stayed on the ground. Fortunately, he got up and was able to go back in. Three runs later, and Tennessee picked up the game-clinching first down on the ground and kneeled it out for the win.
Up next: you all know. It’s now Alabama week.
