University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Edged in Overtime 38-31
September 30, 2000 | Football
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Quarterback Rohan Davey hasn't had a lot of chances to start. Saturday night was the third time in two years, his knee was sore and his ankle was bruised, but he was intent on making the most of it.
He did exactly that.
Davey threw a 25-yard touchdown pass - his fourth of the game - to Robert Royal on the first play of overtime to give LSU a 38-31 victory over No. 11 Tennessee.
"We always talk about playing with toughness and playing with pain," Booty said. "Well that's what I did."
It was the first overtime game in Tiger Stadium history, and sent the victory-starved LSU fans swarming onto the field after the game where they quickly toppled both goal posts.
"I feel really good for the state of Louisiana and all the people who support us," LSU coach Nick Saban said. "It was really an emotional lift for us to have a crowd like that."
After LSU scored, Tennessee drove to the 3, but third- and fourth-down passes to the end zone were broken up by cornerback Damien James.
"They weren't doing anything unexpected," said Tennessee defensive back Teddy Gaines. "We came out kind of flat and it took us a while to realize we had a ball game on our hands."
Tennessee did not score a touchdown until the third quarter, then scored 25 second-half points. The Vols, who overcame an 18-point deficit, tied it at 31 with 1:30 left in regulation on A.J. Suggs' 16-yard scoring pass to Cedrick Wilson, and Suggs' pass to Eric Parker on the 2-point conversion.
"This is one of the most hostile environments we've been in." Suggs said. "I thought we played well considering that."
LSU's John Corbello, who kicked a 47-yard field goal in the first quarter, missed a 46-yarder on the final play of regulation.
Suggs hit John Finlayson with a 7-yard scoring pass in the third quarter, and added a 16-yarder to Will Bartholomew in the fourth, and hit Donte Stallworth on the 2-point conversion.
Davey, wearing a brace on his knee because of tendinitis and limping on an ankle injured late in the second quarter, threw four touchdown passes in his first start of the year.
In regulation, Davey threw touchdown passes of 16, 31 and 53 yards to Josh Reed. The LSU offense, which managed only one touchdown last week in a 13-10 home loss to Alabama-Birmingham, amassed 460 total yards against Tennessee.
It's the first time LSU (3-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) has beaten a ranked team since 1998, and just the fourth victory against an SEC team in three years.
"We knew that we had to come in and it was do or die," Reed said. "We wanted to get a victory in SEC play."
Tennessee (2-2, 0-2) was making its first road trip of the year. The Volunteers had not played in Baton Rouge since 1993 and had not lost in Tiger Stadium since 1974.
Davey replaced Josh Booty, the starter in the first four LSU games. Booty fell out of favor when, with 30 seconds, left and the score tied against UAB, he tried to ad-lib a play but instead he threw his fourth interception of the game to set up UAB's winning field goal.
Davey completed 23 of 35 passes for 318 yards and no interceptions. Reed had seven catches for 146 yards.
LSU running back LaBrandon Toefield rushed 15 times for 120 yards and a touchdown against the SEC's stingiest rushing defense.
"They played exceptionally well and they were coached and ready to play," said Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer. "It just goes to show how much emotion plays into this game."
LSU scored on its first possession, moving only 35 yards, but getting close enough for a field goal that made it 3-0 1:23 into the game.
By halftime the Tigers were ahead 24-6 as a surprisingly effective offense moved the ball and the hustling defense harried the Tennessee quarterbacks and held Travis Henry to just 43 yards rushing in the first half and 89 yards on the game.
After trading a pair of 47-yard field goals in the first quarter, LSU put up three first-half touchdowns against a defense that had given up just five TDs in the previous three games.
Davey hit Reed for a 16-yard touchdown two minutes into the second quarter. The pair connected again with 5:48 left in the half on a 31-yard scoring pass.
In between the two touchdown passes, Toefield ran 74 yards to score. The run was the longest rushing touchdown for LSU since 1998. Tennessee had allowed only 47.7 rushing yards per game and a single 25-yard run had been the biggest gain against the Volunteers.
Tennessee managed 132 yards in the first half, but produced only a second field goal by Alex Walls, a 36-yarder in the second quarter. Walls also kicked a 46-yarder in the third quarter.
Tennessee adjusted at halftime and held LSU to 17 yards total in the third quarter while the Volunteers gained 101.
Suggs completed 37 of 59 passes for 319 yards as LSU pressured him all game.
A crowd of 91,682 watched the game. It was the largest crowd to see a sporting event in Louisiana and the first sellout since LSU expanded the stadium to the fourth-largest on-campus stadium in the country.
