The 2 moments that cost the Tennessee Vols a win against Ole Miss
The Tennessee Vols were unable to leave Neyland Stadium with a win over the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday night/early Sunday morning. Ole Miss squeaked out a 31-26 win in a wild game that was punctuated by fans of both teams throwing trash on the field, resulting in an 18-minute delay. The lasting image from […]
The Tennessee Vols were unable to leave Neyland Stadium with a win over the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday night/early Sunday morning.
Ole Miss squeaked out a 31-26 win in a wild game that was punctuated by fans of both teams throwing trash on the field, resulting in an 18-minute delay.
The lasting image from the game itself is Vols backup quarterback Joe Milton's unwise decision to run out of bounds on the game's final play. There was no time left on the clock when Milton elected to run out of bounds.
One play earlier, Milton nearly threw the game-winning touchdown.
If two plays in the earlier game had gone the Vols' way, the final possession wouldn't have even mattered.
The 2 plays that cost the Tennessee Vols a win against Ole Miss
Tennessee forced Ole Miss to punt on the game's first possession. That was a huge win for the Vols and it instantly gave UT some momentum.
That momentum, however, didn't last long.
Vols senior wide receiver Velus Jones muffed the punt, giving the Rebels the ball at the Tennessee 11 yard line.
Ole Miss scored a few plays later, taking an early 7-0 lead.
Later in the first quarter, the Volunteers appeared to score on a strip-sack fumble recovery.
Sophomore defensive end Tyler Baron recovered Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral's fumble and returned it 55 yards for a score.
The referees, for reasons that still don't make sense, didn't let the play stand because Corral's "forward progress" was deemed to be stopped.
That decision wasn't made until after the play. There was no stoppage of play — the referees huddled after the play to make that determination according to the SEC league office.
One of these plays was a self-inflicted error by the Vols. And the other play was a colossal mistake by the officiating crew.
If both of those plays go the Vols' way — 99 times out of 100 they probably do — the outcome of this game likely looks very different.
Tennessee and Ole Miss aren't on equal ground when it comes to rosters — the Vols are incredibly thin right now — but they were on equal ground when it came to the product we saw on the field.
The ball just bounced the Rebels' way on Saturday night.
That's how it goes in college football. There has to be a winner and a loser. And this week it was Ole Miss who came out on top.
Featured image via Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports