Postgame Notes: #10/11/11 Tennessee 56, UTEP 0

November 23, 2024 | Football

TENNESSEE FOOTBALL POSTGAME NOTES
Nov. 23, 2024 | Knoxville, Tenn. | Neyland Stadium
FINAL SCORE: No. 10/11/11 Tennessee 56, UTEP 0

General Notes

Saturday's attendance at Neyland Stadium: 101,915 (sold out)
- The contest marked Tennessee's 20th consecutive sellout in Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee's all-time on-field record improved to 885-416-53 with Saturday's win (NCAA record: 874-416-53).
With Saturday's win, Tennessee closed out a perfect regular season home slate for the second time in three seasons. The Vols went 7-0 in Neyland Stadium in 2024, outscoring their opponents 304-69 in those contests.
Tennessee secured nine victories for the third straight year under Josh Heupel, a first for the program since doing so in five consecutive seasons from 1995-99 under Phillip Fulmer.
The Vols met UTEP for the fourth time in program history, improving to 4-0 against the Miners with an overall scoring margin of 162-16.
With the victory, Tennessee has collected 14 consecutive wins over non-conference foes – representing their longest streak against non-SEC foes since winning 27 straight from 1969-73.
- The streak dates back to a Sept. 1, 2022, season-opening victory over Ball State.
- In the Heupel era, the Vols are 17-2 vs. non-SEC foes – outscoring opponents 950-246.
Tennessee owns a 25-4 record in Neyland Stadium under Heupel and has won 20 of its last 21 games in the venue. The Vols have outscored visiting opponents 1,263-523 in the Heupel era, averaging 43.5 points per game.
A total of 25 Vols participated in Saturday's pregame Senior Day ceremony: DE Dominic Bailey, S Will Brooks, TE Charlie Browder, OT John Campbell Jr., PK JT Carver, OL Dayne Davis, LB Cody Duncan, DT Bryson Eason, TE Miles Kitselman, OG Jackson Lampley, WR Jackson Locke, C Cooper Mays, WR Bru McCoy, QB Gaston Moore, DT Omarr Norman-Lott, LB Keenan Pili, LB Eli Purcell, LS Matthew Salansky, QB Navy Shuler, DT Elijah Simmons, OG Javontez Spraggins, DT Omari Thomas, WR Dont'e Thornton Jr., RB Patrick Wilk and DB William Wright.

Vol Captains/Coin Toss

Tennessee's team captains for Saturday's game: DB Will Brooks, OL Cooper Mays, WR Bru McCoy, LS Matthew Salansky, DL Elijah Simmons
Tennessee won the toss and deferred to the second half. UTEP received the opening kickoff and Tennessee defended the north end zone.

Tennessee Debut

Freshman LB Jordan Burns saw his first action as a Vol in Saturday's win as a member of UT's kickoff coverage unit. He was the 43rd Vol to make his debut this season.

Team Offensive Notes

The Tennessee offense racked up 460 total yards on Saturday, eclipsing 450 yards for the third time in its last four games.
- Josh Heupel's teams have put up 400 yards of total offense in a game 70 times (36 times at Tennessee).
Tennessee scored at least 50 points against all four of its 2024 regular-season non-conference opponents:
- 69 vs. Chattanooga on Aug. 31 in Knoxville
- 51 vs. #24/23 NC State on Sept. 7 in Charlotte, N.C.
- 71 vs. Kent State on Sept. 14 in Knoxville
- 56 vs. UTEP on Nov. 23 in Knoxville
Heupel's teams have scored 50 points 24 times since 2018, including 14 times at Tennessee since 2021.
The Vols finished with 241 rushing yards, eclipsing 200 yards on the ground for the sixth time this season and 29th time of the Heupel era.
- Tennessee is 27-2 under Heupel when reaching 200 rushing yards, including 21 wins in a row when breaking that threshold.

Individual Offensive Notes

Maxwell Award and Doak Walker semifinalist Dylan Sampson broke a pair of 95-year-old Tennessee single-season records with his 14-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. The Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native now owns program records for total touchdowns scored (22) and points scored (132) in a single campaign.
- Those respective school records were both established by Gene McEver (21 touchdowns, 130 points) during the 1929 season.
- Sampson tied LSU's Leonard Fournette (22 in 2015) for fifth place in SEC single-season rushing touchdowns.
- Sampson finished the contest with 11 carries for 77 yards, improving his season totals to 231 rushing attempts for 1,307 yards. Those marks rank ninth and sixth in Tennessee single-season history, respectively.
- Sampson's 35 career rushing scores tied James Stewart (1991-94) for the second-most in Tennessee history – trailing McEver's school record of 37 established 1928-31.
Redshirt freshman QB Nico Iamaleava completed 17-of-23 passes for 209 yards and recorded a career-high four passing touchdowns during Saturday's victory. The last Tennessee quarterback who dished out four passing touchdowns was Joe Milton III against Vanderbilt during the Vols 48-24 victory on Nov. 25, 2023.
Junior WR Squirrel White hauled in his second touchdown reception in the past three weeks with a 9-yard score midway through the second quarter.
Redshirt freshman TE Ethan Davis hauled in a 1-yard receiving score from Iamaleava, putting the Vols ahead 21-0 with 2:19 left in the second quarter.
- The score was set up by an 18-yard catch from Davis on the previous play.
- Tennessee's tight ends have scored at least one touchdown in eight of the last 13 games dating back to last season's Vanderbilt contest. They have combined for seven TDs this season – six receiving and one rushing.
On Senior Day, WR Bru McCoy carded his first career multi-touchdown game with a pair of scoring catches on UT's last possession of the first half and opening possession of the second half. He pulled in his first score of the game with an 18-yard toe-tapping catch in the back left corner of the end zone, and his second came on a 7-yard slant over the middle.
- McCoy is the second Vol this season with multiple receiving touchdowns in a game, joining Dont'e Thornton Jr., who had two in the Chattanooga opener.
Freshman RB Peyton Lewis tallied two rushing TDs in the third quarter, good for his first career multi-touchdown performance. The rookie from Salem, Virginia, plunged in from three yards before finding pay dirt from six yards out to give the Vols a 49-0 edge late in the third stanza.
Sophomore RB Cameron Seldon was the sixth different Vol to find the end zone on Saturday with a 3-yard rushing score – the first touchdown of his collegiate career – to cap the scoring with 8:28 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Team Defensive Notes

