University of Tennessee Athletics
Four Downs: OU Game by the Numbers
September 15, 2014 | Football
By Brian Rice
UTSports.com
Each week, UTSports.com takes a look at the numbers from the weekend past and the weekend ahead in Four Downs. This week: Freshmen continuing to run wild, a receiver that loves "O" teams and MORE THIRD DOWN FOR WHAT.
First Down: 97 - Jalen Hurd Rushing Yards
Hurd keeps getting better with every game he plays, a streak that continued in his first collegiate game away from Neyland Stadium. The Nashville native ran for 97 yards against Oklahoma, the highest rushing total by a freshman since Bryce Brown ran for 104 against Western Kentucky in 2009.
Heard that stat before, no pun intended? You probably saw it in this space a week ago when Hurd ran for 83 yards against Arkansas State. In two weeks, he has the two best freshman rushing performances since 2009. He was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the ASU performance.
Hurd has already recorded the best rushing season by a Tennessee freshman since Marlin Lane ran for 280 yards in 2011. He leads the Volunteers with 209 rushing yards on a team-high 48 carries. His 43-yard run against the Sooners is Tennessee's longest run of the season.
Only one thing didn't go Hurd's way on Saturday, he didn't find the end zone. Oklahoma was able to hold Hurd without a touchdown for the first time in his short career. He had a 15-yard touchdown reception in the season opener against Utah State and ran for a 4-yard score against Arkansas State.
Second Down: 40 - Yards Gained On Josh Smith's 2nd Quarter TD
It's clear that Josh Smith thrives in road games against top-5 teams. Make those games against teams whose names start with "O" and you really have something.
Last season, Smith had the biggest catch of his freshman season at Oregon, a 51-yard reception that set up the Vols' first touchdown against the Ducks.
Saturday at Oklahoma, Smith had the longest touchdown catch of his career against the Sooners, a 40-yard reception for UT's only touchdown of the night. The catch was the second-longest catch overall, behind only that 51-yard grab at Oregon.
Smith finished the night with five catches for 58 yards, both career-highs.
Third Down: Quick Hits
3 - Third downs converted by Oklahoma on 12 attempts
Tennessee's domination on third down continued in Norman, an unlikely place to continue a third-down hot streak. The mark tied the three picked up by Utah State in the season opener for the fewest of the season.
Combined with a defensive effort that saw Arkansas State go 4-17 a week ago, the Vols have held opponents to an astounding 23.3 percent (10-43) on third down.
30 - Yards on Hurd's second-quarter catch, the longest reception of his young career.
11 - Tackles by A.J. Johnson. It marked the 19th double-digit tackle performance of his career, the first this season after recording nine in each of the first two games.
77 - Plays run by Tennessee. It was the low mark of the season for plays run, but equaled the season high in 2013, which came in the 23-21 win over South Carolina. The Volunteers hit 70 plays in five games in 2013, and need to do so twice more in 2014 to match last season.
9- Consecutive coin flips lost. Tennessee is taking the statistical anomaly to a new high, having dropped the 50-50 proposition in every game dating back to Georgia in Neyland Stadium last season.
85,622 - Attendance Saturday night, the sixth-largest crowd in Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium history. Game against current SEC teams account for three of the top eight largest crowds to see a game at OU. 85,709 fans saw the Sooners beat Texas A&M on Nov. 5, 2011, good for third on the list, while 85,547 paid to see Oklahoma defeat Missouri 38-28 earlier that year on Sept. 24.
287,615 - Fans through the turnstiles for Tennessee's first three games of 2014.
5 - True freshmen to start against Oklahoma: Derek Barnett (DE), Daniel Helm (TE), Todd Kelly Jr. (SS), Jashon Robertson (RG) and Coleman Thomas (RT). It marked the most true freshmen in the starting lineup since UT also started five on the road at Arkansas in 2011.
16 - Total true freshmen to play against the Sooners.
60 - Kick Return Yards for Devrin Young. He now has with 1,406 kick return yards, which leaves him 382 away from Leonard Scott (1,788) for second and just 448 yards from Willie Gault's all-time record of 1,854.
Fourth Down: A Look Ahead
21 - All-time wins against Georgia, the next opponent on the Vol slate. The series that dates to 1899 but was rarely contested from 1910 until the SEC split into divisions for the 1992 season, making it an annual date. The teams met just 14 times over that stretch, including a 31-year stretch from 1937-1968 without a meeting.
17 - Current scholarship players from the state of Georgia.
8 - Wins on Sept. 27, versus four losses. The last time the Vols played on Sept. 27, they fell on the road at Auburn, 14-12, in 2008.
2001 - The last time the Volunteers opened SEC play against a team other than Florida, a 13-3 win at Arkansas on Sept. 8.
2004 - The last time Tennessee won its SEC opener. A streak the Volunteers will look to end when they travel to Athens, Georgia and it's once again Football Time in Tennessee!
