Latest / SEC Football Addiction / Tennessee Just SURPRISED Me With WIN Against Arkansas Razorbacks! | Vols Football
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: 25 years. That's how long it had been. 2001, Phillip
- 0:05Speaker 1: Fulmer on the sideline. The last time a Tennessee football
- 0:09Speaker 1: team walked out of Razorback Stadium with a win. Since then,
- 0:12Speaker 1: four trips to Fayetteville, four losses. And you don't need
- 0:17Speaker 1: me to remind you about the last one. I was
- 0:19Speaker 1: actually in Tallahassee when that happened, watching it from a
- 0:22Speaker 1: suite inside of Doak Campbell Stadium, and I could not
- 0:25Speaker 1: believe what I was seeing on the TV screens. October
- 0:29Speaker 1: of 2024, Tennessee's ranked number four and leaves the stadium
- 0:33Speaker 1: with a 19 to 14 loss that sent the entire
- 0:36Speaker 1: fan base into a spiral. So when the schedule came
- 0:39Speaker 1: out and you saw at Arkansas sitting there in October,
- 0:43Speaker 1: you knew. Didn't matter what the record said. It didn't
- 0:46Speaker 1: matter that Arkansas came into this game two and three.
- 0:49Speaker 1: They didn't matter that they were winless in the conference.
- 0:52Speaker 1: Didn't matter that they were coming off of a beating
- 0:54Speaker 1: at the hands of Texas A & M. It didn't
- 0:56Speaker 1: matter that Tennessee was favored by two touchdowns. That place
- 0:59Speaker 1: seems to have a way of doing things to the volunteers.
- 1:02Speaker 1: And this week, Tennessee walked in with a brand new
- 1:05Speaker 1: starting quarterback, a kid making his first college start on
- 1:10Speaker 1: the road. in the building where good Tennessee teams go
- 1:13Speaker 1: to have bad afternoons. This is T.J. Pittenger, SEC Football Addiction.
- 1:17Speaker 1: We are presented by PrizePix. All new users on that
- 1:21Speaker 1: app get $ 150 in lineups instantly when they were in
- 1:24Speaker 1: their first $ 5 lineup using code HMA. The guy on
- 1:28Speaker 1: the other sideline who nearly broke your hearts on Saturday,
- 1:32Speaker 1: he used to wear orange. Here's where we were coming
- 1:36Speaker 1: into this one. Tennessee was 4-0. The one loss on
- 1:40Speaker 1: the resume was a 20 to 17 heartbreaker against then
- 1:44Speaker 1: number one team, Texas. The game where Faison Brandon got
- 1:48Speaker 1: sacked a million times, hurt his shoulder. Then against Auburn,
- 1:52Speaker 1: Brandon started three of eight for zero yards, had a
- 1:55Speaker 1: pick before Josh Heupel pulled him in the second quarter.
- 1:59Speaker 1: George McIntyre came in, he went eight for 10 and
- 2:02Speaker 1: Deshaun Bishop ran for 220 yards to carry the Vols
- 2:05Speaker 1: to a 24 to 14 win. Reports started to flow
- 2:09Speaker 1: through the week that it would likely be McIntyre. Brandon
- 2:13Speaker 1: was listed as questionable. And Tennessee, when they took the
- 2:16Speaker 1: field in Fayetteville, it was George. It was a Franklin,
- 2:20Speaker 1: Tennessee kid. Brentwood Academy, former four-star, first career start. And early,
- 2:25Speaker 1: I think it looked fine. I think it looked better
- 2:26Speaker 1: than fine. The first quarter was a rock fight. Nobody scores.
- 2:30Speaker 1: You've got punts all over. But early in the second quarter,
- 2:34Speaker 1: McIntyre put together exactly the kind of drive you want
- 2:37Speaker 1: from a guy who plays in his first start. 10 plays,
- 2:40Speaker 1: 71 yards. He went 5 of 6 on the drive.
- 2:43Speaker 1: He hit Staley on a catch and run for 22 yards,
- 2:46Speaker 1: and then he capped it with a play-action throw to
- 2:49Speaker 1: tight end Trent Thomas in the flat for a 5-yard touchdown.
