Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images
Tennessee entered Saturday’s game at Oklahoma as a decent betting favorite, but a night game — with College GameDay in town — in front of a raucous crowd in the Sooners’ highly anticipated SEC opener looked like a prime letdown spot.
Instead, the Volunteers earned their first road win against a top-15 program since 2006 in a 25-15 game that didn’t feel as close as the final score showed.
Nico Iamaleava played well in this game, but once again, it wasn’t exactly a banner day for the passing offense outside of a handful of explosive plays. Instead, Tennessee once again relied on its devastating run game to the tune of more than 150 yards on the ground, including 92 from lead back Dylan Sampson.
What really makes this team look like not just a playoff contender but also a national title contender, however, is the defense. Through four weeks, it looks like it could be one of the best units in the entire country.
It held the Sooners to 222 yards of offense, forcing three turnovers and ultimately a quarterback change as Jackson Arnold was sent to the bench following a rough outing.
Oklahoma may have some issues, and games later in the year against Alabama and Georgia will tell us much more about this team’s postseason aptitude. For now, though, there are few teams in the country that have impressed me more through the first month.
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=66f1f2faab1548bab15a1b1595edacf0&url=https%3A%2F%2Fftw.usatoday.com%2Flists%2Fcollege-football-week-4-winners-losers-michigan-oklahoma&c=11015882503993640570&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2024-09-23 11:18:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.