NCAAF Game Recap - Vanderbilt at Tennessee
Sat Nov 30, 2019 4:00 PM EST

TxAM
7
LSU
50
F
OSU
56
Mich
27
F
Clem
38
SCar
3
F
UGA
52
GATec
7
F
Bama
45
Aub
48
F
Colo
15
Utah
45
F
Okla
34
OkSt
16
F
FlaSt
17
Fla
40
F
Wisc
38
MIN
17
F
Bayl
61
Kans
6
F
Rut
6
PSU
27
F
OreSt
10
Oreg
24
F
ND
45
Stan
24
F
Cin
24
Mem
34
F
Iowa
27
Neb
24
F
Boise
31
ColSt
24
F
App
48
Troy
13
F
VaTec
30
UVA
39
F
Navy
56
Hou
41
F
Ohio
52
Akr
3
F
WestMI
14
NIU
17
F
Miss
20
MissSt
21
F
Kent
34
E Mi
26
F
Toled
7
C Mi
49
F
BGSU
7
Buff
49
F
MiaOH
27
Ball
41
F
TxTch
24
Tex
49
F
MIZ
24
Ark
14
F
WaSt
13
Wash
31
F
WVU
20
TCU
17
F
ArkSt
30
SoAl
34
F
SoFL
7
UCF
34
F
TxSt
21
CoCar
24
F
Tuls
49
ECU
24
F
NW
29
Ill
10
F
Ind
44
Purd
41
F(1OT)
FLInt
27
Marsh
30
F OT
Lou
13
KY
45
F
Wake
30
Syr
39
F OT
Wyo
6
AF
20
F
MidTN
26
W Ky
31
F
UNCC
38
OD
22
F
NMS
28
Lib
49
F
UNLV
33
NEV
30
F OT
Rice
30
UTEP
16
F
UConn
17
Temp
49
F
UTSA
27
LT
41
F
BC
26
Pitt
19
F
MD
16
MSU
19
F
SMiss
17
FlAtl
34
F
MiaFL
17
Duke
27
F
Tul
20
SMU
37
F
UtSt
38
NM
25
F
UAB
26
NorTx
21
F
Vand
10
Tenn
28
F
GASt
10
GaSo
38
F
IASt
17
K St
27
F
UNC
41
NCSt
10
F
ULMon
30
ULLaf
31
F
BYU
3
SDSU
13
F
Ariz
14
AzSt
24
F
Cal
28
UCLA
18
F
Fres
16
SJSU
17
F
Army
31
Hawaii
52
F

Nov 30, 2019, 4:00 PM EST

Final

1

2

3

4

T

Vanderbilt (3-9)

3

0

0

7

10

Tennessee (7-5)

7

14

0

7

28

Gray's big day helps Tennessee trounce Vandy 28-10
Sun Dec 1, 2019 12:15 AM

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Tennessee’s Eric Gray had provided glimpses of his big-play ability early in his freshman season but didn’t have much production to show for it.

That all changed on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

Gray rushed for 246 yards and three touchdowns - including breakaways of 56 and 94 yards - as the Volunteers trounced Vanderbilt 28-10 to end the regular season with a five-game winning streak. Gray more than doubled his season rushing total as he showed just how much he’s discovered over the course of the season.

“You learn that holes close quick and you’ve got to hit them fast in order to break it,” Gray said. “At the beginning of the year, you’re kind of still learning from high school into college, and I feel like I’ve learned to be a college running back, just being able to hit the hole fast and break it when I need to.”

Tennessee (7-5, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) clinched its first winning season since 2016 as it continued its rebound from a 1-4 start. The Vols went 4-8 in 2017 and 5-7 last year.

“When things aren’t going the way you want them to go and there’s all kind of noise out there, it’s hard for them to kind of stick together,” Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt said. “These guys did. They did what most teams can’t do. It says a lot about their character.”

Vanderbilt (3-9, 1-7) was seeking its fourth straight victory in an annual series that Tennessee has traditionally dominated. Tennessee went 28-1 against Vanderbilt from 1983-2011, but Vanderbilt won five of their seven matchups from 2012-18 and had beaten the Vols by an average margin of 18 points the last three years.

Tennessee made sure Vanderbilt couldn’t extend that streak.

“When you lose to Vanderbilt, just to keep it real with you, that’s embarrassing,” Tennessee defensive lineman Matthew Butler said.

Vanderbilt was a three-touchdown underdog and watched its remote hopes for an upset fade when 1,000-yard rusher Ke’Shawn Vaughn appeared to hurt his left shoulder on the Commodores’ first play from scrimmage.

Vaughn returned to the game on Vanderbilt’s next series but sat out the entire second half and finished with six carries for just 13 yards. Vanderbilt also played the entire game without injured tight end Jared Pinkney.

“Tonight we just didn’t have enough horses,” Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason said.

Gray was the dominant running back in this game instead.

The Tennessee freshman has earned plenty of praise for his big-play potential, but he had just 207 yards rushing and 81 yards receiving through the Vols’ first 11 games and hadn’t been much of a factor since the first month of the season.

