NORMAN, Okla. — No. 6 Tennessee football made head coach Josh Heupel's return to Norman a triumphant one as the Vols asserted their defensive dominance against No. 15 Oklahoma on Saturday night at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
The Vols didn't put up the same gaudy numbers on offense, but the Tennessee defense set the tone in the first half and held off an Oklahoma rally down the stretch to secure a 25-15 victory. The win marked the first time Tennessee defeated a top-15 opponent in a true road game since 2006.
The teams battled to a stalemate for much of the first quarter for a 3-3 tie, until Nico Iamaleava hit Dont'e Thornton for a 66-yard strike as time expired in the opening frame to give the Vols a 10-3 advantage.
The Vol defense tacked on a couple of points thanks to a safety in the second quarter when Jayson Jenkins brought down OU running back Jovantae Barnes in the endzone to put Tennessee ahead 12-3.
The Sooner defense was strong in the first half overall, but the offense did not do them any favors capitalizing on big plays.
In the second quarter, Oklahoma sacked Nico Iamaleava to force a Tennessee fumble on its 6-yard line. OU quarterback Jackson Arnold immediately fumbled the ball right back on the next play.
Later in the first half, the Sooners once again jumped on a strip sack fumble to take the ball away, and on the very next play, the Vols recovered a backward pass from Jackson Arnold to get the ball right back and convert the turnover into a Dylan Sampson one-yard score to make it a 19-3 lead.
Oklahoma finally broke through in the fourth quarter when backup quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. found Jovantae Barnes for a two-yard touchdown, which snapped Tennessee's streak of 19 consecutive quarters without allowing a touchdown.
The Vols added three more points courtesy of a Max Gilbert field goal, and Oklahoma found the endzone one more time but couldn't climb back down the stretch.
The Vols will be on a bye next week and Tennessee returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 5 on the road against Arkansas. The time for that matchup has yet to be determined.