- 2:52Speaker 1: All of a sudden, it's 7-0 Tennessee. Meanwhile, the defense
- 2:55Speaker 1: was choking the life out of the Arkansas offense. The
- 2:58Speaker 1: Razorbacks had 99 yards, if I'm adding it up correctly,
- 3:02Speaker 1: of total offense in the entire first half. Tennessee forced,
- 3:06Speaker 1: I believe, five three and outs on the day. So
- 3:09Speaker 1: you're sitting there at the end of the second quarter thinking, okay,
- 3:13Speaker 1: this isn't pretty, but it's mostly under control. And then
- 3:17Speaker 1: with seconds left in the first half, it nearly all
- 3:20Speaker 1: came apart. Tennessee's infield goal range, trying to add three
- 3:24Speaker 1: before the break, and McIntyre goes to throw. The ball
- 3:27Speaker 1: comes out. It looked like Bishop actually clipped his arm
- 3:30Speaker 1: on the throw. You've got a fumble. Arkansas's defensive lineman,
- 3:34Speaker 1: Quincy Rhodes Jr., scoops it up, and he is gone,
- 3:36Speaker 1: 58 yards the other way, headed for the end zone,
- 3:40Speaker 1: and the only two guys chasing him are your quarterback
- 3:43Speaker 1: and a wide receiver. McIntyre grabs at his foot. He
- 3:46Speaker 1: slows him down just enough, and Jackson brings him down
- 3:49Speaker 1: with just three seconds left. It's a huge play in
- 3:52Speaker 1: this game that should absolutely not be forgotten. Because instead
- 3:56Speaker 1: of a touchdown, Arkansas has to settle for a 38-yard
- 3:59Speaker 1: field goal try. And Max Gilbert, the guy who kicked
- 4:02Speaker 1: for Tennessee, the guy who transferred to Arkansas in January,
- 4:05Speaker 1: he pulls it wide. And you're able to exhale just
- 4:08Speaker 1: a bit. 7-0 Tennessee at the half. And then the
- 4:11Speaker 1: third quarter happens. Tennessee goes three and out to open
- 4:15Speaker 1: the half. Arkansas takes over and does something that it
- 4:18Speaker 1: hadn't done all day. It runs right at the Tennessee defense.
- 4:23Speaker 1: Rushes of 27 and 22 yards. You had five plays,
- 4:28Speaker 1: 70 yards, and Russell walks into the end zone from
- 4:33Speaker 1: nine yards out. All of a sudden, we've got a
- 4:35Speaker 1: tie game at 7-7. The next Tennessee drive, McIntyre takes
- 4:40Speaker 1: a deep shot, and it's picked off. Arkansas gets the
- 4:44Speaker 1: ball back, goes 10 plays, and they find the end
- 4:46Speaker 1: zone again. All of a sudden, it's 14-7. For the
- 4:51Speaker 1: first time all day, Tennessee is trailing in a game that, frankly,
- 4:54Speaker 1: had no business trailing in. You could almost feel it,
- 4:58Speaker 1: couldn't you? I'm watching it as I'm driving back from
- 5:01Speaker 1: Tallahassee on my iPad, and every Tennessee fan had to
- 5:05Speaker 1: be thinking the same thing I was. Here we go again.
- 5:10Speaker 1: To Tennessee's credit, they answered. Short drive. You knock through
- 5:14Speaker 1: a long field goal. It's 14-10 heading into the fourth quarter.
- 5:19Speaker 1: And then came the throw of the day. Early in
- 5:22Speaker 1: the fourth, McIntyre sees Brame get a step on the defender,
- 5:26Speaker 1: and he drops a seam throw right into his hands.
- 5:29Speaker 1: In stride, it's 68 yards into the red zone, and
- 5:33Speaker 1: then Brame himself, lined up at fullback, punches it in
- 5:36Speaker 1: on third and goal from just a yard out. All
- 5:40Speaker 1: of a sudden, you've got your lead back, and Arkansas,
- 5:44Speaker 1: of course, would not go away. Max Gilbert lines up
- 5:47Speaker 1: from 55 yards. He's got a career long. It's split
- 5:50Speaker 1: right down the middle, 17 to 17 with 720 left.