The Vols did not allow a touchdown in the first quarter for the 10th time this season and have allowed only one first-quarter touchdown all season when Kentucky managed one on Nov. 2.
Today's game marked the second time in the 2024 season that Tennessee has held an opponent scoreless. In addition to Saturday's shutout victory over the Miners, the Vols accomplished the feat earlier this season against Kent State on Sept. 14, 71-0.
- It marks the fifth time in the Josh Heupel era that the Vols have posted a shutout victory. The 2024 season is the first time in the Heupel era that the Vols have notched two shutout wins in a single season.
Tennessee held UTEP to a total of 81 rushing yards. It's the sixth time that the Vols have limited an opponent to less than 100 rushing yards. This season, Tennessee has held Chattanooga (8/31), NC State (9/7), Kent State (9/14), Oklahoma (9/21), Alabama (10/19) and UTEP (11/23) under the century mark on the ground.
The Vols won the turnover battle against UTEP, collecting three takeaways on the day while committing zero turnovers. Defensive backs Jermod McCoy and John Slaughter each logged an interception, and Rickey Gibson III forced a fumble that was recovered by Dominic Bailey.

Individual Defensive Notes

Sophomore DB Jermod McCoy snatched his third interception of the season at the 11:41 mark in the first quarter at Tennessee's three-yard line. McCoy is tied for the team lead with three picks this season and has now picked off five passes during his career, including two during his freshman season at Oregon State.
- McCoy added a pass breakup, and his 11 passes defended lead the Vol secondary this season.
Tennessee created its second takeaway of the game when DB Rickey Gibson III forced a fumble that was recovered by DL Dominic Bailey in the second quarter. It was the first forced fumble of Gibson's career and the third career fumble recovery by Bailey.
- All three of Bailey's recoveries have come in his last 12 games (1/1/24 vs. Iowa, 9/7/24 vs. NC State, 11/23/24 vs. UTEP).
Junior EDGE James Pearce Jr. posted two solo sacks for a loss of 15 yards in Saturday's victory, improving his career total to 19.5 sacks for a loss of 128 yards. His 19.5 sacks are tied with Darrell Taylor (2016-19) on the UT leaderboard for the 10th-most in program history.
Sophomore DB John Slaughter grabbed his first career interception at the 4:36 mark in the fourth quarter. Slaughter becomes the sixth different Vol defenseman to record an interception this season.

Special Teams Notes

Redshirt sophomore Jackson Ross boomed six punts for 281 yards, pinning three inside the 20-yard line and logging two kicks of 50-plus yards.
Redshirt freshman PK Max Gilbert finished 8-of-8 on extra points in the victory, improving his season mark to a perfect 48-of-48. His season total for points scored stands at 99, three away from cracking the top-10 for most points scored by a kicker in Tennessee single-season history.

Career Highs

The following players set or tied career highs in the respective statistical categories listed below:

Offense

TE Ethan Davis
- 1 receiving touchdown (ties career high)
QB Nico Iamaleava
- 4 passing touchdowns
RB Peyton Lewis
- 2 rushing touchdowns
WR Mike Matthews
- 25-yard long reception
WR Bru McCoy
- 2 receiving touchdowns
RB Cameron Seldon
- 1 rushing touchdown (first of career)
WR Squirrel White
- 1 receiving touchdown (ties career high)

Defense/Special Teams

DL Dominic Bailey
- 1 fumble recovery (ties career high)
LB Jordan Burns
- 1 tackle
- 0.5 sacks
- 0.5 TFLs
DL Carson Gentle
- 0.5 sacks
- 0.5 TFLs
DB Rickey Gibson III
- 1 forced fumble
- 1 TFL (ties career high)
- 1 pass breakup (ties career high)
DL Caleb Herring
- 2 tackles (ties career high)
DL Daevin Hobbs
- 0.5 sacks (ties career high)
- 1.5 TFLs
DL Jayson Jenkins
- 2 tackles (ties career high)
DL Joshua Josephs
- 2 TFLs
DL James Pearce Jr.
- 2.0 sacks (ties career high)
- 2.5 TFLs
LB Kalib Perry
- 1.5 TFLs
- 4 tackles (ties career high)
DB John Slaughter
- 1 interception (first of career)
LB Jalen Smith
- 1.5 TFLs
LB Jeremiah Telander
- 1 QBH (first of career)