COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Tennessee's remarkably season took its craziest turn yet here on Saturday, when the Volunteers nearly overcame seven turnovers and more injuries to steal a win at Texas A&M in the top-10 clash between the two teams.
Even the magic and relentlessness Tennessee used during its 5-0 start couldn't overcome the turnovers, though, as the Aggies won the game 45-38 in double overtime.
Here are the key players, moments and numbers from Tennessee's first loss of the season.
Tennessee coach Butch Jones yells to his team during the first half of an NCAA college football game against the Texas A&M Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)SATURDAY'S STAR
Forced into the feature-back role by Jalen Hurd's injury, Alvin Kamara responded in a big way. He turned 18 carries into 127 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns and caught eight passes for 161 yards and another score. Kamara had 288 yards of offense and averaged 11.1 yards per touch. After tying touchdown with 41 seconds left he could barely get back to the sideline due to sheer exhaustion.
SATURDAY'S STAT
It's remarkable and testament to Tennessee's relentlessness that the Vols nearly beat a top-10 team on the road despite turning the ball over six times in three quarters with a seventh coming to seal the defeat in double overtime. The Vols put the ball on the ground 15 times through five games, so it wasn't a fluke, but Tennessee only lost three of those miscues. On Saturday they lost five of six.
TURNING POINT
After Tennessee's improbable rally to tie the game at 35 in the final minute, Texas A&M drove down the field into field goal range for Daniel LaCamera to win it regulation. Instead he hooked the 38-yard potential game-winner to send the game into overtime. Both defenses bowed up to force field goals in the first overtime before the Aggies scored and intercepted Josh Dobbs to win in double overtime.
HIGHLIGHT PLAY
Texas A&M quarterback Trevor Knight seemingly iced the game with a 62-yard touchdown run with 3:22 to go, but Tennessee answered with a 75-second touchdown. Freshman running back Trayveon Williams appeared to have iced it again with less than two minutes left, but Malik Foreman hustled and knocked the ball loose for a touchback with Williams just yards from the end zone.
WHAT IT MEANS
Tennessee leaves College Station with a gut-punch loss, but it's hard to deny this team's resilient spirit. The Vols can point to seven turnovers and more big plays given up on defense as the reasons for this defeat. Tennessee is a loss away from losing control of its SEC East destiny after Florida ducked LSU and duped the SEC into possibly cancelling its game with LSU and now faces No. 1 Alabama.
BY THE NUMBERS
Tennessee defensive back Marquill Osborne (3) breaks up a pass intended for Texas A&M wide receiver Frank Iheanacho (15) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)684: Tennessee flirted with a program record for total offense in a single game by rolling up 684 yards against Texas A&M, albeit in a gut-punch, turnover-marred loss. The Vols had 677 yards before a kneeldown at the end of regulation and picked up only 9 on two overtime possessions. The school record for total offense remains a 718-yard explosion against Troy in 2012.
216: The absence of Jalen Hurd had almost no effect on Tennessee's offense. Alvin Kamara and John Kelly combined for 216 yards on 31 carries and scored three touchdowns. Each had key red-zone fumbles, however, to cost Tennessee points. Kamara's talent was no secret, but the Vols have a nice player in Kelly, who runs hard, gets upfield and churns out tough yards.
Minus-45: After Texas A&M exited the first quarter with a 21-7 lead thanks to Tennessee's three turnovers, the Vols now have been outscored 62-17 in the first quarter in their six games this season. In the first half of games Tennessee outscored opponents 269-118 in 2015 and have been outscored 98-58 in the first half this season. That's a 191-point turnaround.
9.4: In the first quarter the Vols turned 20 plays into 189 yards and averaged more than 9 yards per snap. Yet Tennessee scored only seven points and trailed by two touchdowns. At halftime Tennessee had 262 yards of offense on 6.7 yards per play and piled up 143 rushing yards on 23 attempts (6.2 yards per carry).
10: Through three quarters Tennessee held Texas A&M to 318 yards of offense, but the Aggies began rolling up the big plays in the final quarter and overtime. Texas A&M finished with 10 plays of 20-plus yards. Those chunk gains accounted for 348 of Texas A&M's 592 yards of offense.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.