Vols game snapshot: Tennessee rallies late to beat Indiana in TaxSlayer Gator Bowl

Tennessee freshman linebacker Henry To'o To'o celebrates a touchdown during the fourth quarter of Thursday night's TaxSlayer Gator Bowl win against Indiana in Jacksonville, Fla. / AP photo by Bob Self
Tennessee freshman linebacker Henry To'o To'o celebrates a touchdown during the fourth quarter of Thursday night's TaxSlayer Gator Bowl win against Indiana in Jacksonville, Fla. / AP photo by Bob Self

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Tennessee Volunteers capped their 2019 football season with a 23-22 victory against Indiana on Thursday night in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl at TIAA Bank Field.

Both teams finished 8-5.

THURSDAY'S STAR

Tennessee freshman running back Eric Gray finished with 86 yards rushing and 34 receiving, but it was his recovery of an onside kick after the Vols had scored to cut Indiana's lead to 22-16 that led to his tying 16-yard touchdown run with 3:51 remaining (Brent Cimaglia's extra-point kick provided the winning margin) that served as the biggest moment of the contest.

THURSDAY'S STAT

The Vols won despite scoring only six points on three trips inside the red zone during the first half. After failing on four passes on the game's first drive, the Vols kicked a pair of field goals and led just 6-3 at halftime. They turned that stat around in the second half, scoring 14 points on two trips inside the Indiana 20-yard line, including the winning drive.

(Wiedmer: Like most of the rest of the season, UT saves its best for last)

TURNING POINT

For all of the bad play for the Vols on Thursday, Tennessee trailed by only six after a Quavaris Crouch 1-yard touchdown run and Cimaglia's kick with 4:21 to play. In maybe his best call in his two seasons as Tennessee's coach, Jeremy Pruitt decided on an onside kick. Gray's recovery was the first of the Pruitt era and the first for Tennessee since Michael Palardy recovered his own kick against Cincinnati on Sept. 10, 2011.

HIGHLIGHT PLAY

There was no play bigger than Gray's run, which sent the mostly orange crowd into a frenzy as the Vols completed an 8-5 season with their sixth straight victory and perhaps gained some momentum toward the 2020 schedule, which kicks off on Sept. 5 with a home game against Charlotte.

WHAT IT MEANS

A season that started with surprisingly disappointing results and inconsistent play all around was encompassed into one game. Tennessee looked like the Vols of the first part of the season in the early part of the game, yet they turned into the latter group that won seven of its final eight games. It was a surprising result from a surprising game, but the Vols were able to send out their senior class in proper fashion.

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.

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