It wasn’t pretty, but the No. 1 Texas Longhorns escaped Knoxville with its fourth win of the season against the No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers, 20-17.
With President Donald Trump in attendance to watch this premier SEC matchup, Texas seemed to have the game in the bag when they went up 20-10 with 5:41 left to play in the fourth quarter.
But Vols freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon, who was hounded all game long by the Longhorns’ defense, made things very interesting when he finally led a touchdown drive with less than two minutes to play.
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Tennessee knew it needed some luck with no timeouts and only an onside kick recovery as the way they could win the game. If Texas secured the onside kick, Arch Manning would’ve knelt out the clock to victory.
But the Vols, with a sold-out crowd at historic Neyland Stadium screaming, saw Texas receiver Ryan Wingo botch the recovery of the spinning ball. Brandon and the Vols’ offense got the ball back and had a chance to at least tie it with a field goal try and send the game to overtime, if not win it with a touchdown.
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However, Texas’ defense, as it was doing all game, put too much pressure on Brandon in the end. Brandon was sacked for the 10th time in the game, with Colin Simmons tallying half of those in a game where the Vols’ offense couldn’t move until the end.
On the final play of the game, Brandon heaved a Hail Mary to the end zone, but Texas batted the potential game-winning ball away to secure its win.
This game ultimately matched the hype that surrounded it all week, especially after Trump’s attendance was announced earlier in the week.
Just after the national anthem, Air Force One flew right overhead, with the PA announcer at the stadium telling everyone to look up. A thunderous roar came from the crowd as the jet flew over, and the same occurred when Trump was shown on the big screen during a game break.
With the president, and the rest of the nation watching, Manning and the Texas offense got to work early. On their opening drive, Manning found Emmett Mosley V on a 43-yard pass that set up the Longhorns beautifully on Tennessee’s 22-yard line. A few plays later, Raleek Brown burst through the line of scrimmage and picked up a nine-yard touchdown, capping a statement drive on the road to begin the game.
From there, this game became a defensive bout on both sides. Tennessee would open their first drive with a field goal, but the score was just 10-3 at halftime as both defenses made it very tough for either quarterback to fall into a rhythm, especially Brandon making his debut against a SEC opponent.
As the second half started, Tennessee knew that it had to get something to go their way, with the Knoxville crowd waiting anxiously to burst out in cheers. On Texas’ first drive of the half, that’s exactly what they got.
After the Vols’ defense forced a three-and-out, Qua Moss caught a punt near midfield and took it 57 yards to the house to tie the game up at 10. Just like that, we had a game.
The fourth quarter provided most of the thrill in this game once Brown scored his second touchdown of the game with less than six minutes left.
In the end, the Texas’ defense came through when it needed most, even if it wasn’t a smooth ride to get there.