Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Aggies beat Vols in 2OT, climb over ‘little 5-0 hill’
QB Knight passes for two TDs, runs for three for A&M
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — No. 8 Texas A&M outlasted ninth-ranked Tennessee 45-38 in double overtime Saturday to improve to 6-0 for the first time since 1994 after starting the previous two seasons with five wins before losing.
“It’s great,” defensive end Myles Garrett said. “We finally got over the hump, the little 5-0 hill that we’ve been facing every year.”
Trevor Knight bulled in for a 1-yard touchdown in the second overtime, and Armani Watts intercepted Joshua Dobbs’ pass on the next play for Tennessee’s seventh turnover to end the game.
“The big takeaway from this was we were able to withstand some things, not play great but make enough plays to win the game without some of our better players being 100 percent,” coach Kevin Sumlin said.
The teams exchanged field goals in the first overtime.
Knight threw for 239 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 110 yards and three more scores.
The Volunteers (5-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) had rallied from double-digit deficits to win four of their last five games, including last week’s last-play victory over Georgia. They trailed by 21 points in the third quarter Saturday thanks to six turnovers before tying it on Alvin Kamara’s 18-yard touchdown reception with 41 seconds left.
“Proud of the resolve, but the turnovers didn’t give us an opportunity,” Tennessee coach Butch Jones said.
The seven turnovers were the most A&M had forced since 2005 and their five fumble recoveries were the most since 1997.
Texas A&M (6-0, 4-0) had a chance to win it in regulation, but Daniel LaCamera’s 38-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left.
The Aggies could have put the game away with less than 2 minutes remaining, but freshman Trayveon Williams had the ball knocked from his hands and out of the back of the end zone just before he crossed the goal line on a 71yard run. Williams finished with 217 yards rushing, a school record for a true freshman.
Texas A&M was facing third-and-2 when Knight dashed 62 yards for a touchdown that pushed the lead to 3521 with about three minutes left. Kamara’s 4-yard run about a minute later made it a one-score game.
The Aggies built a 21-7 lead in the first quarter after three fumbles by Tennessee. Knight threw touchdown passes of 13 and 2 yards and had a 7-yard TD run in the opening frame.
Saturday continued a trend of bad starts for the Volunteers, who have been outscored 62-17 in the first quarter this season.
Dobbs finished with 398 yards passing and a touchdown and Kamara stepped up with leading-rusher Jalen Hurd out, finishing with 161 yards receiving and a touchdown and 127 yards rushing and two more scores.
Texas A&M’s defense again showed it is the strength of the team by forcing the flurry of turnovers and pressuring Dobbs all day long. However, the offense showed it needs to be more consistent for the Aggies to have a chance to topple top-ranked Alabama in two weeks.
“We need to finish,” Sumlin said. “We’re a work in progress there.”