UT-VU Halftime Notes

Nov. 28, 2015

Tennessee Tidbits

Tennessee and Vanderbilt are meeting for the 109th time, with Tennessee holding a 74-29-5 advantage.
This is the 50th meeting in Knoxville between these schools. UT is 37-11-1 all-time vs. the Commodores in the Volunteer City, winning 17 of the last 19 games at Neyland Stadium.
Today’s attendance was 98,327, bringing the season average to 100,584. That is the highest average since UT registered 101,448 per game in 2008.

Tennessee captains were redshirt seniors Brian Randolph and Alex Ellis and junior Joshua Dobbs.
Tennessee won the coin toss and deferred to the second half.

Getting his first career start for the Vols today was true freshman linebacker Austin Smith.
Smith is the sixth true freshman to start this season for Tennessee, joining OL Chance Hall, WR Jauan Jennings, OL Jack Jones, LB Darrin Kirkland Jr. and WR Preston Williams.

Senior WR Von Pearson hauled in a 17-yard TD strike from Joshua Dobbs on Tennessee’s opening drive.

Joshua Dobbs engineered a scoring drive on Tennessee’s first possession, capping it with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Von Pearson to stake the Vols to a 7-0 lead with 11:32 to go in the first quarter.
The TD reception was the second of the season for Pearson and the seventh of his career, while Dobbs racked up his 14th TD pass this season and the 25th of his career.
Dobbs added a six-yard TD run in the first quarter, his ninth of the season. With Medley’s PAT, it pushed the Vols’ lead to 17-7.

Tennessee entered the game with the 12th-best season rushing total in school history at 2,351, and the Vols continued to climb the ladder.
By the end of the first quarter, the Vols’ 92 yards had pushed the squad into eighth place with 2,443.
At halftime, Tennessee had 130 yards rushing, moving the season total to 2,481, which is seventh in UT history.
The next step in the ladder to reach would be 2,536, which ranks No. 6 and was recorded in 1998.

Tennessee out-gained Vanderbilt in the first quarter, 163-146. That bumped UT’s advantage in the opening 15 minutes of the last five games to 752-248.

Derek Barnett’s first quarter sack of Vanderbilt quarterback Kyle Shurmur for a four-yard loss gave the sophomore defensive end a sack in six of his last seven games.
Todd Kelly Jr. stepped in front of a Kyle Shurmur pass and thwarted a Vanderbilt scoring opportunity just before the half. It was Kelly’s third pick of the season and the sixth of his career.
Safety Brian Randolph led the Vols with seven stops in the first half, including six solos.

Tennessee’s defense continued to be stout on third down. The Vols held Vandy to 1-for-6 on third-down conversions in the first half.
Entering the game, opposing offenses were 12-for-57 on third down conversions during UT’s four-game winning streak.

Cameron Sutton jump-started Tennessee’s first drive, returning a punt 26 yards to set the Vols up at their own 44. UT would capitalize on the field goal position via a 17-yard TD pass from Joshua Dobbs to Von Pearson.
Sophomore placekicker Aaron Medley improved to 47-of-47 on PATs this season and 89-for-90 for his career in the first half.
Medley improved to 19-of-28 on field goals this season and 39-of-54 for his career when he drilled a 26-yarder in the first quarter and a career-long 47-yarder in the second stanza.
Medley has connected on 10 of his last 11 field goal attempts.

85-yard punt return for a touchdown to put UT up, 27-14.
It was his second TD return of the season, following an 84-yarder vs. Kentucky.
The 85-yard runback tied for the seventh longest in UT history.
With that return, Sutton’s season total rose to 463, moving him to No. 1 on UT’s single season punt return yardage list. He passed Bobby Majors, whose record of 457 yards had stood since 1969.
Sutton’s feat was the sixth time a Vol has posted two punt returns for touchdowns in a season, following in the footsteps of Terry Fair (1996), Stanley Morgan (1975), Eddie Brown (1973) and Bobby Majors (1969 & 1971).

Cameron Sutton appeared to intercept a Vanderbilt pass on the home sideline with 1:34 to go in the second quarter, but the pass was ruled incomplete. The replay booth upheld the call on the field. /li>
Todd Kelly Jr. intercepted a Kyle Shurmur pass with 23 seconds before halftime. The play was reviewed, and the call on the field was upheld.