Ole Miss erupts, downs Tennessee Vols 34-3

photo Mississippi running back Jaylen Walton (6) breaks out of the grasp of Tennessee defensive back LaDarrell McNeil (33) for a 7-yard touchdown run in their game in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014.

OXFORD, Miss. - For a little while it was ugly in a good way for Tennessee on a crisp Saturday night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Then it just turned ugly for the Volunteers.

Seeking their first road win against a ranked team since 2006, the Vols were leading third-ranked Ole Miss midway through the second quarter until it all came unraveled. The Rebels ran away from Tennessee in a 34-3 SEC win in front of the third-largest crowd in the program's history.

"It's unacceptable what happened tonight," second-year Vols coach Butch Jones said, "but again, you have to move forward and you have to move on and you have to keep grinding.

"I'm not used to this," he added, "and it's not going to be accepted."

After holding its own for a while, Tennessee (3-4, 0-3) saw its chances of a monumental upset suffocated by an Ole Miss defense that entered the game leading the SEC in fewest points allowed (11.8) and interceptions (12).

The Rebels (7-0, 4-0) improved both of those categories and, in continuing their best start since 1962, sacked Tennessee quarterback Justin Worley seven times, intercepted him three times, turned a fumble on a kickoff into a touchdown and held the Vols to 191 yards of offense.

"We strive for perfection," said Worley, who wore a wrap on his shoulder after taking a big hit and leaving the game in the fourth quarter. "Obviously not everything's going to go our way. We need to do a better job of all being on the same page on certain plays. I feel like we have just one guy maybe messing up that's catastrophic to the play.

"We've got to do a better job of all being together and all sticking together and putting together drives."

It was another tough night for Tennessee's offensive line, which has surrendered 30 sacks this season. The Vols finished with zero net yards rushing. The sack yardage again skews that number, but freshman tailback Jalen Hurd, playing through a bum shoulder, finished with 40 yards on 13 carries.

"I really didn't know what to expect, because none of us had really had that much playing time besides Marcus Jackson, but you know, it's a learning experience and we're getting better every week," center Mack Crowder said.

"It's definitely a challenge that I'm excited to continue to take on."

The Vols lost a couple of starting offensive linemen, with both right tackle Coleman Thomas and left guard Jackson leaving the game and Tennessee having to play Jacob Gilliam, who tore his ACL in the opener against Utah State, at right tackle at one point.

Jones acknowledged that the line issues are handicapping Tennessee's offense.

"That's where we're at, and we have to overcome that," he said. "We just have to have some players step up and make more plays. It does handicap you."

The offensive ineptitude again overshadowed an admirable performance by Tennessee's defense, which held Ole Miss to three-and-outs on six of its first seven possessions.

"We've got to help our defense out," Jones said. "I've said it continually, and we're not doing that. I think we've got some young men that are pressing right now and trying to play perfect, and that's not a world you want to live in.

"You want to be able to play aggressively and not worry about making mistakes."

Tennessee had allowed just 16 plays of 20-plus yards in its first six games of the season, but Ole Miss had five, including Bo Wallace touchdown passes of 39 and 28 yards, that accounted for 171 of its 383 yards of total offense.

The Rebels scored 14 points off Tennessee turnovers and turned two clock-chewing fourth-quarter drives into 10 points.

Freshman defensive end Derek Barnett had four tackles for loss, and defensive end Corey Vereen and linebacker A.J. Johnson each had 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks as the Vols finished with five sacks and 10 tackles for loss as a team.

Tennessee did not, however, force a turnover.

"There's definitely a lot of positive things we can gain out of this game moving foward that we need to continue throughout the rest of our season," cornerback Cam Sutton said. "We have to have more turnovers, be more turnover-conscious on defense and keep getting off the field on third down and keep getting the ball back to our offense."

After Tennessee suffered its most lopsided loss of the season, Jones said he expects his team to take a "business as usual" approach to this week.

"We still have a lot to play for, and that's what I spoke to our football team about," he said.

"I believe in our kids," Jones added. "I love our kids. I believe they're going to bounce back. They've given me no indication that they wouldn't. They're very prideful, they hurt, they expect to win and they deserve to win.

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com

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