Game Recap: Texas A&M Football Falls at Tennessee
Recapping Texas A&M Football and Tennessee
Texas A&M football won the toss to start the day, deferring to the second half. The Aggie defense gave up a first down to start off the day, but pressure on the next series had Joe Milton rolling out from the pocket and hurling the ball downfield. The receiver fell down, bringing in boos from a crowd that wanted pass interference, but Chappell’s coverage was deemed legal. The Vols took a timeout after some confusion on offense as they faced a 3rd and 8 behind midfield. An offsides penalty against Walter Nolen moved the Vols into 3rd and 3, but the Aggies blew up the run play behind the line of scrimmage. Tennessee would bring out the punting unit—they looked like they were going to fake it for a brief moment, but they ended up kicking it away. The offense for Texas A&M football would take the field for the first time on the day.
The first play from scrimmage saw a Tennessee defensive back tackling Max Wright out in the pattern, drawing a pass interference flag. Offsides on the next play moved the Ags into 1st and 5, where another pass to Wright gained about 2 yards. A handoff to Le’Veon Moss broke through the first line of defense and went down to about the Tennessee 40 yard line. Evan Stewart had his man beaten on the next play, but the pass was slightly underthrown and went off the defender’s helmet. Max scrambled for just over 5 yards, putting the Aggies at 3rd and 5 just inside the 30 of the Volunteers. A perfectly placed ball to Noah Thomas put the Aggies at the 4 yard line for first and goal. The official missed an extremely obvious face mask penalty against the Vols on a short Moss run. Second down was a busted play, but Max Johnson reversed field on a rollout and dove for the pylon to score a touchdown, putting the Aggies up 7-0.
Tennessee ran on first down for no gain as Edgerrin Cooper met Jaylen Wright in the hole. A short pass by Joe Milton on second down gained about 3 yards, and a quick throw on 3rd down just barely converted. Jaylen Wright found a hole on the next play with an explosive run, hurdling Josh DeBerry downfield but was met by Demani Richardson in midair. DeBerry walked off under his own power, but headed right to the injury tent. Pressure on Milton forced him to throw it away on 1st and 10 from midfield. On second down, though, Jaylen Wright again found a crease on the ground and got down to the 25. The next play was stacked up for only a yard. A throw to the end zone went way over everyone’s heads on 2nd and 9, and a false start put the Vols in 3rd and even longer. A run against a light box got close to the line to gain, but a strange 4th and 2 play led to a stop for Texas A&M football.
The Aggies took over at their own 17. A first down run to Moss looked like it had potential, but a Tennessee DL was able to get a hand on him at the line of scrimmage for only a one yard gain. Max airmailed the next pass to Evan Stewart, bringing up a 3rd and 9. Johnson delivered an accurate ball despite pressure in his face, but Stewart was unable to come up with a catch and the Aggies would punt away. A false start moved the Ags back even further, but a sky-high punt made the Vols call for a fair catch right behind midfield.
A QB keeper for Milton went for about three yards on first down. After a pile-pushing run put the Vols in 3rd and short, a sure touchdown was dropped. No matter, though, as a roughing the passer penalty gave Tennessee a first down anyway. Three more runs moved Big Orange down well inside the red zone. A tight end crosser scored the first touchdown of the game for the Volunteers, tying it at 7 points each.
A couple of nice runs by Rueben Owens got a first down for Texas A&M football on the next possession. Max delivered a quick throw to Stewart for a first down out near midfield, and the quarter drew to a close.