By Camden Gober
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Interim Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino came into the game with a “nothing to lose” mentality, causing the Razorbacks to play loose and aggressively all night, and it almost worked— well, at least for about two and a half quarters.
No. 12 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1) uses a second-half surge to snuff out an upset bid by Arkansas (2-4, 0-2), 34-31 in Neyland Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Early on, Tennessee’s defense could not stop the Hogs’ offense. With split back usage and an ability to reach the second level of Volunteer defenders seemingly every play, Tennessee’s defense gave up 115 yards on the ground in the first quarter alone. To put it simply, Arkansas ran on Tennessee like a hot knife through butter the first 30 minutes of play, yet it was all knotted up at 17 at the break.
Tennessee Defensive Coordinator Tim Banks, however, is notorious for his second-half adjustments. The Vols’ defense flipped a switch in the second half, drastically changing how the game was being played.
“Defensively, I love the way we started in the second half,” said Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel.
The Tennessee defense came out of the break looking like a different team. The Vols held the Razorbacks scoreless in the second half until there were six minutes left in the game, allowing the Tennessee offense to create some separation.
The Volunteers’ defensive line, specifically their edge rushers, made a huge impact down the stretch of this game, forcing four fumbles and recovering three of them. Heupel was very complimentary of defensive linemen Jordan Ross and Daevin Hobbs.
“Daevin, I just felt like he was going to play really well for us,” said Heupel. “Jordan Ross played extremely well off the edge, changed the football game.”
Quarterback Joey Aguilar and the Tennessee offense continued to build a lead as the defense continued to get stops and forced turnovers, leading to short fields. The Vols offense did not have to make many adjustments all night; rather just needed to execute better down the stretch.
“They came out in a certain defense and tried to switch it up in the second half,” said Aguilar. “We just stayed to our preparation and executed as an offense.”
With that win, Tennessee improves to 2-1 in SEC play, with all three being one-possession games.
“Margins are small in this league,” said Heupel. “You’re playing like a talent every single week. A play here, a play there changes the way the game is played.”
Tennessee’s win sets up a high-stakes potential top-10 matchup with longtime rival, No. 8 Alabama (5-1, 3-0) under the lights of Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa next Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.