Postgame Notes: Tennessee-Mississippi State

TENNESSEE FOOTBALL POSTGAME NOTES: Tennessee 20, Mississippi State 10
Oct. 12 | Game 6 | Knoxville, Tenn. (Neyland Stadium) | Attendance: 85,462

Tennessee Tidbits

Tennessee stands 469-134-17 at Neyland Stadium, possessing the second-most wins of any

program at a current stadium.

UT is now 840-394-53. The Vols rank 10th all-time in wins among NCAA Division I programs.

Vol Captains/Coin Toss

Tennessee's captains for Saturday's game against Mississippi State were seniors Brandon Kennedy, Jauan Jennings, Nigel Warrior and Marquez Callaway.
Tennessee won the toss and deferred to the second half and defended the North endzone.

Vols Sport Orange Pants

Tennessee's uniforms featured orange pants for the first time since Nov. 12, 2016. Since the Vols began sporting Nike uniforms during the 2015 season, the orange pants have made three appearances – all wins (2015 vs. North Texas; 2016 vs. Kentucky; 2019 vs. Mississippi State).

First Starts

Matthew Butler earned his first-career start for Tennessee along the defensive line.

Offensive Highlights

Junior RB Tim Jordan scored his first touchdown of the season on a 15-yard rush with 4:56 remaining in the opening quarter. It marked Jordan's first touchdown since 2018, when he scored on a three-yard rush in the second quarter of the Vols 24-7 win against No. 12 Kentucky.
Tim Jordan finished with 59 rushing yards, a season high.
Tennessee completed four plays of 15-plus yards in the first quarter, including Tim Jordan's 15-yard touchdown run.
Freshman QB Brian Maurer recorded a career-long 23-yard rush in the second quarter, which is the longest rush by a quarterback since Will McBride tallied a 43-yard carry against Missouri on Nov. 11, 2017. He led the Vols in the first half with 41 yards rushing, his game total. Sidelined just under a minute left in the first half, Maurer finished 4-of-7 and recorded 61 passing yards.
Redshirt junior QB Jarrett Guarantano came into the game with 59 seconds left in the first half and stayed in for the remainder of the game. He finished 6-of-7 for 106 passing yards and one touchdown.
Ramel Keyton pulled in his first career catch on a 41-yard pass from Jarrett Guarantano to mark the program's longest first career reception since Josh Dobbs caught a 58-yard pass from Jauan Jennings for a touchdown at Florida on Sept. 26, 2015.
Tennessee scored on a 9-play 91-yard drive in the fourth quarter, its longest scoring drive of the season.
Senior WR Tyler Byrd recorded the third touchdown of his career and his first of the season on a 39-yard reception with 2:35 left in the game, capping a nine-play 91-yard drive.

Defensive Highlights

Tennessee's defense recorded seven sacks against the Bulldogs, the most Mississippi State has allowed all season.
The Vols' seven sacks on Saturday are the most of the Jeremy Pruitt era and the most since also totaling seven on Sept. 23, 2017 against UMass.
UT intercepted Mississippi State three times Saturday and has now recorded multiple interceptions in three of its last four games – four vs. Chattanooga, two at Florida and the three against the Bulldogs.
Mississippi State's Kylin Hill entered the game as the SEC's leading rusher, averaging 119.2 yards per game – Tennessee held him to 13 yards rushing on 11 carries, his lowest output since Nov. 11, 2017 when he had seven yards against Alabama.
Matthew Butler made his first start for Tennessee Saturday against Mississippi State.
- He recorded the first sack of his career in the first quarter as UT forced Mississippi State into its second-straight three-and-out.
Darrell Taylor sacked the Bulldogs' Tommy Stevens in the opening quarter for his second sack of the season.
- In the fourth quarter, Taylor picked up his second sack of the game and forced a fumble in the process. It is his first multi-sack game since Nov. 10, 2018 vs. Kentucky and fourth of his career. The forced fumble is the sixth of his career.
Kenneth George Jr. recorded the first interception of his career in the first quarter, halting Mississippi State's drive at the Tennessee 32-yard line.
Bryce Thompson made the second sack of his career in the second quarter of Saturday's game, the first since Charlotte on Nov. 3, 2018.
Trevon Flowers picked off the first pass of his career in the second quarter.
Nigel Warrior picked off MSU's Garrett Shrader in the third quarter, stopping the Bulldogs' drive in Tennessee territory. It was his second INT this season and the third of his career.
In the third quarter on Saturday, Aubrey Solomon picked up the first sack of his Tennessee career.
On back-to-back plays during Mississippi State's final drive, Kivon Bennett and Darel Middleton recorded their first career sacks.

Special Teams Highlights

Mississippi State returned the opening kickoff to the nine-yard line, the first time a kickoff has been returned against the Vols all season.
Junior Brent Cimaglia knocked down a pair of field goals to bring his season total to 11, the most he has had in a single season during his Tennessee career.
- Cimaglia now ranks second in Tennessee history in field goal percentage with a 76.3 mark (29-of-38).
Cimaglia also converted both of his PAT attempts and is a perfect 49-for-49 during his Tennessee career.
Sophomore punter Joe Doyle finished the game with four punts for 185 yards (46.2 yards per punt). This included a season-long 57 yard punt. He finished the game with two 50-plus yard punts and two punts inside of the 20.

University of Tennessee Athletics

Players Mentioned

Kivon Bennett

Matthew Butler

Tyler Byrd

Marquez Callaway

Brent Cimaglia

Joe Doyle

Trevon Flowers

Kenneth George Jr.

Jarrett Guarantano

Jauan Jennings

Tim Jordan

Brandon Kennedy

Ramel Keyton

Brian Maurer

Will McBride

Darel Middleton

Aubrey Solomon

Darrell Taylor

Bryce Thompson

Nigel Warrior

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