No. 15 Tennessee football visited Arkansas for a chance to improve to 5-1 on the season. After an ugly performance, the Vols escaped Fayetteville with a 24-17 win over the Razorbacks. DeSean Bishop scored with 1:57 left to put the Vols ahead for good, after starting the drive with a 59-yard run from the Vols’ own six-yard line.
As bad as Arkansas has been, Saturday was still a road Southeastern Conference game. It was 0-0 after the first quarter, as Arkansas and Tennessee both moved the ball a little but came up empty.
KJ Jackson opened the game with a completion to CJ Brown on a short route over the middle that went for 21 yards. Tennessee’s defense struggled on the opening drive to start. Jackson moved the offense to the red zone before Xavier Gilliam sacked him, forced a fumble and recovered.
George MacIntyre came out to a stacked box and found DaSaahn Brame for a short dump that went for 15 yards and a first down. Mike Matthews recorded a rush on a 10-yard end-around to get into Arkansas territory, but the drive stalled.
MacIntyre faced an Arkansas defense focused on stopping the run, and it really didn’t give up much space in the pass game early either. Cooper Ranvier attempted a 51-yard field goal, but it went wide to the left.
Qua Moss returned to the lineup and made a nice tackle out in space on a second-and-6 for a minimal result. He also returned an Arkansas punt for 20 yards in the first quarter.
Arkansas spread things out and got into five wide to find ways to get Marshall the ball a couple of times early on quick routes. However, the Razorbacks could not sustain any drives.
To start the second quarter, MacIntyre and the offense found success moving the ball, capped by a 71-yard touchdown drive that took almost five minutes off the clock. Daune Morris helped move the ball in the short pass game and in the run. Morris gained 20 yards on the ground and brought in two receptions for 21 yards.
MacIntyre then held the defense on a play fake to Morris and found Trent Thomas for a 5-yard touchdown pass to the right in wide-open space. That drive was a great mix of run and pass, and the offensive line established its win in the trenches there.
Tennessee made adjustments and got after Jackson, forcing him into uncomfortable situations after he started the game with the ability to hit receivers across the middle. Daevin Hobbs and Gilliam applied pressure to Jackson.
MacIntyre looked confident standing in the pocket. He completed a great deep ball to Braylon Staley for 35 yards with 4:16 left in the first half, but an illegal touching call wiped it off. That drive ended with MacIntyre taking a sack and a Ross punt that put Arkansas inside its 10. That was Ross’ second punt of the day placed inside the 10. The punt coverage team continued to do a great job.
The defense forced a three-and-out without having to use a timeout. Tennessee got into a third-and-11, and MacIntyre found Matthews for a 19-yard pass to get well into field goal range. Then, Bishop pushed it 8 more yards ahead with 17 seconds to go.
But on third-and-2, MacIntyre fumbled as he lost grip on the ball while trying to throw. Quincy Rhodes picked it up and ran it back deep into Tennessee territory, with Radarious Jackson saving a touchdown. That set up Max Gilbert for a short field goal, and he missed to the left. The Vols went to the half up 7-0. MacIntyre went 12 of 17 for 117 yards with one touchdown in the first half. Tennessee should have led at least 17-0 at the half, but a missed field goal and fumble changed things.
After the half, Tennessee did not come out well. A pre-snap penalty started it behind the sticks, and the Vols went on to go three-and-out. Then, Arkansas came out and ran the ball down the field for 70 yards in five plays to tie the game at 7. Arkansas gashed the Vols for two runs of 27 and 22 before finishing off the drive.
The Vols’ offensive struggles continued with a bad snap, a penalty and then an interception when MacIntyre overthrew his target.
The Razorbacks just manned up and ran the ball down the Vols’ throats. They ran on 10 consecutive plays across two drives before completing a pass to Marshall for 7 yards. Arkansas went on down the field to score on a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jaden Platt to go up 14-7. Twelve of Arkansas’ first 15 offensive snaps in the third quarter were runs, which totaled 113 yards at 9.4 yards per carry.
Tennessee responded on the next drive. After getting into a third-and-7, MacIntyre completed a 22-yard pass to Staley to keep the drive going. He showed composure for the most part this game to make throws from the pocket. Bishop also had a run for 15 yards, but on third-and-6, Staley dropped a pass from MacIntyre after Arkansas brought the house. Ranvier then nailed a 49-yard kick to cut the Arkansas lead to 14-10.
After getting the ball back just 10 seconds into the fourth quarter, Tennessee struck big on a 68-yard pass up the left side to Brame. A great run fake pulled Arkansas up and allowed Brame to make the catch and get upfield. Brame went on to top off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to give Tennessee a 17-14 lead with 12:52 to go.
A 55-yard Gilbert field goal tied the game at 17 with 7:38 to go. The Razorbacks generated just enough offensive progress on that drive, even after a sack from Tyree Weathersby.
Matthews added to his total with a 33-yard catch and run to cross into Arkansas territory. But three plays later, Christian Harrison came on a safety blitz and forced MacIntyre into a bad throw that was intercepted by Shelton Lewis. However, Arkansas did not do anything with the ball and punted to pin Tennessee deep.
That is when DeSean Bishop burst for a 59-yard run to get into Arkansas territory. Arkansas head coach Ryan Silverfield put trust in his defense by not being more aggressive on the previous offensive possession, and it backfired. Bishop went on to finish off the drive with a touchdown run to put the Vols back up by seven. That drive also gave Bishop back-to-back games with triple-digit rushing yards.
Tennessee’s defense stood when it mattered, and to the Razorbacks fans’ dislike, Silverfield elected to punt it away again with just 1:45 left. That didn’t go well for them, and the Vols were able to run out the clock to take the win.