- 5:54Speaker 1: You can't script those kind of things. The former volunteer
- 5:57Speaker 1: kicker in the stadium where Tennessee can't win, tying the
- 5:59Speaker 1: game in the fourth quarter. If you're a Tennessee fan,
- 6:02Speaker 1: that is certainly the moment that your stomach drops. It
- 6:05Speaker 1: got worse before it got better, too. McIntyre got hit
- 6:08Speaker 1: as he threw on the next drive, and that was
- 6:10Speaker 1: picked off. His second pick of the day, third turnover overall,
- 6:14Speaker 1: but the defense did its job. They held Arkansas near
- 6:18Speaker 1: midfield on a three and out and forced a punt.
- 6:22Speaker 1: Tennessee got the ball back on their own six-yard line.
- 6:24Speaker 1: 94 yards. Tied game, fourth quarter, on the road in Fayetteville.
- 6:31Speaker 1: And to me, that's the turning point. It started with
- 6:34Speaker 1: Deshaun Bishop doing what Bishop does. Takes a handoff, bounces
- 6:37Speaker 1: to the sideline, goes for 59 yards. You've got a
- 6:42Speaker 1: team backed up. And immediately the field is flipped like that.
- 6:47Speaker 1: The entire stadium, what little bit of fan support they
- 6:50Speaker 1: had there in Arkansas goes quiet. Tennessee is almost immediately
- 6:54Speaker 1: in field goal range. A couple more runs, a big-time penalty.
- 6:59Speaker 1: Got Tennessee in goal-to-go situation with 157 to go. Bishop
- 7:03Speaker 1: goes in from several yards out. 24-17. Then that same
- 7:07Speaker 1: Tennessee defense that had gotten pushed around for two drives
- 7:10Speaker 1: in that third quarter slams the door. Three plays, three incompletions.
- 7:15Speaker 1: Arkansas has to punt with a minute 42 left. Tennessee
- 7:18Speaker 1: is able to end the game there. McIntyre takes a
- 7:21Speaker 1: knee to have a final score of 24-17. Again, the
- 7:25Speaker 1: first win in Fayetteville since 2001. Was it pretty? Absolutely not.
- 7:31Speaker 1: Was it the blowout that many people predicted? Not even
- 7:34Speaker 1: close to that. But it was a road win in
- 7:36Speaker 1: the SEC, and a win in the SEC is never
- 7:40Speaker 1: to be taken for granted. And this one came at
- 7:42Speaker 1: a place that has been a house of horrors for
- 7:44Speaker 1: this program for a quarter century. So I want to
- 7:48Speaker 1: get into three quick takeaways. Before I do that, I
- 7:51Speaker 1: want to tell you about our new poll. This will
- 7:53Speaker 1: be open in just about five hours. It's 930 when
- 7:55Speaker 1: I'm releasing this. It'll be open at 2 a.m. Eastern Time,
- 7:58Speaker 1: 1 o'clock there in Central Time if you guys are
- 8:02Speaker 1: in the western part of Tennessee. Go to CFATop25. com. You
- 8:08Speaker 1: can vote in this poll. All you got to do
- 8:10Speaker 1: is log in real quick. I'm tired of the AP
- 8:12Speaker 1: poll being absolute trash, so I created my own. CFATop25. com.
- 8:18Speaker 1: Link is in the description. Go check it out. Three
- 8:21Speaker 1: big takeaways. Number one, George McIntyre's first start felt like
- 8:24Speaker 1: an entire season was packed into one afternoon. And I
- 8:27Speaker 1: mean that literally. Look at what he had to go through.
- 8:30Speaker 1: You think he started pretty quickly, went 5 of 6
- 8:33Speaker 1: on their opening touchdown drive? Had a nice play-action throw
- 8:36Speaker 1: for the score. He looked pretty confident. He had a
- 8:39Speaker 1: fumble right before halftime that nearly went the other way
- 8:41Speaker 1: for six, if not for his heroics. He had a
- 8:45Speaker 1: deep ball. In the third, that was read really well
- 8:48Speaker 1: from the snap, which was picked off. You had the
- 8:50Speaker 1: 68-yard strike to Brame, which was a big boy type
- 8:53Speaker 1: of throw right in stride. It was on target. It
- 8:56Speaker 1: was on time. It was a moment where the game
- 8:58Speaker 1: might have been slipping away. Then he got a second interception.
