UT-VU Postgame Notes

Nov. 28, 2015

Recap |  Box Score |  Quotes |  Photo Gallery 1  |  Photo Gallery 2 

POSTGAME NOTES

Tennessee Tidbits

Tennessee and Vanderbilt met for the 109th time, and Tennessee now holds a 75-29-5 advantage.
This was the 50th meeting in Knoxville between these schools. UT improved to 38-11-1 all-time vs. the Commodores in the Volunteer City, winning for the 18th time in the last 20 games at Neyland Stadium.
The Vols have won 31 of the last 34 meetings in the series.
The win today gave the Vols their eighth victory in the regular season for the first time since 2007, when they were 9-3.
The Vols’ victory gave Tennessee its first five-game winning streak since that 2007 season.
The Big Orange is 49-17 in November since 2000 and 318-125-21 all-time during the 11th month of the year.
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.

Vol Captains

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.

For Starters

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.

Saluting The Seniors

Tennessee honored 18 seniors from Team 119 before the game. Running through the T for the final time were: Ralph David Abernathy IV, Max Arnold, Patrick Ashford, George Bullock, Mack Crowder, Alex Ellis, Matt Giampapa, Johnathon Johnson, Kyler Kerbyson, Curt Maggitt, LaDarrell McNeil, Von Pearson, David Priddy, Brian Randolph, Nate Renfro, Trevarris Saulsberry, Chris Weatherd and Owen Williams.

Senior Moments

WR Von Pearson hauled in a 17-yard TD strike from Joshua Dobbs on Tennessee’s opening drive. He later grabbed a five-yard scoring toss from Dobbs in the third quarter.
Redshirt senior punter Nate Renfro made his second appearance of 2015 in the fourth quarter, booting a season-best 47-yard punt.
Senior George Bullock came on in the fourth quarter to attempt his first career PAT. His kick was true, elevating the UT lead to 53-14.
Redshirt senior free safety Brian Randolph led the team in tackles in his final game in Neyland, recording six solos and seven total stops.
Senior strong safety LaDarrell McNeil tied for second with five tackles and added a pass break-up.

Keeping The Scoreboard Operator Busy

In their 53-28 win, the Vols scored their most points vs. an SEC foe since beating Mississippi State, 59-21, on Nov. 15, 2003. .
Tennessee won its second straight over Vanderbilt and scored its most points in the series since 1994 (65-0). .
Tennessee has scored 412 points in 2015, the most since the Vols tallied 434 points in 2012. .
The Vols have registered their most games in a season with 50 or more points (4) since they recorded four in 1993. .

Offensive Highlights

Tennessee scored 53 points vs. Vandy, the most allowed by the Commodores all season. The previous high surrendered by the ‘Dores was 34 in a shutout by Houston on Oct. 31.
Jalen Hurd rushed for 120 on 19 carries, charting his fifth 100-yard game this season and the ninth of his career.
Hurd eclipsed the 100-yard mark on a career-best 48-yard run in the third quarter.
It marked the second time this season he had recorded back-to-back 100-yard games. He also did so vs. Bowling Green (123) and Oklahoma (106).
Hurd reached 1,158 yards this season, the 12th most recorded by a UT back and the most since Arian Foster had 1,193 in 2007.
Hurd also hit 2,057 career yards, which ranks him 15th all-time at Tennessee.
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.
Pearson, meanwhile, added a five-yard scoring reception in the third quarter, giving him his second and third TD catches of the year and seventh and eighth of his career.
The two touchdown game was the second of Pearson’s career. He also had a pair of TD receptions vs. Kentucky on Nov. 15, 2014.
With those two scoring tosses, Dobbs racked up his 14th and 15th TD passes this season and the 25th and 26th of his career.
The junior finished 13-of-21 for 140 yards and two scores.
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.
The junior signal-caller finished with 93 yards on the ground in 11 carries, moving him past Jimmy Streater (593, 1978) for most rushing yards in a season by a Vol quarter with 623 on 134 attempts.
Jalen Hurd bolted up the middle 14 yards to paydirt in the third quarter to lift UT to 36-14 lead with 7:33 to play. It was his 11th rushing TD of the season and 16th of his career.
True freshman running back Joe Young tallied his first career touchdown, taking it in from eight yards out in the fourth quarter..

Vols Running Wild

Tennessee posted its second 300-yard rushing game of the season, tallying 331 yards on 52 carries vs. Vandy. UT ran for 399 vs. Bowling Green in the opener.
That rushing total was the most in an SEC game since the Vols rushed for 406 vs. Vanderbilt in 1994.
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.
The 331-yard production pushed the 2015 Tennessee squad to fourth in the UT record book for most rushing yards in a season with 2,682. Only three Big Orange teams have done better, including 1951 (3,068), 1950 (2,710) and 1989 (2,701).
The Vols’ success came against a Commodore defensive unit that was only giving up 126.1 yards on the ground.
Tennessee recorded its eighth game of 200 or more yards rushing and third in a row.

First Quarter Success

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.
Tennessee is 5-0 in those contests.

Defensively Speaking

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.
Barnett recorded another sack of Shurmur in the third quarter, his ninth of the season and 19th of his career. That one resulted in a loss of five yards and a safety. It marked UT’s first safety since Curt Maggitt forced one vs. NC State in 2012.
The sophomore finished with five tackles, two sacks and two quarterback hurries.
Jalen Reeves-Maybin and LaTroy Lewis each picked up sacks on the evening. Reeves-Maybin had his fifth sack of the season and seventh of his career, while Lewis carded his first sack of 2015 and second of his career.
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. That ended up being his final tally in his finale at Neyland Stadium.

Third Down For What?

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 and 5-of-14 for the game.
Entering the day, opposing offenses were 12-for-57 on third down conversions during UT’s four-game winning streak, and the Vols pushed those numbers to 17-for-71 in winning their fifth straight.
On the flipside, the Vols finished the evening 7-of-13 on offensive third-down conversions vs. the Commodores.

Special Teams

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 49-of-49 on PATs this season and 91-for-92 for his career.
Medley improved to 20-of-29 on field goals this season and 40-of-55 for his career, when he drilled a 26-yarder in the first quarter, a career-long 47-yarder in the second stanza and a 32-yarder in the fourth.
Medley has connected on 11 of his last 12 field goal attempts.

Many Happy Returns For Sutton

With 4:36 to go in the first half, Cameron Sutton electrified the crowd with an 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 (he finished the game with 467), 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 a school-best 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).
Sutton’s punt return boosted Tennessee’s total of special teams TDs this season to six.

Upon Further Review

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.
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.
Vanderbilt challenged whether Josh Dobbs’ seven-yard run was a first down in the third quarter, as ruled on the field. The replay official upheld the call on the field.

University of Tennessee Athletics

POSTGAME NOTES

Tennessee Tidbits

Vol Captains

For Starters

Saluting The Seniors

Senior Moments

Keeping The Scoreboard Operator Busy

Offensive Highlights

Vols Running Wild

First Quarter Success

Defensively Speaking

Third Down For What?

Special Teams

Many Happy Returns For Sutton

Upon Further Review

Players Mentioned

Derek Barnett

Related Videos