Tennessee linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin (21) eyes Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon (25) during Saturday's game at Neyland Stadium. Reeves-Maybin made a 21 tackles, with 21 solo stops, in the Vols' 31-24 loss in double overtime.
photo by Dennis Norwood
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 23 Tennessee built a stunning 17-0 lead against Oklahoma and led by two touchdowns deep into the fourth quarter in front of a raucous sellout crowd of 102,455 at Neyland Stadium on Saturday.
The question was this: Could the Vols hold that lead?
The answer: Nope.
Oklahoma, scoring two touchdowns in the final 8:20 of the fourth quarter, scored the game-winner on a Baker Mayfield-to-Sterling Shepard touchdown covering 18 yards and cornerback Zack Sanchez intercepted Joshua Dobbs’ third-down pass at the 15 to give the Sooners a thrilling 31-24 double-overtime win over the gutty Vols.
“I’m proud of the guys,” Tennessee coach Butch Jones said.
“We talk a lot about giving our all and they gave their all. We just came up a little short. They made one more play than we did. This has to drive us; this has to fuel us.”
The Vols (1-1) led 17-3 in the fourth period, but Mayfield engineered two touchdown drives and the Sooners, playing in front of the largest crowd to ever watch an Oklahoma game, rallied against a defensive unit that suddenly couldn’t make a tackle.
Mayfield hooked up with running back Samaje Perine on a 2-yard scoring strike with 8:20 remaining and then found Shepard in the end zone on a 5-yard touchdown that tied the game at 17-all with 40 seconds left.
That set up the extra-time action, the 17th all-time for Tennessee, which leads the country with 11 overtime victories.
That past success didn’t help Tennessee on Saturday.
Tailback Jalen Hurd scored on an 8-yard run and Aaron Medley kicked the extra point to put the Vols ahead, 24-17, in the first OT.
The Sooners (2-0) answered when Mayfield scored on a 1-yard keeper.
In the second overtime, the Sooners had the ball first at the north end of Shields-Watkins Field.
On third-and-18, Mayfield fired a strike to Shepard, who danced along the far sideline and zipped into the end zone to give Oklahoma a 31-24 advantage, its first lead of the intersectional game.
It was Tennessee’s turn.
On first down, Hurd picked up 2 yards.
Dobbs missed Pig Howard with a pass.
The Vols were flagged for a 5-yard false start penalty.
On second down at the 27, Dobbs threw to the right side, but Sanchez stepped in front of a Vols receiver for the game-clinching interception.
“It’s one of the more special wins,” Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. “This may be my favorite of all of them. A little ‘Sooner Magic’ came back out. It reminded me of maybe like we’re back at Texas A&M back in 2000 where we made some plays to win the game (35-31) that you feel pretty fortunate and blessed to make.
“(Tennessee) played a heck of a game and their crowd was outstanding. It couldn’t have been a better, more fun place to win the game.”
Mayfield, who was throttled for most of the game, completed 19-of-39 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns. He was picked off twice and sacked twice.
Shepard caught seven passes for 74 yards and two scores.
If it were not for linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin and defensive end Derek Barnett, the Sooners might have put up even bigger offensive numbers.
Reeves-Maybin was credited with a game-high 21 tackles, including 13 solos and three tackles for loss. Barnett had 15 stops.
That was little solace for Reeves-Maybin, a junior from Clarksville.
“When we’ve got them on the ropes and we let them off, it’s not a good feeling,” Reeves-Maybin said.
The Vols also got two interceptions from defensive back Todd Kelly Jr.
But the fourth quarter doomed the defensive unit, which was on the field for 11 of the 15 minutes.
“It doesn’t really matter if we’re tired or not,” Reeves-Maybin said. “(It) doesn’t matter how long we’re on the field or how long we’re not on the field, we’ve got to get the job done. We didn’t do that late in the game.”
Dobbs, now 7-2 as a starter, went 13-of-31 for 125 yards and the unfortunate game-ending pick. He was sacked three times by the Sooners’ defense.
Hurd finished with 106 yards rushing on 24 carries.
“That’s a talented defense,” Jones said of the Sooners. I think Jalen is the first back to rush for over 100 yards against them since 2013. I have to give them credit. They’re very quick. They’re very athletic and very stout.
