Postgame Mini-Pod: Tennessee responds well, cruises to win at Vanderbilt

NASHVILLE — Tennessee fought through the rain on a chilly Saturday night, to defeat in-state foe Vanderbilt 56-0 at FirstBank Stadium – ending the regular season with 10 victories. The Vols scored early and often, piling on for 513 yards of total offense while the defense responded with the clean sheet.

Eric Cain and Austin Price give some instant reactions as the Volunteers bounce back to win without Hendon Hooker.

Scoring Plays for Tennessee

Tennessee starts in a hurry, needing only four plays to score from 75 yards out. Jabari Small punched it in from the three-yard line – but the play was set up by a 61-yard dart from Joe Milton to Jalin Hyatt that took the ball inside the five-yard line. Tennessee led by a touchdown not even a minute into the ballgame.

The Vols scored again later in the first quarter, marching 76 yards on 11 plays, converting on two fourth downs in the series – including the touchdown plunge. Ultimately, it was a one-yard Princeton Fant touchdown run out of a jumbo-look with Dayne Davis as a tight end and Tyre West in the backfield as an off-set fullback next to Fant, in front of Small. Tennessee led by two scores early on.

Dee Williams put the Vols back on the scoreboard midway through the second quarter with a 73-yard house call on the punt return. Jimmy Holiday had the block to spring him and Williams did the rest, making two guys miss en route to the end zone. Tennessee led Vanderbilt 21-0 with 8:09 remaining in the second stanza.

After the defense stood tall on Vanderbilt’s first possession of the second half, which resulted in a turnover on downs, Tennessee found the end zone on its first series as Small broke two tackles and scored from 52 yards away on the second play from scrimmage. Tennessee extended its lead to 28-0 not even four minutes into the second half.

Tennessee’s defense forced a punt on the next Vanderbilt possession, but the Commodores faked the punt with a run. Unfortunately, the punter fumbled at the end of the run after picking up the line to gain and turned it back over to Tennessee. Jayeln Wright took it in from 50 yards shortly after and the Vols led 35-0 with 10+ minutes left in the third quarter.

The Vols scored again on their next possession when Milton tossed his first touchdown pass of the day. Nashville native Walker Merrill was on the receiving end of the seven-yard slant as the game was really getting out of hand with just under five minutes remaining in the third frame. The new score was Tennessee 42, Vanderbilt 0.

Wright was at it again, but this time from a further distance. After the Vols defense tallied another fourth down stand, Wright ran around left side and scored from 83 yards out. Tennessee’s lead was pushed to 49-0 with 11:16 remaining in the ballgame.

The Vols added another long touchdown run, this tie it was courtesy of Dylan Sampson. The true freshman broke a tackle at the second level and turned on the jets for the 80-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter. The Vols led by a score of 56-0 at the time.