- 9:02Speaker 1: And then on the drive that mattered most, he made
- 9:04Speaker 1: the throws and set up the offense in the way
- 9:07Speaker 1: that they needed to to take care of the football
- 9:09Speaker 1: and go get the win. Final stat line really wasn't
- 9:12Speaker 1: bad at all. 18 of 29. two 47 had a touchdown,
- 9:15Speaker 1: two picks. Plus he had the fumble, but he seemed
- 9:19Speaker 1: to lead this offense. And I don't know how you
- 9:22Speaker 1: grade that specifically. Certainly you'd like to have the turnovers back,
- 9:26Speaker 1: but I'd also rather have the turnovers in a game
- 9:28Speaker 1: where it doesn't cost me. And I can learn from it.
- 9:31Speaker 1: You can't ignore the three giveaways and a lot of
- 9:33Speaker 1: sec games that would have gotten you beat. And it
- 9:35Speaker 1: almost did today, but I do keep coming back to
- 9:38Speaker 1: the fumble. I love the effort. The quarterback who just
- 9:42Speaker 1: coughed it up is the one sprinting downfield, grabbing a
- 9:45Speaker 1: defensive lineman by the legs and saving a touchdown. Might've
- 9:49Speaker 1: been the difference in the game. I think it tells
- 9:51Speaker 1: you something about his heart and the way that he plays.
- 9:55Speaker 1: You have to remember the context. It's his first career
- 9:57Speaker 1: start on the road in a building that you just
- 10:00Speaker 1: can't find a way to win in and a fan
- 10:02Speaker 1: base that's been waiting a quarter century to find a
- 10:04Speaker 1: win there he didn't flinch when he got ugly he
- 10:07Speaker 1: made the throws when they mattered the most that flipped
- 10:10Speaker 1: this game and it leads us to an important question
- 10:14Speaker 1: what happens next week is Faison healthy Is George the
- 10:18Speaker 1: guy now because of the confidence that he had through
- 10:21Speaker 1: this game? Heibel spent all week saying that Brandon was
- 10:25Speaker 1: still working through the injury from the Texas game. He
- 10:27Speaker 1: also said that he trusts both guys. Brandon is the five-star.
- 10:30Speaker 1: He's the one with the legs. He's the guy who
- 10:32Speaker 1: maybe gives you an extra dimension in the run game.
- 10:34Speaker 1: When he was healthy through the first three weeks, he
- 10:36Speaker 1: looked like the future. So if Brandon's healthy, does he
- 10:40Speaker 1: get the job back or does McIntyre's fourth quarter poise
- 10:43Speaker 1: buy him another start? I don't necessarily think there's a
- 10:46Speaker 1: wrong answer. But I do think that we will probably
- 10:49Speaker 1: see McIntyre if I had to guess. I'm also not
- 10:52Speaker 1: Josh Heupel, as you guys can look at me and tell.
- 10:56Speaker 1: I think there needs to be a real decision made,
- 11:00Speaker 1: and then that guy needs to get the first string
- 11:02Speaker 1: reps for the entire week. This is not a week
- 11:05Speaker 1: that you can sleep on as I'm watching the Georgia-Bama
- 11:07Speaker 1: game right now as I record. The worst thing that
- 11:10Speaker 1: Tennessee could do is half-commit and spend the week trying
- 11:13Speaker 1: to figure it out. Whoever that guy is needs to
- 11:15Speaker 1: know what this plan is for Bama. and roll with it.
