The Tennessee Volunteers epitomized what the day was like for much of the SEC, when they surrendered a 17-3 halftime lead over the Oklahoma Sooners to eventually lose in double-overtime.
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Much of the SEC spent the week trolling Ohio State and teams in other conferences about schedule strength. The No. 23 Tennessee Volunteers were having none of it, nor were they taking their own schedule too lightly by playing the second game of the year against the No. 19 Oklahoma Sooners at Neyland Stadium.
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After seeing what other teams in the conference faced all day — Auburn needing overtime to beat an FCS team and Arkansas being upset at home by Toledo — the Volunteers needed to carry the non-conference torch for the SEC and get a big home win over a ranked Big 12 opponent.
Things started off in grand fashion, and the speed of the Volunteer defense seemed to have Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Sooner offense completely out of sync. The Sooners’ first seven offensive possessions ended in interception, punt, punt, punt, punt, punt and field goal.
Their last possession before the end of the first half – turnover on downs. Oklahoma was anemic and Neyland Stadium was even more electric than the orange color they love so dearly.
On the other side Tennessee seemed firmly in control of the game. Even coming out in the second half, it didn’t seem as though much had changed from prior to the break. But the Volunteers missed what turned out to be a crucial 48-yard field goal attempt in their first possession.
From there, nothing but a stalemate until the fourth quarter, when Oklahoma finally broke through to make the game a 17-10 Tennessee lead. From that point on, it got wild and wooly, and we started to see the same Volunteer pass defense that surrendered the yardage of a small nation to Bowling Green last week.
The more passes Baker Mayfield completed, the more gassed and confused the Tennessee defense looked. By the time the game went into overtime at 17-17, you had a sense that the Vols were hitting that “oh no…not again” mode.
When Joshua Dobbs threw the interception to end the game in the second overtime, the Checkerboard Nation was silenced…like the kind of silence that would be spooky if it were a horror movie.
Sep 12, 2015; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11) during warm up prior to the game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
For Oklahoma, the win against Tennessee means everything. It probably means a bump up in the polls. It was a win over the SEC, who head coach Bob Stoops loves to torment. It was a win over a ranked opponent, and a chance to show that TCU and Baylor aren’t the only teams that have a shot in the Big 12.
For Tennessee, the loss means essentially nothing in terms of their status or ability to win the SEC East, but it had to be demoralizing. They had this game. It was theirs for the taking, and then they coughed up the largest lead ever given up for a loss at Neyland Stadium. This is program trying to become relevant again, and a win against Oklahoma would have served notice that they were for real.
Now it’s just a post-it note scribbled with “Same old Vols”.
Now I’m sure you’ll hear some Volunteer fans talk about the officiating, and being robbed, and Oklahoma got all the calls. True, there were some bad calls…seems to have become an expected part of the college game nowadays. But the Volunteers had every opportunity to put this game away, and they simply choked.
Tennessee played a fine game…for three quarters. They now know that simply isn’t going to be enough against the powers of the FBS.
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