With Saturday’s win, the Vols defeated their first top-15 opponent since 2006. While people will hope this team will be like the 2022 team, this game really showed that the defense can be the backbone of this team.

The Sooners had 102 yards in the first quarter, -20 in the second and 16 in the third, by which point the game was decided and OU had switched to its backup QB.

Oklahoma outgained the Vols 125-ish yards to less than 50 in the fourth quarter, as the Vols let the air out of it from the eighth minute on. Sooners backup Michael Hawkins, Jr., showed some guts, but it was too little, too late. With the defense playing well, the offensive line struggling, I can understand why Heupel got conservative at the end and scaled back the offensive end.

The Volunteer defense accounted for 11 TFLs, an interception, four QB hurries, four PBUs, two forced fumbles and its second safety of the season. 10 different Vols had TFLs, with Jayson Jenkins and Jaxon Moi each having more than one TFL. Tyre West had his team-leading second sack and added three tackles and a TFL. DB Jermod McCoy had three tackles, a PBU and an interception, while Arion Carter led the way with six tackles, a TFL and a PBU.

To start the game, the Vols deferred, but both opening drives went nowhere. The Sooners mustered 13 yards before failing to convert a fourth down near midfield. On the Vols’ first drive, Nico went 1-1 for no yards, with the only positive play being a second-down scramble. UT failed to convert on third-and-short.

OU’s second drive started with a rush from Jackson Arnold for -2 yards, followed by Tyre West with his aforementioned second sack for -4 yards, which gave the team the best return.

The Sooner defense controlled the Vols’ short game and shut down UT’s screen and ground game.

The Vols’ defense struck first on Oklahoma’s third drive. Arnold completed the first throw of the drive, and the Sooners went on an 11-yard rush. OU seemed to be getting into a rhythm before McCoy baited Arnold into an interception at the 33, which he returned to midfield for UT.

Tennessee’s run game continued to look well contained – five runs for five yards before hitting Nico Bru for a gain of 38 yards. The ball flew a long way through the air, but he finished it off by evading two or three defenders who brought the Vols to the 10-yard line. Three plays later, with a two-yard gain on the ground up the middle, Tennessee runs away with three points.

In three drives, the Vols started twice at the 50-yard line and once at OU’s 43-yard line, but managed only one field goal despite repeatedly enjoying good field position.

After the FG, the Sooners ran the ball inside once for two yards and then bounced a run outside for a 17-yard chunk play. So far, the Sooners have had success getting the ball outside the tackles.

The Sooners ran 10 plays, had one incomplete pass, four runs for 4+ yards, one pass for 11 yards, a pass interference by Ricky Gibson, but the defense held OU to a pair of incomplete passes that led to a field goal.

The Vols didn’t wait long – Andrej Karic got a false start to start the drive, and then Iamaleava completed a 14-yard pass to Squirrel White before throwing an absolute strike to Dont’e Thornton, Jr., for a 66-yard run to set up a Volunteer TD. Thornton had single coverage on the far side, beat his man by a few steps, and Nico led him perfectly to catch the ball without missing a step.

UT got the ball back, but Tennessee was called for another penalty – its fifth, for 36 yards in just over a quarter of the clock. Two plays later, Dayne Davis, who was covering for the injured Lance Heard on Nico’s blind side as left tackle, was beaten off the snap and Iamaleava was stripped for a recovery on UT’s five-yard line.

Fortunately, Jackson Arnold was sacked and Joshua Josephs forced and recovered the fumble. De’Sean Bishop had three straight runs for a combined 16 yards to get Tennessee out of its own end zone, and Nico hit Thornton for a seven-yard look before another Bishop run for 12 yards and a first down. Iamaleava recorded his second sack of the game — it looked like he just held on to the ball too long — to put the Vols on 2nd-and-12 at their own 39-yard line.

An incomplete pass to Brazzell and a botched screen play forced Ross into a punt that traveled 57 yards and stopped on a dime at the Sooner’s four-yard line.

After a false start on first down, Jayson Jenkins blew up the near side of the field and stopped the Sooners inside their goal line for the Vols’ second safety of the season. The Vols ran two run plays for five yards, attempted a pass that Nico ultimately caught for no gain, and gave it to Bishop on third-and-five, where he fell two yards short of a first down.

