Tennessee has outscored its first four football opponents 78-3 during the first quarter of games this season and 71-3 in the second quarter.
It’s the second quarter in which the two most memorable defensive plays performed by the Volunteers have transpired.
With three minutes and 29 seconds remaining before halftime of Tennessee’s contest against North Carolina State in Charlotte on Sept. 7, Vols safety Will Brooks intercepted Wolfpack quarterback Grayson McCall and raced 85 yards for a touchdown. N.C. State was down just 10-3 and threatening, but the Brooks return opened the floodgates to a 51-10 dismantling.
Then came the early stages of the second quarter this past Saturday night, when Oklahoma trailed by the same 10-3 deficit but had just slammed into quarterback Nico Iamaleava, causing a fumble that the Sooners recovered at Tennessee’s 5-yard line.
“Look at what our defense does,” Vols coach Josh Heupel would say following Tennessee’s 25-15 triumph in Norman. “We give up a sack off the edge. It’s a sudden change, but they go out and create a turnover and get the ball right back.
“Through adversity, everybody continued to play and compete and keep playing for each other.”
Junior edge rusher Joshua Josephs was responsible for the biggest defensive play of Tennessee’s biggest win through its 4-0 start, ripping the ball away from Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold as Arnold was being taken to the ground. Josephs caused the fumble and recovered it at the 6-yard line of the Vols, and the officials were quick to see his heroics and reward Tennessee with the possession.
“I watched film, and I knew they liked to run the quarterback at the goal line,” Josephs said Saturday night. “They faked the toss, and I just played my keys and sat down. I got off the block and just went for the ball.”
Tennessee’s offense extended that monster momentum shift by moving from the 6 out to its 39-yard line before stalling. Redshirt sophomore punter Jackson Ross then launched a 57-yard punt to the Oklahoma 4, and the next play after the punt, Josephs was congratulating defensive tackle Jayson Jenkins for stuffing Sooners running back Javontae Barnes in the end zone for a safety.
The safety built Tennessee’s lead to 12-3, and it was never a one-possession game again.
Tennessee practiced Tuesday for the first time since Saturday’s triumph and will work out again Wednesday and Thursday before enjoying its first open date of the season. The Vols will resume play against Arkansas in Fayetteville on Oct. 5, and they will do so with a defense that currently leads the nation in fewest yards allowed (176.0 a game) and has racked up an eye-popping 24 tackles for loss in their two victories over power conference opponents.
“We love to be on the field,” Josephs said. “We have so much depth and just rotate and rotate, and it’s fun seeing the guys make plays. It’s just fun seeing this.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.