Tennessee thumps Vanderbilt in regular season finale
There was some drama, but the result was a familiar one.
Tennessee beat Vanderbilt for the fifth-straight time in the final meeting as SEC East division foes, 48-24 in its regular season finale at Neyland Stadium on Saturday.
The No. 21 Vols (8-4, 4-4 SEC) used a big first half performance from quarterback Joe Milton III on senior day, finishing 22-of-32 passing for 383 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for two more scores.
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Jaylen Wright rushed for 75 yards on 11 carries, entering the program record books in the process while Ramel Keyton caught two touchdown passes.
Vanderbilt dropped its 10th-straight game and finished winless in conference play at 0-8. The Commodores were held to 76 rushing yards and quarterback AJ Swann was sacked twice.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Tennessee scored in one play against Georgia last week. It took the Vols three plays to reach the end zone vs. Vanderbilt.
After two quick passes behind the line of scrimmage that went for positive yards, Milton went vertical on his third pass, hitting Keyton in stride for a 56-yard touchdown just one minute into the first quarter.
Vanderbilt's response was nearly just as fast.
AJ Swann led a four play, 73 yard drive in two minutes, 19 seconds that resulted in Junior Sherrill touchdown to even the score at 7-7 still more than 11 minutes to go in the quarter.
After both teams traded punts, Jabari Small provided Tennessee's offense some live with a 26-yard run to the Vanderbilt 10. On the next play, Milton linked up with McCallan Castles for his second touchdown pass to put the Vols back in front, 14-7.
Following another defensive stand, Milton tossed his third touchdown pass of the first half with a 34-yard strike to Jacob Warren early in the second quarter to push the Vols' lead to 21-7.
Vanderbilt put together its first scoring drive since the opening minutes of the first quarter, cutting Tennessee's lead down to 11 with a Jacob Borcila 40-yard field goal to make it 21-10 with eight minutes, 29 seconds left in the half.
Tennessee clapped back with Charles Campbell's 24-yard field goal to swell its advantage by two scores at 24-10 with just over six minutes to go in the quarter.
The last five minutes of the half featured a plethora of theatrics, including a benches-clearing skirmish that resulted in several unsportsmanlike penalties, but the Vols managed to punch another score in before the intermission on Milton's 2-yard touchdown run to go up 31-10 at halftime.
Milton passed for his fourth touchdown and second to Keyton for 46 yards to cap Tennessee's first drive of the second half to open a commanding 38-10 lead.
Milton put the exclamation point on a stellar showing with his second touchdown run with 13 seconds remaining in the third, getting the edge and lower his shoulder into defender at the goal line as the Vols went up 45-10.
Aided by a muffed punt by Dee Williams, Vanderbilt scored on Ken Seals' 1-yard run but it hardly mattered with less than 13 minutes left and the Vols leading 45-17.
Tennessee's final points came from Campbell's 24-yard field goal with 33 seconds left. All of the Vols' scores were from seniors.
PLAYS OF THE GAME
Tennessee has made a habit of early statement plays. Appropriately, it was two seniors linking up in their final game at Neyland Stadium between Milton and Keyton to give the Vols a 7-0 out of the gate.
Milton's second quarter touchdown pass to Warren put Tennessee up two scores and tied his single-game career high at three touchdown passes, set previously during his three seasons at Michigan and in the Orange Bowl vs. Clemson last season before setting a new career high in the second half.
Castles had an impressive outing in his last game in Knoxville. Already with a touchdown, he set up another scoring drive by hauling in a Milton pass along the sideline, keeping concentration by staying in bounds and holding on the ball.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Milton has been up and down this season but put together a strong outing on senior day, doing much of his damage in the first half to build a three-score lead for Tennessee but added to his career day in the second half.
Wright was on the cusp of 1,000 rushing yards entering the game and reached on his first run of the second half, eclipsing the mark with a 4-yard gain. He is the first Tennessee running back to rush for more than 1,000 yards since Jalen Hurd in 2015.
Tennessee's pass rush had seen its most resistance of the season in the previous three games heading into Vanderbilt but Tyler Baron and James Pearce Jr. wreaked havoc off the edge against the Commodores, combining for 2.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss.
UP NEXT
Tennessee will have to wait until next Sunday to find out its bowl destination.
The Vols are currently projected by several media outlets to play against an ACC team in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida on Dec. 29.
Tennessee, which has reached the postseason for three-straight seasons, last played in the Gator Bowl in 2020.
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