OU did nothing with its possession, but after two negligible offensive plays, Nico was sacked and dropped the ball for a second time. But then Arnold threw a pass to the sideline that the officials called a backward pass that Tennessee recovered. This was the second time that either team had dropped the ball to the other team on consecutive plays.

The Vols mounted another drive into OU territory – the third since the game began – and Sampson went for no gain on the first play, but took eight and 10 on the next two plays, marking the first time he saw daylight through Oklahoma’s defense. On third-and-five, the Vols ran a well-called speed option run to the short side of the field, where Nico read the end and threw to Sampson for a six-yard gain to put the Vols in the red zone with two minutes left before halftime.

A 16-yard gain by Sampson led to a one-yard touchdown run, giving the Vols a 19-3 lead. UT ran eight plays, all runs, for 46 yards and Tennessee’s first rushing TD of the game.

After Arnold led the offense to just 82 total yards, going just 7 of 16 for 54 yards with an interception, a safety, two fumbles and 1 of 7 on third downs, Sooners head coach Brent Venables benched Arnold in favor of former three-star prospect and backup QB Michael Hawkins Jr.

Tennessee’s defense held OU’s offense to zero pass plays of 15 yards or longer and gave up just two runs of 10-plus yards. Through the first two periods, the Vols’ defense had one sack, six TFLs, one interception, two PBUs, one QB hurry, two forced fumbles and its second safety this season. The Sooners gained -19 yards in the second quarter.

On the other end of the spectrum, Oklahoma’s defense played fast and aggressive early, but Nico went 8-11 for 126 yards and one touchdown. Most of Iamaleava’s yards came on a 66-yard dime to Thornton, Jr., and a 38-yard throw-and-catch to McCoy. As the half wore on, Sampson had rushes of 10 yards, 16 yards and then Bishop’s 12-yard run.

Tennessee got the ball after the break, picked up two first downs and then completed a 50-yard pass to Thornton, Jr., but the play was called back because of a holding penalty that killed the drive. It was the Vols’ sixth penalty of the game and cost UT 46 total yards. It sent the offense into a second-and-24 from which it could not recover. A 50-yard Jackson Ross punt gave the Sooners the ball at their own 17.

The Sooners went for three-and-out and the Vols responded with a six-yard first-down run that led to a 42-yard bomb to McCoy down the sideline.

Bishop had three carries but only five total yards, and Tennessee sent Max Gilbert onto the field for his second FG, this time straight up the middle from 41 yards out. 22-3 with about six minutes left in the third quarter.

Neither team added points for the remainder of the third quarter, but Kirk Herbstreit threw in an impressive stat line on the broadcast: on 23 Oklahoma run plays, Tennessee’s defense made contact at or behind the line of scrimmage 16 times. The Vols ended OU’s final possession of the third quarter with their second sack of the game, led by Jenkins with several defenders behind the line.

A fourth-quarter, 12-yard scramble by Hawkins, Jr. put the Sooners at the half-yard line, and two plays later the young QB threw a ball into the flat for a TD, snapping Tennessee’s league-leading 16-straight quarters without an offensive touchdown. The true freshman orchestrated a 10-play, 68-yard scoring drive that certainly put some wind in Oklahoma’s sails.

With a 22-9 lead and less than nine minutes left on the clock, UT ran once for one yard, threw a pass that was called back on a penalty and then ran it up the middle again on third-and-14, seemingly content to keep this game in the hands of the defense.

Hawkins, Jr., led the Sooners on another scoring drive in the fourth as OU outscored Tennessee 124-48 in yards and outgained UT 12-3. But for the game, the Vols mustered 345 yards of offense to OU’s 222. Nico finished his day 13-21 with 194 yards and a TD while completing passes to six different receivers. Sampson had his first sub-100 yard game with 24 carries for 94 yards and a score, while Bishops appeared to have slipped to the RB2 position with 16 carries for 65 yards.

Tennessee enters the bye week 4-0 and a top-15 win under its belt. The only concern Saturday was the offensive line, which most knew could be a problem if injuries came into play. With Dayne Davis the primary backup at LT, RT and C, the Vols will have to hope for some injury luck or figure out what to do with the second-string offensive line.