Tennessee Vols set an impressive program mark in win over Mississippi State that not even the 2022 team reached
The scoreboard has been lighting up this year for the Vols.
The Tennessee Vols were finally on the right side of a high-scoring overtime thriller against the Bulldogs on Saturday night, winning 41-34 against Mississippi State in Starkville. Tennessee found a way to dig in on both sides of the ball down 34-27 in the fourth quarter to force overtime and eventually prevail.
In doing so, according to ESPN, Tennessee reached a mark on the scoreboard that the program has never seen before – 40+ points for the fifth straight game.
Tennessee set a program mark on Saturday against Mississippi State with their fifth straight 40+ point game per ESPN
At 4-1, Tennessee has reached the 40-point plateau for the fifth straight time, and it hasn’t been against the softest of competition either. Tennessee put up 45 points to open the year on a mercurial Syracuse team that did manage to go to Clemson and win 34-21. They put up 41 on Georgia in a very rare offensive outburst against the Bulldogs. And against the other Bulldogs they got over the mark again with a 25-yard DeSean Bishop run in overtime.
That’s something that even the vaunted 2022 Tennessee squad with one of the program’s best offenses ever technically didn’t quite manage to reach. However, they came close, as a 38-33 win over Florida was the only game below 40 points over a 6-game stretch that saw Tennessee blow the doors off opposing defenses and clear 40 points before a 27-13 loss to Georgia in November ended that run.
In the current run, the Vols have more than their offense to thank for topping 40+ points each week, in addition to some free football against both sets of Bulldogs. Tennessee’s defense has been opportunistic along the way. Colton Hood had a touchdown on a fumble return in Tennessee’s 45-26 win over Syracuse. Hood also had a pick six on Saturday against Mississippi State, and Joshua Josephs returned a fumble for a touchdown against the Bulldogs after Tyre West sacked MSU QB Blake Shapen in the fourth quarter.
But hey, you take points where you can get them. They all count the same. And right now, Tennessee has shown that they’ve needed them wherever they can find them. With the reeling Arkansas Razorbacks – who allowed 56 points to Notre Dame on Saturday – on deck after a bye week, there’s a very good chance the Vols can extend that streak to six games before a huge showdown with Alabama on the third Saturday in October.
Tennessee Volunteers News
Joey Aguilar says exactly what he should after Tennessee’s win over Mississippi State, even if he didn’t have to
It’s what a leader does.