- 11:19Speaker 1: There's no room next week for three turnovers. Takeaway number two,
- 11:22Speaker 1: I feel like I talk about him every week when
- 11:24Speaker 1: we talk about Tennessee. Deshaun Bishop is the heartbeat of
- 11:26Speaker 1: this offense, and I think that's both good news and
- 11:29Speaker 1: bad news. Start with the good. He had 19 carries
- 11:32Speaker 1: for 138 yards. He had the game-winning touchdown. That was
- 11:37Speaker 1: one week after he ran for 220 against Auburn. The
- 11:40Speaker 1: 59-yard run on the final drive was the play of
- 11:42Speaker 1: the game to me on I'm going to count McIntyre's
- 11:45Speaker 1: tackle as a defensive play, even though the offense was
- 11:48Speaker 1: on the field. And I think that touchdown carried some
- 11:51Speaker 1: history with it, didn't it? That was Bishop's 27th career
- 11:54Speaker 1: rushing touchdown, which ties him with Beattie Feathers and Andy
- 11:57Speaker 1: Kosar for sixth in Tennessee history. School record right now
- 12:02Speaker 1: is 37, just if anyone wants to keep count. This
- 12:05Speaker 1: is a Carnes High kid. He's a local guy that
- 12:08Speaker 1: is running his way into the record books. You love
- 12:10Speaker 1: to see that, but here's the honest part. You take
- 12:13Speaker 1: away his 59-yarder, and Bishop had 79 yards on 18 carries.
- 12:18Speaker 1: Heibel said before the game he was weary of Arkansas' big,
- 12:21Speaker 1: thick defensive front, and for a lot of the afternoon,
- 12:24Speaker 1: that front held up. The Tennessee run game was bottled
- 12:28Speaker 1: up until that one run on the final drive. And
- 12:30Speaker 1: if you step back and look at the bigger picture,
- 12:32Speaker 1: in three SEC games, Tennessee has scored 17, 24, and
- 12:37Speaker 1: 24 points. That 17-point game, you had a punt return
- 12:41Speaker 1: touchdown that gave you seven of them. It's not looking
- 12:45Speaker 1: like a Josh Heupel offense. There's not the tempo, explosive
- 12:49Speaker 1: score in two minutes attack that this program built its
- 12:51Speaker 1: identity on. And that is somewhat understandable with the quarterback
- 12:55Speaker 1: situation right now, but it is certainly something to take
- 12:58Speaker 1: note of. Now that can beat Arkansas. We saw it
- 13:01Speaker 1: can beat Auburn. Can it beat Alabama? That's the question
- 13:05Speaker 1: we'll spend all week trying to figure out because Alabama
- 13:08Speaker 1: came into this weekend having scored 49 or more in
- 13:10Speaker 1: three straight games. If Tennessee needs 30-plus next Saturday, it's
- 13:16Speaker 1: going to have to find points from somewhere other than
- 13:18Speaker 1: just Deshaun Bishop breaking one long run in the fourth quarter.
- 13:22Speaker 1: The passing game has shown flashes. Brame on the 68-yarder,
- 13:25Speaker 1: Staley on the catch-and-run. Trent Thomas, the tight ends in particular,
- 13:30Speaker 1: gave Arkansas problems. That is certainly something to build on,
- 13:34Speaker 1: but I think it has to be more consistent. I
- 13:36Speaker 1: think it has to show up before the fourth quarter.
- 13:39Speaker 1: Takeaway number three, this defense can be great. I just
- 13:42Speaker 1: need to see it for all four quarters. I want
- 13:44Speaker 1: to give them their flowers first because I think they've
- 13:46Speaker 1: earned them. First half total, 99 yards allowed. Five three
- 13:50Speaker 1: and outs forced on the day. When the game was
- 13:53Speaker 1: on the line, they held Arkansas near midfield after the
- 13:56Speaker 1: second pick, and then they protected a seven-point lead with
- 14:00Speaker 1: less than two minutes to go, forcing another three and
- 14:02Speaker 1: out there. That's what closing looks like. TJ Metcalf led with,
- 14:09Speaker 1: I believe, nine tackles in the game, three of them solo.
- 14:13Speaker 1: And remember, Arkansas only finished with 288 total yards. Tennessee
- 14:17Speaker 1: outgained them by more than 100 yards. But there was
- 14:20Speaker 1: a stretch in this game where Tennessee's coaches are going
- 14:23Speaker 1: to want to watch this over and over again this week.
