Skip to content

Tennessee outduels Arkansas in a 65-point shootout, 34-31

Nobody could get a stop. What separated Tennessee in a track meet.

The Film Room
Matchups ·
3 min read

Bring an abacus. Tennessee (4-1) outduels Arkansas (2-3), 34-31 at Neyland Stadium. The two sides combined for 65 points, and Tennessee had just a little more.

34-31
Final
Tennessee · Neyland Stadium
#29
Tennessee entered
4-1, 51.0 ppg
31
Arkansas held to
vs 37.4 season avg
256
Taylen Green
passing yds, 2 TD

The way it played out

Arkansas struck first, the game was tied 17-17 at the break and the final points came on a late touchdown by Arkansas.

WhenTeamPlay
Q1 10:10ArkansasTaylen Green run for 11 yds for a TD (Scott Starzyk KICK)
Q2 02:52TennesseeJoey Aguilar pass complete to Miles Kitselman for 8 yds for a TD (Max Gilbert KICK)
Q3 11:50TennesseeMax Gilbert 50 yd FG GOOD
Q1 07:39TennesseeDeSean Bishop run for 17 yds for a TD (Max Gilbert KICK)
Q1 00:20ArkansasScott Starzyk 28 yd FG GOOD
Q2 10:36TennesseeMax Gilbert 37 yd FG GOOD
Q2 04:36ArkansasMike Washington Jr. run for 1 yd for a TD (Scott Starzyk KICK)
Q3 02:11TennesseePeyton Lewis run for 2 yds for a TD (Max Gilbert KICK)
Q4 13:14TennesseePeyton Lewis run for 3 yds for a TD (Max Gilbert KICK)
Q4 08:17ArkansasTaylen Green pass complete to Rohan Jones for 9 yds for a TD (Scott Starzyk KICK)
Q4 02:55ArkansasTaylen Green pass complete to Kam Shanks for 12 yds for a TD (Scott Starzyk KICK)
How the points were scored

Where the game was won

Tennessee never turned it over while Arkansas gave it away 2 times and Tennessee kept starting with shorter fields — about 6 yards better per drive. That's what carried Tennessee.

The swing — scoreboard margin by quarter
ARKA aheadTENN ahead
tiedTENN take the leadARKA +3Q1TiedQ2TENN +10Q3TENN +3Final

Cumulative margin after each quarter (lead change). Above the line = ARKA ahead, below = TENN ahead.

Head to head
TennesseeArkansas
Points
34
31
Scored on % of drives
50%
41.7%
Three-and-out %
25%
25%
Yards / drive
36.8
43.3

How the two sides actually played on the night.

Who carried it

Tennessee leaned on Joey Aguilar (221 passing yards, 1 TD), DeSean Bishop (146 rushing yards, 1 TD) and Braylon Staley (109 receiving yards). DeSean Bishop went well above his season norm — 146 rushing yards, 76% over his average.

DeSean Bishop: rushing yds per game, all season
38146title game · 146
rushing yds per game — each bar = number of games100th percentile

Each bar is one regular-season game (official box). DeSean's 146 rushing yds in the title game was a season high — the 100th percentile of his own year.

Who beat their season average — and who didn't
Joey Aguilar (passing)221 yds (-19% vs avg)
DeSean Bishop (rushing)146 yds (+76% vs avg)
Braylon Staley (receiving)109 yds (+69% vs avg)
Taylen Green (passing)256 yds (+13% vs avg)
Michael Washington (rushing)131 yds (+47% vs avg)
Raylen Sharpe (receiving)76 yds (+54% vs avg)

Key players' yardage vs their per-game season norm.

TeamPassingRushingReceiving
TennesseeJoey Aguilar 221, 1 TDDeSean Bishop 146, 1 TDBraylon Staley 109
ArkansasTaylen Green 256, 2 TDMichael Washington 131, 1 TDRaylen Sharpe 76
Leaders

Against the line

The closing line had Tennessee -10.0. Arkansas covered. The total was 68.5; the teams combined for 65, an under.

What it means

Points were never the problem for Tennessee; stops will be the offseason project for both.

Go deeper
Full game model →Tennessee page →The series: Tennessee leads 14-7

Discussion

Weigh in on the analysis — the best takes rise to the top.

0 Replies

Sign in to join the discussion.