UT vs. UK Halftime Notes

Nov. 15, 2014

11.15_UT-UK_Halftime_Notes 

HALFTIME NOTES

TENNESSEE TIDBITS

At the half, Tennessee leads Kentucky, 33-13.
With a lost coin toss to Kentucky, the Vols have now lost 15 of their last 16 flips in regulation play.
Tennessee's 33 points in the first half are their most since leading Austin Peay 42-0 in the first half on Aug. 31, 2013 and the most vs. an SEC opponent since Nov. 22, 2003 when the Vols led Vanderbilt 41-0 at the half.
Tonight's attendance: 102, 455. The crowd against Kentucky marks the fourth sellout of the year for Tennessee. For the first time since 2007, the Vols have hosted four sellout crowds of 102,455 in a single season.

TENNESSEE CAPTAINS

#11 Joshua Dobbs, #45 A.J. Johnson and #56 Curt Maggitt represented the Vols for the pregame coin toss.

VFL LEGEND OF THE GAME

VFL Kevin Mays (1991-94) was honored in a pregame ceremony before the Kentucky-Tennessee game as the Vols' Legend of the Game.
As a four-year letterman at UT, the Mays was an All-SEC selection as an offensive guard in 1994.
Mays began his career as a defensive tackle in the 1991-92 seasons before moving to offense in 1993.
The Kingston, Tenn., native was also an SEC Academic Honor Roll selection as a senior.

FOR STARTERS

#12 Emmanuel Moseley started in place of #56 Curt Maggitt against Kentucky. With the start, Moseley is now the 10th true freshman (including #25 Aaron Medley) to make a start for the Vols, giving Tennessee the second-most true freshman starts in the country (Tulane, 12).
#80 Daniel Helm made his second career start at tight end, his first start since Sept. 13 at Oklahoma.
#48 Alex Ellis made his first career start as part of the Vols' two tight end set against the Wildcats.
Tennessee started five true freshman against Kentucky: #1 Jalen Hurd (TB), #73 Jason Robertson (RG), #80 Daniel Helm (TE), #9 Derek Barnett (DE) and #12 Emmanuel Moseley (CB).
Tennessee has played 23 true freshman this season, the most for any FBS program in the nation.

OFFENSE

Quarterback #11 Joshua Dobbs recorded 101 total offensive yards in the first quarter and 234 total yards offense in the first half, including 195 yards passing.
#11 Joshua Dobbs completed a 28-yard pass to #15 Marlin Lane on the Vols' first possession of the game. The catch marks Lane's longest reception of the year.
With 14 points in the first quarter, the Vols tied their most points scored in the first quarter this season (also, 14 vs. Utah State on Aug. 31). Tennessee also scored 14 points in the first quarter of their last matchup against Kentucky on Nov. 30, 2013 (UT 27, UK 14).
#82 Ethan Wolf caught a 25-yard pass from Dobbs in the second quarter, marking a career-long reception for Wolf and putting the Vols on Kentucky's 10-yard line.
Dobbs completed a 32-yard pass to #18 Jason Croom with less than one minute left in the half.
The Vols are currently 5-for-9 on third down conversions this season. Against Kentucky, Tennessee was 2-for-2 through the first half.

HOW THEY SCORED

#11 Joshua Dobbs connected with #9 Von Pearson for a 21-yard touchdown pass, marking Dobbs' fifth touchdown pass and Pearson's third touchdown catch of the season.
#37 Brian Randolph intercepted Kentucky quarterback #14 Patrick Towles' pass and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.
Dobbs connected with Pearson for a 16-yard touchdown to start the second quarter. Pearson's two touchdown catches mark the third multi-touchdown game for a Vol wide receiver this year (also, Marquez North vs. Arkansas State on Sept. 6 and Johnathon Johnson vs. Chattanooga on Oct. 11).
#25 Aaron Medley made a 38-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter. He later made his 21-yard field goal attempt to end the first half. On the season, Medley has made 15 of his 20 field goal attempts and has made at least one field goal in each of his 10 games at Tennessee.
#11 Joshua Dobbs ran for an 9-yard touchdown in the second quarter. In his three starts this year, Dobbs has now rushed for four touchdowns.
#25 Aaron Medley made three of his four PATs in the first half, moving to 30-of-31 on the season. With a missed attempt following Pearson's second touchdown reception in the second quarter, Medley's streak of 29-straight successful PATs ended.

DEFENSIVELY SPEAKING

#56 Curt Maggitt recorded his seventh sack of the season on Kentucky's quarterback #14 Patrick Towles in the first quarter. With seven sacks on the year, Maggitt ranks second on the team behind freshman #9 Derek Barnett (8).
#37 Brian Randolph intercepted Kentucky quarterback Towles' pass in the first quarter and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown, his first interception of the year and the fifth of his career. The 23 yard return ties for the second-longest interception return by Tennessee in 2014 (also, A.J. Johnson on Aug. 31 vs. Utah State).
Randolph's interception return for a touchdown marked the Vols' first defensive touchdown since an 18-yard interception return by Jacques Smith against Auburn on Nov. 9, 2013.
#9 Derek Barnett recorded one sack and three tackles for loss in the first half. Barnett holds Vol freshman records for sacks (8) and TFLs (17) in a single season, while his 17 TFLs rank eighth for Tennessee all-time in single season TFLs. Entering the game against Kentucky, Barnett's 14 tackles for loss ranked second in the SEC.

JOHNSON ON THE CHASE

With three tackles in the first half, #45 A.J. Johnson is one tackle shy of becoming the first Vol to lead the team with 100-plus tackles for three straight seasons. His 77 career assisted tackles now move him past Carl Johnson (1972) on the all-time list for assisted tackles in a single season. .

SPECIAL TEAMS

#43 Matt Darr punted one times against Kentucky. On the season, Darr now has 22 punts inside the 20-yard line and seven inside the 10-yard line this season.

ODDS AND ENDS

With a 54-yard successful field goal attempt to end the first half, Kentucky's #99 Austin MacGinnis established a school record field goal distance.

VOLS TRENDING

The Vols were trending nationally on Twitter with the topics: "Von Pearson" and "Derek Barnett".

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