Tennessee football didn’t need as many points as its high-scoring offense often produces at Neyland Stadium. But the Vols needed more than they got against an aggressive, turnover-forcing Oklahoma defense Nov. 1.
The upset result was disastrous for a team seemingly on course for back-to-back berths in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
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The No. 14 Vols (6-3, 3-3 SEC) can forget the playoffs. And they might want to shelf those Dark Mode uniforms given the final score – 33-27 Oklahoma’s way.
The all-black look wasn’t even the oddest attire on this evening. Tate Sandell was wearing as tiny a pair of shorts as you will ever see on a football field when he helped kick Tennessee out of the playoffs with field goals of 55, 55, 51 and 40 yards.
Sandell kicked the longest. But Oklahoma’s elite defense kicked hard, too.
The No. 18 Sooners (7-2, 3-2), who lead the SEC in fewest points and yards allowed per game, intercepted two passes when usually reliable Joey Aguilar threw into double coverage. Those interceptions and returns set up two of Sandell’s field goals.
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But Oklahoma’s first score was more memorable. Aguilar fumbled when struck by the Sooners’ fierce pass rush, and R. Mason Thomas returned the recovery 71 yards for a touchdown. The score was costly since Thomas apparently strained an hamstring and was unable to return.
That set the tone of a game in where the defenses frequently had the upper-hand even though both teams had to weather the loss of multiple defenders to injury.
Oklahoma needed every bit of its kicking and defense to keep its playoff hopes alive, because its offense little support for much of the game.
Never mind how many opponents rolled up so many points and so much yardage against UT’s usually vulnerable defense. That same defense wasn’t on its heels so much against the Sooners.
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The Sooners’ pedestrian offense consisted mainly of Washington State transfer John Mateer scrambling, running and completing short passes.
That worked well in the first few weeks of the season before Mateer broke a bone in his throwing hand against Auburn. He rushed back to action just 17 days after surgery but hasn’t been nearly as effective since. But he managed to lead the Sooners on a touchdown drive in the third quarter.
That was enough the way Oklahoma defense was knocking the Vols around.
Coach Josh Heupel’s high-flying offense hasn’t run into a defense of this caliber all season. The Sooners repeatedly delivered jarring highlight hits even when they didn’t force a turnover. And they didn’t tire despite all the time they were on the field in the first half when Tennessee outgained Oklahoma 255 to 90 yards.
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But yardage didn’t matter as much in this game as game-turning defensive plays. Finaly, Tennessee managed one of its own.
Linebacker Edwin Spillman intercepted an ill-advised Mateer pass with 4:18 to play, and Oklahoma threatening to run out the clock.
Aguilar ran and passed the Vols from their 45 to the Oklahoma 15 before throwing his third touchdown pass of the game – 15 yards to Mike Matthews. That left the Vols down by two points with 1:56 to play.
An onside kick took a tricky bounce, but Oklahoma recovered. One play later, Xavier Robinson ran 43 yards to the 1-yard-line, where he thought it would be a good idea to go down and run more clock. Mateer thought differently and ran over the goal line on the next play to clinch the victory.
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REPORT CARD: Grading Tennessee football QB Joey Aguilar in loss to Oklahoma
The Vols left the field in their Dark Mode uniforms on the darkest regular-season night of the past two seasons. And, as what was left of the Tennessee crowd left, too, it probably was missing those traditional orange and white uniforms more than ever.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football playoff hopes go dark in loss vs Oklahoma
