Mississippi State at Tennessee, from Z14

Written By Tucker Harlin

By Tucker Harlin

There wasn’t enough cowbell in Neyland Stadium for #7 Tennessee’s (8-1, 5-1) 33-14 win over Mississippi State (2-8, 0-6) Saturday night.

The crowd wasn’t as lively as it was for the Florida and Alabama games, particularly in the second half. Many fans left the game in the middle of the fourth quarter as the Vols had done enough to win handedly by that point.

As far as interactions with opposing fans go, I didn’t have any.

Mississippi State fans are some of the classier ones in the SEC, unlike the ones that dwell in Gainesville and Athens. I never observed any sort of trash talk between Bulldog and Vol fans.

Let’s jump into the game.

OFFENSE

Tennessee scored on its first offensive possession for the first time since the 71-0 win against Kent State.

The drive looked like it was on the verge of stalling out as a 4th and 1 conversion was brought back due to the rare “assisting the runner” penalty. Nico went for it all to Squirrel White in the middle of the end zone, White’s first touchdown catch of the season.

The next two possessions were frustrating ones.

Dylan Sampson lost his third fumble in as many games in the red zone on the first. The defense got the ball right back with a turnover, but what’s normally a porous Mississippi State defense put on a goal line stand on a possession that started on its 9-yard line.

Fast forward to the beginning of the second quarter.

Nico found Dont’e Thornton on this slightly underthrown deep shot for a 70-yard touchdown. All of Thornton’s highlight reel catches go toward the end zone opposite of me.

The Vols didn’t reach the end zone again in the first half, but the 20 points they scored were the most in a half since the win at Oklahoma.

The biggest concern at the end of the half was the health of Dylan Sampson, who appeared to have suffered a gruesome injury late in the second quarter.

But the second half began with the plot twist of plot twists.

Gaston Moore was the man taking the snaps, not Nico Iamaleava. Additionally, Dylan Sampson returned and ran stronger than he did in the first half.

When Mississippi State scored its lone touchdown of the half, Tennessee answered with this 33-yard rush touchdown from Sampson.

Moore’s most effective play through the air was the off-target pass that results in a defensive pass interference. Tennessee receivers drew three of these with Moore at quarterback.

While Moore was serviceable, he’s definitely not the guy Tennessee wants to trot out against Georgia next weekend. Josh Heupel said he expects Nico to be ready for Georgia and that his disappearance in the second half was a precautionary holdout.

DEFENSE

Mississippi State’s offense was its strength coming into this game, but Tennessee created the same difficult challenge the way it did in the previous eight competitions.

The run game is where the Bulldogs were most effective. Running backs Davon Booth and Johnnie Daniels combined for 188 yards and both of Mississippi State’s touchdowns in this game.

While the run game was respectable, the same can’t be said about the Bulldogs’ pass attack.

The normally steady Michael Van Buren finished the night just 10/26 for 92 yards. Boo Carter got ahead of a route and picked Van Buren off just plays after Sampson’s lost fumble.

Van Buren showcased some escapability in the first half, but that nasty Vols defensive front put him on the ground in the second half,

Bryson Eason, James Pearce, and Omarr Norman-Lott all recorded sacks in the second half. Jayson Jenkins stripped Van Buren early in the second half, a play that helped set up Max Gilbert’s third field goal of the evening.

The Vols made the hits add up.

I remember a play in which Van Buren tried to turn upfield and run, but Kalib Perry made him pay the price for that decision. Rickey Gibson blew up a screen pass in the first half on Booth.

The effort from Tennessee’s defense against the Bulldogs felt more complete than what were treated to a week ago.

SPECIAL TEAMS

I don’t always discuss special teams, and usually when I choose to its because I saw something I didn’t like.

But this time, I’m discussing it for positive reasons (outside of a bad bounce on a kickoff). The first note of positivity I have for the Vols on special teams is the rejuvenated confidence of Max Gilbert.

He went from an 0/3 night with a miss of 34 yards to a 4/4 night with a long of 51 yards. Who knows what Tennessee’s night looks like if Gilbert had another game like he did against Kentucky.

The other positive note I have on special teams is the play of Boo Carter as a punt returner.

An important element of Carter’s game as a high school prospect was his ability to return kicks. Tennessee wasn’t getting what it wanted out of either Squirrel White or Jermod McCoy as return men in the first eight games, so it opted to try something new.

Carter looks more comfortable than White or McCoy ever did catching punts, and he’s shown more twitch in his returns than either of them. It’s by no means perfect with Carter back there and he has large shoes to fill with Dee Williams’ over the last two seasons, but it’s a role Carter can grow into.

OVERALL

“Fine” feels like the appropriate adjective to describe the result for Tennessee against Mississippi State.

Tennessee fans would’ve been ecstatic it had broken 40, but Nico’s exit made the mark unattainable. But at least the Vols didn’t fiddle around with the Bulldogs the way they did with Kentucky last weekend.

Additionally, there was a small dose of upsets across the country that should have improved the Vols’ standing in the current playoff projections.

Unfortunately, Georgia’s loss at Ole Miss may be a rallying cry for Kirby Smart’s troops in Athens. The faint hope of a Sherman’s March to the Sea scenario is fading fast with that thought.

Tennessee needs to be competitive at the very least in Sanford Stadium next weekend.

Tucker Harlin
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