Tennessee defense smothers Texas A&M in 22-7 road win

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No. 8 Tennessee football went into College Station, Texas, with all of the adversity it could handle. Saturday brought more of it, and the fact the Vols left with a 22-7 win feels bigger than normal.

The Vols opened the game in a manner that was promising. Tennessee chewed 9:28 off the clock on a 16-play, 70-yard drive but settled for a 23-yard Cooper Ranvier field goal. George MacIntyre had time and went 4-for-4 for 35 yards on the drive. DeSean Bishop had 28 yards on seven carries, and Tennessee also converted a fourth-and-1. The Vols got to first-and-goal at the Texas A&M 7 but couldn’t finish the drive.

Two drives later, the Vols came away with the same result, 13 plays, 63 yards and a 30-yard Ranvier field goal. Tennessee’s offense really stalled after the injury to Mike Matthews, who had two catches for 42 yards before he left in the second quarter. He did not return because of a right knee injury. The Vols mustered only 22 yards on their next four drives.

As for Texas A&M, it only had success in the run game on a couple of first-half drives. That allowed a 25-yard touchdown run by KJ Edwards early in the second quarter to cap a six-play, 61-yard drive. A&M’s only other real threat came right before halftime, when a seven-play, 41-yard drive ended with David Olano missing a 50-yard field goal.

The Vols’ defense took the life out of anything the Aggies wanted to do. Texas A&M managed just 179 total yards on 44 plays and eight first downs. Tennessee forced seven three-and-outs on the Aggies’ 12 possessions, and A&M went 2-for-11 on third down. Marcel Reed completed 9 of 22 passes for 71 yards with an interception. The Aggies ran only eight plays in Tennessee territory and never reached the red zone.

The second half was even better. A&M’s first four drives after the break were all three-and-outs, totaling 17 yards. Reed went 5-for-13 for 27 yards with an interception after halftime. TJ Metcalf led the way with eight tackles, and Arion Carter had seven.

MacIntyre, who had been efficient all day getting the ball out quickly (13-for-17 for 109 yards), took a big blindside hit in the third quarter and came up hobbling. He visited the medical tent after the next couple of drives and was seen with a knee brace.

Faizon Brandon came in for Tennessee’s last drive of the third quarter and handed it off to Javin Gordon (11 carries for 78 yards) and Bishop just about every play. The Vols did what they did earlier in the game and stalled for a 32-yard Ranvier field goal to take a 9-7 lead. The 11-play, 66-yard drive took 6:18 off the clock.

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Brandon remained in the game after another shutdown job by the defense and led the Vols to their first touchdown of the game. Bishop (34 carries for 97 yards) got a heavy load on the drive and passed Vols great Jamal Lewis for No. 5 all-time in Tennessee rushing history. From the 5, Brandon connected with DaSaahn Brame for a 5-yard touchdown pass to increase the lead to 16-7.

The defense remained stingy and forced a turnover on downs, which led to another Ranvier field goal. Then, on the next A&M drive, TJ Metcalf intercepted Reed and gave the Vols the ball right back deep in Aggies territory. That ended in Ranvier’s fifth field goal of the day to make it 22-7. 

Texas A&M went to Brady Hart, and he was intercepted by Dejuan Lane, and Tennessee went on to run out the clock.

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