University of Tennessee Athletics
Four Downs: ASU Game by the Numbers
September 07, 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, a record number of new faces, a good day to play, the ball flying through the air and Third Down For What.
First Down: 247 - Justin Worley Passing Yards
Tennessee's senior quarterback is off to quite the start in his final go-around. After a season opener that saw him throw for 273 yards, Worley followed it up with a 247-yard performance against Arkansas State.
It marked the third time in Worley's career that he has thrown for 200 yards in back-to back games. As a freshman in 2011, Worley threw for 291 yards against MTSU to earn his first collegiate win in just his second start. A week later, he put up 208 passing yards in a loss at Arkansas.
Last season, Worley had 204 yards against South Alabama and followed it up with 215 against Georgia, both games coming in Neyland Stadium.
Worley tied a career-high in attempts with 38, matching the mark set against Utah State. Though he ended up completing five fewer passes against Arkansas State, Worley was still sharp with the football. He hit on his first nine passes, finishing 9-10 in the opening quarter.
One of those first nine passes went to Von Pearson for 56 yards, the longest play of Worley's Tennessee career, passing a 51-yard strike to Josh Smith at Oregon last year.
Second Down: 2-0 - Tennessee's Record
With the win over Arkansas State, the Vols moved to 2-0 for the fourth-consecutive year. That ties for the third-longest run of 2-0 starts in program history, putting the recent Vol teams in some pretty elite company among the 118 teams to don the orange and white.
It is the first time the program has started off 2-0 in four straight seasons since the 2001-2004 teams put up the numbers. In the six years between the streaks, UT started off 2-0 only once, in 2006, with wins over California and Air Force.
Prior to UT starting 2-0 for the four seasons between 1995-1998, it had been more than 50 years since UT teams had started 2-0 in four-straight seasons. General Robert Neyland's teams from 1937-1940 started 2-0, with the 1938 team and 1940 team finishing the regular seasons 10-0 and National Champions. The teams from 1919-1922 also started off 2-0.
A 2-0 start next season would tie with the 1912-1916 teams for the second-longest streak, but Butch Jones' teams of the future have a lot of work to do to get to the all-time record. Tennessee's 11 teams from 1924-1934 all started 2-0.
Third Down: Quick Hits
83 - Jalen Hurd rushing yards. It was the most rushing yards accumulated by a Tennessee freshman since Bryce Brown ran for 104 in the season opener against Western Kentucky in 2009.
83 - Plays run by the Tennessee offense. The team wants to go fast and they reached territory not seen since the record-breaking 2012 season. 83 plays is the most since running 91 in a 4OT game against Missouri in 2012 and the most in a regulation game since also running 83 against Georgia in the same season.
Tennessee ran 79 plays a week ago in the win over Utah State, more than any game in 2013. The Volunteers hit 70 plays in five games in 2013, with 77 against South Carolina the watermark for the season.
72 - Points over the first two games. This is the fourth-straight season that Tennessee has put up 70+ points over its first two games and fifth out of the last six. UT put up 97 points over the first two games in 2013, 86 in 2012, 87 in 2011 and 78 in 2009.
2 - Owen Williams sacks. The freshman made his debut a week ago, but didn't appear in the stat line. He changed that with a huge third quarter Saturday, which all started with a sack for a 9-yard loss on his second-career tackle. The first tackle of Williams' career came on ASU's final drive of the first half as he assisted Curt Maggitt in stuffing a run for no gain on the drive's first play.
13 - Red Zone scores in 14 attempts over the two games. A missed field goal against Arkansas was the only time UT has failed to score after reaching the 20-yard line.
8 - Consecutive coin flips lost. A statistical anomaly, to be sure. The Volunteers last won a coin toss against Georgia in Neyland Stadium last season.
13 - Consecutive wins over non-conference opponents in Neyland Stadium, a streak that dates back to 32-29 over UAB in 2010.
201,993 - Fans through the gates of Neyland Stadium over the first two weeks.
4 - Third downs converted by Arkansas St. on 17 attempts. After Utah St. was just 3-14 last week, Tennessee is holding opponents to a 22.5 percent (7-31) conversion rate on third down.
48 - Kick Return Yards for Devrin Young, who passed Corey Larkins (1,307) for third on the all-time kick return list at Tennessee on his 19-yard return of the game's opening kick. He now has with 1,346 kick return yards, which leaves him 442 away from Leonard Scott (1,788) for second and just 508 yards from Willie Gault's all-time record of 1,854.
Fourth Down: A Look Ahead
1 - All-time wins against Oklahoma in two meetings. The teams last met in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 1968.
0 - Games played by Tennessee in the state of Oklahoma. When UT takes the field in Norman, it will have played in 25 of the 50 states. The Volunteers last visited a new states Oregon and Missouri.
17 - Lettermen in UT history from the state of Oklahoma. The most recent Vols to hail from the state were Gerald Jones and David Oku, who last played in 2010. Other notable Vols from Oklahoma include Raymond Austin, Robert Meachem, Marcus Nash and Pat Ryan.
2 - Wins on Sept. 13, the last coming against UAB in 2002.
3-0 - The Volunteers will look to start 3-0 for the first time since 2004 when UT heads to Oklahoma and it's once again Football Time in Tennessee!
