By Robert Holder
Correspondent
KNOXVILLE – Experience got the best of youth Saturday night at Neyland Stadium, but it wasn’t without a fight. Tennessee’s running game tore into Oregon’s more experienced defensive front behind a young offensive line.
The Volunteers’ Tauren Poole gained 111 yards on his first eight carries and had runs of 31, 39, 14 and 23 yards during their first four drives. The 5-foot-11 junior tailback burst left for the first play from scrimmage to the Oregon 49-yard line, even though Tennessee managed just a field goal out of the drive.
“We just believed in everything the coaches were telling us and the plays we were running,” Poole said later. “We told ourselves we were going to execute any play we were running, and we did successfully in the first half.
“In the second half we didn’t. That’s on us.”
No run was bigger than his 23-yard blast through the right side. Starting snapper Cody Pope went down with a shoulder injury during the Vols’ first drive after a 70-minute lightning delay and was out on the play. Pope returned but was hit in the head during the fourth quarter and did not return.
That gave backup center Darin Gooch a chance to make a play.
Gooch, a 6-3, 305-pound junior college transfer from Butte, Calif., kept on his block 8 yards downfield to spring Poole on the 23-yard gain that put him over the century mark rushing at the end of the first quarter.
“Gooch did a good job,” quarterback Matt Simms said. “He did a good job of making calls for the offensive line. We didn’t really miss a beat.”
Poole smashed into the line and bounced off blocks for 140 yards in the first half against the smaller Oregon defensive line. Using two-tight-end sets and two-back formations, Tennessee had 168 yards rushing by halftime.
Unfortunately for the Vols, that is where the good ended. The Ducks clamped down and their big plays on offense and defense forced the Vols into passing the ball and abandoning the run. Poole gained just 22 more yards during the game. Backup tailback David Oku was held to 8 total yards rushing.
“Nobody played well after the pick six,” coach Derek Dooley said, in reference to a Ducks touchdown on an interception return. “We stopped after that. We have to learn to compete through adversity.”
The Ducks’ defensive front four, averaging 259 pounds, held UT to 14 yards net rushing in the second half.
Contact Robert Holder at sports@timesfreepress.com or (423) 757-6273.