Tennessee football makes two comebacks with a win against Vanderbilt

Tennessee football made two comebacks on Saturday.

The no. 8 Vols outscored Vanderbilt 14-0 before storming back for a 36-23 win at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville. They improved their record to 10-2 and secured a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff with their sixth straight win over the Commodores (6-6).

The other comeback took years. It took a Tennessee football history lesson to fully understand.

The Vols have not won an SEC championship since 1998, when they also won a national title. They haven’t finished the regular season in contention for a national title since 2001.

I won’t list all of the losing seasons from 2008 to 2020. I’m also not going to point out all the failed coaches before Josh Heupel. Suffice it to say: The program was not thriving when newly hired athletic director Danny White selected Heupel to lead the Vols out of the football wilderness after the 2020 season.

Since then, the wilderness has been pushed into the background. Tennessee made the final push this afternoon at the expense of its in-state weakling.

But this wasn’t your typical Tennessee-Vanderbilt matchup. And it wasn’t a typical Vanderbilt season, either.

The hard-hitting Commodores had already demonstrated their surprise potential with a stunning win over Alabama and a three-point loss to Texas. The Commodores ran out of fuel to ruin Tennessee’s season.

However, this was not initially apparent.

Vanderbilt junior Sherrill returned the first kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. UT’s Dylan Sampson followed with a fumble to set up another Commodores touchdown. And just like that, Vanderbilt had a 14-0 lead.

Undeterred by the shaky start, the Vols had caught up by halftime thanks to their most efficient passing attack in their SEC season. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava often took advantage of airtight pass protection, completing 10 of 14 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns as the Vols took a 24-17 lead in the first half.

Their momentum continued into the second half. They drove 75 yards on their first possession in 13 plays and took a two-touchdown lead on Iamaleava’s fourth scoring pass – this time to freshman Mike Matthews.

The victory wasn’t just significant because of the playoff spot that came with it. UT’s performance stood out due to events elsewhere. Over the last two weekends, other SEC teams with playoff hopes didn’t have the wherewithal to accomplish their mission.

Alabama lost to Oklahoma by 21 points a week earlier. Ole Miss lost to Florida that same Saturday. Both teams were double-digit favorites.

As a 17.5-point favorite on its home court, Georgia almost stumbled against Georgia Tech, which took a 17-0 lead on Friday. The Bulldogs rallied together to tie the game and ultimately prevailed in eight overtimes.

Like Georgia, Tennessee wasn’t rocked by an early deficit. It also wasn’t affected by injuries to wide receivers Bru McCoy and Dont’e Thornton. McCoy was unable to play after suffering an injury before the game and Thornton was sidelined in the second half after scoring two touchdowns in the first half.

NICO: Nico Iamaleava stats: Tennessee QB’s best and worst moments in win over Vandy

Despite the wear and tear, UT played its most complete game of the SEC season. Iamaleva has never been better – thanks in part to her excellent blocking, which also paved the way for Sampson to pass the 100-yard mark for the 10^Th times this season. The defense, which extended the lead with a safety in the third quarter, was just as efficient as the offense in Tennessee’s comeback attack.

This boom didn’t just affect Vanderbilt. It reminded fans how far the program has come in four seasons under Heupel.

In 2020, Tennessee was 3-7 and was under investigation by the NCAA. Four years later, it’s in the running for a national championship.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He can be reached at 865-342-6284 or [email protected]. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.

This article originally appeared on the Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football makes two comebacks with win over Vanderbilt