University of Tennessee Athletics
No. 19 Tennessee Defeats Duke 23-6
November 01, 2003 | Football
Nov. 1, 2003
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KNOXVILLE (AP) - Chris Hannon caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Casey Clausen and Jabari Davis rushed for a season-high 113 yards to help No. 19 Tennessee defeat Duke 23-6 Saturday.
Tennessee, leading 9-6 early in the fourth quarter, got some momentum when Duke's Jamin Pastore fumbled on a punt return and Corey Larkins recovered it at the Duke 37.
When Clausen capped a six-play drive with his scoring pass to Hannon with 11:10 left, the crowd cheered in relief.
Tennessee improved its November mark to 61-4 since 1985 and is now 61-16-3 in Homecoming games.
But the loudest cheers of the game came when the score of the Florida-Georgia game was announced with 2? minutes left.
The Gators' 16-13 victory tied them with Georgia and Tennessee for the lead of the Southeastern Conference East division title.
Tennessee needed the Gators to win to get back into the Southeastern Conference East division race. Now all three teams are tied for the division lead.
"We got some big help today," Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said. "We're alive again and hope to finish this season in grand style."
Gerald Riggs, the third-string tailback, scored on a 12-yard run with 4:20 to seal the win--his first collegiate scoring play.
The Blue Devils (2-7), who have not beaten a ranked team since 1994's victory over then-No. 23 Virginia, played well behind the running of Chris Douglas and Cedric Dargan.
Douglas finished with 128 yards on 29 carries, his fourth game with 100 yards or more, as the Blue Devils rolled up 299 yards on offense.
The Tennessee players and coaches heard score updates from Florida throughout the game, but Duke gave them plenty to worryabout here.
"We knew if we lost the game our season was a wash," linebacker Kevin Simon said. "We couldn't listen or worry aboutthe Florida-Georgia game because we were tied 6-6 with Duke."
Ted Roof, in his second game since he was promoted from defensive coordinator to interim coach Oct. 19 when head coach Carl Franks was fired, used Adam Smith and Chris Dapolito at quarterback and kept Tennessee's defense busy.
The Blue Devils had two fourth-quarter drives reach inside the Tennessee 20, but they came away with no points on two missed field goals.
Clausen won his 30th game as a starter to be the only other quarterback besides Peyton Manning with at least 30 wins. With 208 yards passing, he passed Kentucky's Tim Couch (8,435) for 10th-place on the SEC's all-time list with 8,528 yards.
The teams were tied at halftime after scoring two field goals apiece.
Clausen completed a 40-yard pass to Tony Brown to start the second quarter, but Tennessee lost two yards taking a knee after a bad snap on the next play. The Vols settled for James Wilhoit's 45-yard field goal to end the drive.
Brent Garber kicked a 54-yarder for Duke, and Wilhoit added a 38-yard field goal.
Duke got the ball last in the second half and drove 71 yards to the Tennessee 20, where Matt Brooks tied the game with a 37-yard field goal as time ran out.
he Vols played without starting tailback Cedric Houston with asprained ankle and safety Rashad Baker with a sprained knee.
After Miami, Tennessee finishes the season against Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Kentucky.