- 14:27Speaker 1: The first two drives of that third quarter, Arkansas was
- 14:30Speaker 1: a team that was barely averaging double digits against power
- 14:34Speaker 1: four opponents coming in. And they came out of the
- 14:36Speaker 1: locker room and they leaned on that Tennessee front, something
- 14:39Speaker 1: we haven't really seen yet this year. Five plays, 70 yards,
- 14:43Speaker 1: then 10 plays and a touchdown after the pick. Two
- 14:46Speaker 1: straight touchdown drives and a big chunk of Arkansas's rushing
- 14:49Speaker 1: yards for the entire game came right there. Some of
- 14:52Speaker 1: that is the offense putting them in bad spots. The
- 14:55Speaker 1: interception gave Arkansas a shortish field. Fair enough. But the
- 14:58Speaker 1: first drive, that was a 70-yard march where Arkansas simply
- 15:02Speaker 1: wanted the point of attack. That can't happen next week
- 15:04Speaker 1: against Alabama. Here's what gives me hope, though. The response
- 15:08Speaker 1: was huge. A lot of Tennessee defenses in that building
- 15:12Speaker 1: in that moment, down 14-7 with the crowd going crazy, fold.
- 15:16Speaker 1: This one tightened up. After those two drives, Arkansas managed
- 15:20Speaker 1: a field goal, and that's it. It took a 55-yard
- 15:23Speaker 1: career long from Gilbert to get anything else. So the
- 15:26Speaker 1: defense has shown you its ceiling, and they've done it
- 15:30Speaker 1: for large parts of this year. Now they need to
- 15:32Speaker 1: raise their floor. Let's bring this whole thing home. Tennessee's 5-1.
- 15:38Speaker 1: They're 2-1 in the SEC. And they just did something
- 15:41Speaker 1: this program hasn't done since 2001. I think that matters.
- 15:45Speaker 1: Don't let anybody tell you that it doesn't. Those losses
- 15:48Speaker 1: in Fayetteville have hung around this program for years. And
- 15:51Speaker 1: on Saturday, with a first-time starter at QB and a
- 15:54Speaker 1: former teammate kicking against them, Tennessee found a way. They
- 15:57Speaker 1: fumbled it away. They threw it away twice. And they
- 16:01Speaker 1: still found a way to win. They gave up the
- 16:03Speaker 1: lead in the third quarter and still won. They watched
- 16:06Speaker 1: Max Gilbert tie it with a 55-yarder and still won.
- 16:09Speaker 1: That is not nothing. It's the kind of game that
- 16:12Speaker 1: tells you something about a locker room. But it's also
- 16:15Speaker 1: the kind of game that tells you how much work
- 16:17Speaker 1: there is to do. This is not a great Arkansas team.
- 16:21Speaker 1: Let's not pretend that it is. Hopefully nobody's going to
- 16:24Speaker 1: be in the comments saying, hey, TJ, you're just gassing
- 16:26Speaker 1: us up too much. No, Arkansas is not good. There's
- 16:29Speaker 1: a lot of work to do with the quarterback position.
- 16:31Speaker 1: This offense is leaning really hard on that running back room,
- 16:35Speaker 1: and they're handling it. The defense seemed to take about
- 16:38Speaker 1: a 15-minute nap coming out of halftime, and now we
- 16:41Speaker 1: get to the third Saturday in October. Alabama Crimson Tide
- 16:46Speaker 1: at Neyland Stadium, seven days from right now. Arkansas let
- 16:51Speaker 1: Tennessee make mistakes and survive. I don't think Alabama will.
- 16:56Speaker 1: So you should enjoy this if you're a Tennessee fan.
- 17:00Speaker 1: 5-1 is still 5-1. You waited 25 years to win
- 17:03Speaker 1: in this stadium, and you've got a week to fix
- 17:06Speaker 1: everything else. I appreciate you guys, as always, for tuning in.
- 17:10Speaker 1: I would love to hear your thoughts down in the comments.
- 17:12Speaker 1: We appreciate our friends over at PrizePix. We're all new
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- 17:18Speaker 1: in lineups instantly if they use code HMA. We will
- 17:21Speaker 1: see you on the next one here on SEC Football Addictions.