Alvin Kamara gained a paltry 4 yards on 4 carries. Those two combined for 267 yards rushing that helped the Vols pile up 399 yards on the ground in last week’s 59-30 win over Bowling Green.
Tennessee had 129 rushing yards on 45 carries against the Sooners, who have won three of four games with the Vols.
Hosting the No. 19 Sooners for the first time, the Vols were efficient on offense and tenacious on defense in structuring a 17-0 lead in the early going.
Medley got the Vols’ scoring started, booting a 19-yard field goal with 9:51 left in the opening quarter.
They came back with an eight-play, 51-yard drive that used up 3:01, scoring when Dobbs tossed a 9-yard touchdown strike to Josh Malone. It was Malone’s second career touchdown.
That pushed the Tennessee lead to 10-0 and at that stage the Vols had 113 yards of offense to just 25 for Oklahoma.
In the second quarter, the Vols took the battle back to the Sooners with a 55-yard, four-play drive. Dobbs hit Josh Smith for a 19-yard gainer and the Sooners were guilty of a 15-yard personal foul penalty, moving the ball to the Oklahoma 21.
Hurd bulled his way for 15 yards to the Sooners’ 6. Then Hurd gained 2 yards.
On second-and-goal from the 4, Dobbs scooted around left end for the score and Medley’s PAT gave the Vols the 17-point advantage.
Oklahoma’s defensive adjustments in the second half, made Dobbs look mortal. The junior was 6-of-12 for 61 yards in the first half, but completed only 7-of-21 attempts after halftime, in large part because the Sooners’ were hounding him with a hard pass rush.
“We know that they started pressuring us, hitting up in the second half,” Dobbs said. “They made adjustments like any good defense is going to do. We have to be able to adjust on the fly.”
Oklahoma finally cracked the scoreboard when Austin Seibert kicked a 35-yard field goal with 4:56 left in the first half.
Oklahoma 0 3 0 14 7 7 – 31
Tennessee 10 7 0 0 7 0 – 24
First Quarter
UT – FG Aaron Medley 19, 9:51
UT – Josh Malone 9 pass from Joshua Dobbs (Medley kick), 1:56
Second Quarter
UT – Dobbs 4 run (Medley kick), 12:14
OU – FG Austin Seibert 35, 4:56
Fourth Quarter
OU – Samaje Perine 2 pass from Baker Mayfield (Seibert kick), 8:20
OU – Sterling Shepard 6 pass from Mayfield (Seibert kick), 0:40
First Overtime
UT – Jalen Hurd 8 run (Medley kick)
OU – Mayfield 1 run (Seibert kick)
Second Overtime
OU – Shepard 18 pass from Mayfield (Seibert kick)
YARDSTICK
OU UT
First Downs 20 19
Rushes-Yards 48-161 45-129
Passing Yards 187 125
Comp-Att-Int 19-39-2 13-31-1
Plays-Total Yards 87-348 76-254
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-0
Punts-Avg 8-43.4 9-50.0
Penalties-Yds 9-67 10-80
INDIVIDUALS
RUSHING – Oklahoma: Samaje Perine 23-78, Baker Mayfield 14-46, Joe Mixon 10-38, Dede Westbrook 1-minus 1; Tennessee: Jalen Hurd 24-106, Joshua Dobbs 14-12, Alton Howard 1-12, Alvin Kamara 4-4, Team 1-minus 2, Von Pearson 1-minus 3.
PASSING – Oklahoma: Mayfield 19-39-2 187; Tennessee: Dobbs 13-31-1 125.
RECEIVING – Oklahoma: Sterling Shepard 7-74, Westbrook 4-54, Perine 3-5, Durron Neal 2-34, Mixon 2-13, Dominique Alexander 1-7; Tennessee: Josh Smith 4-56, Josh Malone 2-19, Johnathon Johnson 2-18, Marquez North 1-9, Howard 1-8, Ethan Wolf 1-5, Kamara 1-5, Jauan Jennings 1-5.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)
Defensive back Todd Kelly Jr. (6) of Tennessee, along with long snapper Matt Giampapa, provide coverage on a punt against Oklahoma on Saturday. Kelly had two interceptions and eight tackles in the game.
photo by Dennis Norwood