Tennessee is not the cream of the SEC crop in 2014, but they will give some teams problems, and they will be a much tougher opponent when the Sooners go to Tennessee in 2015. But that’s for next year. This year, they just couldn’t compete with a much more experienced and talented Oklahoma squad.
The Sooner defense was, in a word, dominant. They sacked Tennessee QB Justin Worley five times, and hurried him countless more times. They forced three turnovers and were generally imposing their will on the Tennessee offense for most of the game.
In fact, if it were not for a pair of Oklahoma defensive penalties, Tennessee would not have scored. Their first touchdown drive was kept alive when the Sooners were offside on a third down play that resulted in a sack. Their field goal drive was stopped with a third down sack at midfield, but a face mask on the sack itself gave them a first down. It took until almost the fourth quarter for Tennessee to get into positive rushing yards.
The game could have been closer, to be sure. The Sooner offense went conservative after going up 27-7 on the first possession of the second half, and Tennessee had a couple of chances to score. One was snuffed out on the next to last play of the third quarter by a brilliant interception in the corner of the end zone by Zack Sanchez, who seems to have an interception every game now.
The other, on the next Tennessee drive, salted the game away. The Volunteers had moved into Sooner territory and faced a third and two from the OU four-yard line. Worley’s pass was tipped by Jordan Evans and picked off by Julian Wilson, who returned it the length of the field for a touchdown and the eventual 34-10 final score. Wilson’s play was reviewed to see if he dropped the ball before he crossed the goal line. He did not, but only just. I would venture to say that he will be handing the ball to the referee the next time he goes into the end zone.
Trevor Knight was solid, going 20-33 for 308 yards, one TD, and one pick, which was not his fault. Knight also ran for one score. The Sooners had difficulty getting their running game going at times. Samaje Perine led the way with 67 yards on nine carries, much of it late in the game. The Sooner offense didn’t do much after scoring on the first possession of the second half, and it’s unclear how much of that was Tennessee and how much was going conservative with a lead.
Keith Ford had 61 yards on 15 carries, but was injured and left the field in the second half. His status for the game at West Virginia is unknown at this time. There were no other significant injuries, although Sanchez continued to struggle with the shoulder he injured last week against Tulsa.
Next up for the Sooners is a tough road game Saturday night at West Virginia. The Mountaineers are 3-0 and much improved from the team that missed a bowl game last year. This will certainly be the Sooners’ sternest test of the season to date.
I’ll be flying into Pittsburgh Friday for the game. It will never not be weird to fly to Pittsburgh for a conference game. See you in Morgantown.
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