Turnovers: Term of the day for Tennessee
In a tunnel at the south end of Neyland Stadium, a stoic Bobby Petrino was giving his postmortem on Western Kentucky’s bizarre 52-20 loss to Tennessee.
“Really, it was a case of they’re a good football team,’’ Petrino said Saturday, “but we beat ourselves a lot tonight.’’
At the north end of the stadium, UT safety Brian Randolph begged to differ on the providence of the seven Hilltopper turnovers that flipped the game on its head.
“They were a very good offense,’’ said Randolph of Western Kentucky. “I just believe that was 100 percent hard work by us, being in the right place at the right time.’’
The truth is usually somewhere in the middle.
Whether it was Western’s boo-boos or Tennessee’s anticipation, the Vols’ opportunism was undeniable.
Trailing 3-0 in the first quarter, Tennessee’s defense discombobulated the Hilltoppers by producing five turnovers in a span of six plays over 4 minutes, 24 seconds. When the onslaught was over, the Vols led 31-3.
UT added two more interceptions, finishing with seven turnovers, the program’s most larcenous outing since 1984.
Western Kentucky (1-1) was a trendy upset pick after beating Kentucky last week. Under the direction of first-year WKU coach Petrino — a noted offensive guru — the Hilltoppers led the Vols in the yardage race throughout the game. The final tally was 393 for Western, 382 for the Vols. But the turnovers trumped everything.
The first turnover was an interception by cornerback Justin Coleman, who grabbed a deflection off a Hilltoppers receiver and raced 23 yards to the end zone to give the Vols a lead they would never surrender.
On Western’s second snap of the next possession, freshman Cameron Sutton, from Jonesboro High, snatched a Brandon Doughty pass and took it 36 yards to the end zone.
The Hilltoppers’ next snap was a fumble, stripped and recovered by Dontavis Sapp at the 28. A Michael Palardy field goal made it 17-3.
Repeat: Kickoff, snap, fumble.
Ultimately, of course, it was a 60-minute game. But turnovers decided it in a span of 4:24.
- MIKE STRANGE, Knoxville News-Sentinel
‘We all know what’s in store next week’
At Tennessee coach Butch Jones’ postgame news conference, he doused the room with reality.
“Moving forward, I think we all know what’s in store next week,” Jones said. Translation: Quack, quack.
Off to a 2-0 start and a singing a confident tune, the Vols will gallivant across the country for a date with No. 2 Oregon and its blink-and-miss-it offense.
The hope on Saturday was that something — anything — could be taken from the win over WKU and propelled forward. In a 59-10 win at Virginia on Saturday, Oregon scored one touchdown going 89 yards on five plays in 1 minute, 51 seconds; scored another on three plays for 14 yards in 1:13 and another on one play for 40 yards in eight seconds. That was in the first quarter.
Tennessee defensive end Marlon Walls, a senior, said he and others preached one message after the game.
“No going out tonight,” he said. “Let’s get straight to work. We need our bodies to feel as great as they’re going to feel. Let’s chug some water because we know that tempo is gonna be crazy.”
As will the upcoming week. The Vols are scheduled to leave for Eugene on Friday.
There, reality will await.
- Brendan F. Quinn, Knoxville News-Sentinel
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