KNOXVILLE – When Tennessee needed a hero with South Carolina threatening to tie or take the lead in the final minute of Saturday’s game at Neyland Stadium, an unlikely one emerged.
Malik Foreman, the much-maligned cornerback, swooped in to save the day for the Volunteers.
The junior from Kingsport punched the ball out of Jerell Adams’ grasp as the tight end rumbled down inside the Tennessee 20-yard line, and linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin recovered to preserve Tennessee’s 27-24 win.
“It meant a lot, and he found a way to come up and really make a game-winning turnover,” Vols coach Butch Jones said. “I think we’ve relied heavily on our experiences early on in the season, and our kids never lost their poise. They never looked back and said what-ifs.
“They’re playing with a lot of confidence, and that was great to see Malik make that play and us obviously recovering that football.”
The Vols have had their issues stopping opponents’ tying and go-ahead drives late in games, but as it did against Georgia last month, Tennessee’s defense made the key play at the end.
Brian Randolph knocked the Bulldogs’ last-play pass away, and Foreman forced the game-sealing turnover against the Gamecocks.
“That’s our job at the end of the day,” cornerback Cameron Sutton said. “Any way that we can, we fight, scratch and claw however we can to get the ball back to our offense or cause a turnover like we were able to do at the end of the game. It’s always a plus and definitely momentum going forward.”
Foreman has had his ups and downs this season. He was a culprit on Florida’s winning 63-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-14 in Gainesville last month. There was some talk his job was up for grabs in practice this past week.
He played a key part in holding South Carolina star Pharoh Cooper to four catches for 47 yards, and that effort didn’t include his big play at the end.
“It’s something we work on every day of the week in our ‘Maxim One’ period (in practice) where we work on turnovers and recovering the ball and getting it out,” Reeves-Maybin said. “It’s kind of something that’s inbedded in us. That blind tackle, the guy carrying the ball didn’t see him coming. He punched it out.”
Pound the rock?
Tennessee has averaged better than 200 yards rushing for the season and rolled up 98 yards on the ground in the first quarter Saturday, but the run game was ineffective the rest of the way as the Vols managed just 17 rushing yards in the second half.
Running backs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara combined for 87 yards in the first quarter, but the duo had just 33 yards in the final three quarters.
Quarterback Josh Dobbs threw for 255 yards and made a handful of big plays on third down to carry Tennessee to the win.
“They started bringing some pressure looks, so some of our runs were kind of getting stopped up a little bit, so that’s why we really went to some more passes,” Kamara said. “We had some things out of the backfield with me and Jalen and getting the receivers some balls. We’ve got to take what the defense gives us.”
Dobbs had 35 rushing yards, but many of his 13 attempts were on scrambles.
“It was all part of the game plan and different things we were seeing,” he explained. “Jalen and Alvin came out in the first half, and we rushed for over a hundred yards. We tried to continue what we were doing there. It all depends on the game plan and the flow of the game and how it’s going.”
Targeting trouble
Tennessee had a defensive back ejected for targeting for the second game in a row, though Randolph’s was much more clear than Emmanuel Moseley’s was at Kentucky.
The senior safety took a free shot on Cooper as Justin Martin broke up a pass intended for South Carolina’s best player, and he was called for a late hit with targeting, which was upheld upon replay review.
Todd Kelly Jr. and Evan Berry rotated at safety following Randolph’s ejection.
“I give the kids credit,” Jones said. “They stepped up, and we’re hanging on by a band-aid at some spots, but that’s football, that’s November, that’s this time of year. That hurt us a little bit, obviously, and he’s the captain back there, he’s the general.
“He gets us lined up, so any time you take Brian out of the back end, your safety communication is at a premium.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com