“I thought Eric probably in the middle part of the season maybe lost a step,” Pruitt said. “It happens lots of times to freshmen. They get a little worn down playing against bigger men, just the day-to-day grind. But over the last probably couple of weeks, he kind of looked like his old self and had a little more pep in his step. It showed today.”

Gray had the fifth-highest single-game rushing total ever by a Tennessee player.

His 56-yard and 94-yard runs were Tennessee’s two longest carries of the season. Gray's 94-yarder was the second-longest run from scrimmage in Tennessee history, trailing only Kelsey Finch’s 99-yarder in a 27-17 loss to Florida in 1977.

On his first touchdown Gray ran through a big hole on the right side, then cut to his left and was untouched on a 56-yard breakaway that put Tennessee ahead for good at 7-3. Gray’s first career touchdown run also was Tennessee’s longest carry of the season up to that point.

On his 94-yard run, Gray raced through the right side of the line, eluded safety Dashaun Jerkins’ diving tackle attempt just beyond the line of scrimmage and wasn’t touched the rest of the way.

Gray added a 4-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter.

THE TAKEAWAY

Vanderbilt: This game ended a disappointing season for Vanderbilt, which was expecting bigger things when Vaughn, Pinkney and Kalija Lipscomb all returned for their senior years after big performances in 2018. Vanderbilt instead went through a revolving door at the quarterback position and struggled on both sides of the ball. The Commodores now must figure out how to turn things around without Vaughn, Pinkney or Lipscomb. Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason, who owns a 27-47 record in six seasons, will get an opportunity to fix this. Athletic director Malcolm Turner already has indicated Mason will be back in 2020.

Tennessee: The Vols overcame a sluggish performance from quarterback Jarrett Guarantano because Gray ran wild and the defense continued its late-season surge. Guarantano went 6-of-17 passing for 120 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

SIDELINE ALTERCATION

The two teams scuffled late in the game on the Tennessee sideline after Vanderbilt punt returner Justice Shelton-Mosley was tackled by Tennessee’s Jauan Jennings while going out of bounds. Video appeared to show that as Jennings was getting up, his foot hit Shelton-Mosley’s head, but it was unclear whether or not the move was intentional.

Shelton-Mosley's helmet appeared to come off as he slid toward the Tennessee bench after getting hit (and before Jennings' foot hit Shelton-Mosley's head).

No penalty was called on the play.

LIGHTNING DELAYS

Lightning caused the game to start 28 minutes late. A second lightning delay lasting 39 minutes occurred midway through the fourth quarter.

UP NEXT

Vanderbilt’s season is over.

Tennessee awaits its bowl destination.

---

More AP college football: https://apnews.com/tag/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

Passing

Vand Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
R. Neal 29 14 48.3 1 139 26 0 73.8
D. Wallace 7 3 42.9 0 30 15 0 55.7
Tenn Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
J. Guarantano 17 6 35.3 1 120 50 1 56.0

Rushing

Vand Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
K. Henry-Brooks 13 70 5.4 20 0
R. Neal 8 16 2.0 9 0
Tenn Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
E. Gray 25 246 9.8 94 3
T. Jordan 11 40 3.6 9 0

Receiving

Vand Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
K. Lipscomb 4 43 10.8 22 1
C. Johnson 4 35 8.8 13 0
Tenn Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
J. Jennings 2 56 28.0 50 0
D. Wood-Anderson 3 45 15.0 25 1

Fumbles

Returning

Vand KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
J. Shelton-Mosley 2 17.5 0 21 2 7.5 0 18
Tenn KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
M. Callaway 0 0 0 1 -5.0 0 0

Punting

Vand Punt Yds Avg LgPu
H. Smith 7 292 41.7 57
Tenn Punt Yds Avg LgPu
P. Brooks 6 253 42.2 53

Takeaways

Vand Int Yds InTD
J. Mahoney 1 2 0

Team Stats Comparison

Vand Tenn
Points For 10 28
Total Yards 279 417
Rushing Yards 110 297
Passing Yards 169 120
Passing Completions / Attempts 17/36 6/17
Turnovers 0 1
Interceptions Thrown 0 1
Fumbles - Lost 2/0 1/0
First Downs 18 16
Penalties - Yards 9/76 9/66
Time Of Possession 30:30 30:30
Third Down Conversions/Attempts 6/17 6/13
Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts 1/2 0/0
Punts - Average Yards 8/39 6/42

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter Vand Tenn
Vand 02:22 FG Ryley Guay 41 yd FG 3 0
Tenn 11:56 TD Eric Gray 56 yd run (Brent Cimaglia kick) 3 7
2nd Quarter Vand Tenn
Tenn 04:09 TD Dominick Wood-Anderson 6 yd pass from Jarrett Guarantano (Brent Cimaglia kick) 3 14
Tenn 06:24 TD Eric Gray 94 yd run (Brent Cimaglia kick) 3 21
3rd Quarter Vand Tenn
No scores this quarter
4th Quarter Vand Tenn
Vand 03:26 TD Kalija Lipscomb 22 yd pass from Riley Neal (Ryley Guay kick) 10 21
Tenn 07:22 TD Eric Gray 4 yd run (Brent Cimaglia kick) 10 28

Game Information

Stadium: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee
Attendance: 87,367
Game Time:
Weather: