KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After a 10-3 first half that saw the Vols down, special teams quickly evened it. After Tennessee and Texas traded stalled drives, Qua Moss returned a Texas punt 57 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 10 after a Cooper Ranvier extra point.
Then, on Texas’ next drive, the Longhorns got into range and took the lead on a 44-yard field goal by Gianni Spetic. Tennessee gave up 45 yards on one play. Manning completed a 30-yard pass to Cam Coleman, and a 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty was added to the end of that play.
However, the Vols’ offense continued to struggle moving the ball. Faizon Brandon ran for 15 yards and a first down, and then the drive stalled. After Daune Morris gained four yards on first down, Brandon took back-to-back sacks from Colin Simmons. Simmons got the best of David Sanders on the first play and played as a spy on the next play. Just when Brandon tried to escape to the left, he was there. That drive put Simmons up to four sacks on the day.
Texas went three-and-out, and once again, the Vol defense did its job. But after a few plays, the ball was right back in their hands. Brandon did complete a nice tunnel screen to Mike Matthews for 18 yards, but the drive stalled after that.
Texas kept trying to establish the run in the second half. On the next drive, which crossed over into the fourth quarter, the Longhorns ran the ball on four consecutive plays for 17 yards. Then, Tyree Weathersby and Isaiah Campbell got to Manning for a sack to set up a third-and-seven, and after a holding call on third down, the Longhorns punted it away.
On their own 29-yard line, the Vols went for it on fourth-and-one, and Morris barely got the line to gain. Brandon continued to struggle in the pass game, and so did the offensive line. He was sacked twice on the drive. The speed and scheme of the Longhorns’ defense may have aided in his indecisiveness to some degree. Hero Kanu and Simmons recorded the sacks on that drive. Simmons tied the program record with his fifth sack.
After Manning opened the following drive by taking a sack from Mariyon Dye, the Longhorns committed to the run and gained 36 yards on the ground on the 60-yard drive. Raleek Brown capped it with a four-yard touchdown run to put Texas up 20-10 with 5:41 left after the extra point.
Brandon took another sack on fourth down on the next drive. That was the eighth sack of the day for Texas’ front.
Then, after getting the ball back, Manning was faced with a three-and-out, which saw Tyree Weathersby record another sack to move him to 2.5 on the day.
Brandon and the Vols’ offense finally moved the ball down the field for the first offensive touchdown of the day. The 10-play, 82-yard drive took 2:45 off the clock. DaSaahn Brame logged two catches for 20 yards on the drive, and Brandon made plays with his legs before hitting Matthews on a 30-yard touchdown pass to bring Tennessee within three.
Then, when all seemed lost, the Vols recovered the onside kick to give them one more shot. However, the drive went as most of the game did. Brandon saw immense pressure, and aside from a face mask penalty on Texas and a short run by Brandon, it came down to a hectic last heave to the end zone that came up empty.
Texas held on for the 20-17 win, and it came down to my pregame key and what the message was all week. Whoever won the battle up front would win the game. Tennessee gave up 10 sacks to the Longhorns, with five to Simmons alone. An offense that averaged just under 300 rushing yards coming into the day saw just 70 net rushing yards on 44 attempts. Brandon accounted for 23 of those attempts, and that came from being on the run from the Texas defensive front. Brandon lost 73 yards on sacks.
