No. 19 Tennessee is set to host Texas A&M Saturday afternoon in what is considered the top SEC matchup of the week.
Last time these two teams faced each other, in 2020, the Aggies left Knoxville with a 34-13 win.
Volunteers’ Last Time Out
Tennessee is coming into this one pretty well rested after having a bye last week.
In their last outing two weeks ago, they took down SEC-east rival South Carolina 41-20 in front of a sold-out crowd at Neyland Stadium. This victory marked Josh Heupel’s 50th career victory as a division 1 head coach.
Jaylen Wright raked in 123 of Tennessee’s 238 yards on the ground, marking the fourth game this season that the Vols have rushed for over 200 yards. But the real stars of the game were on defense. South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler was sacked six times and threw an interception later in the second quarter that was returned by Kamal Hadden for a 28-yard touchdown.
https://twitter.com/Vol_Football/status/1708292346368889004?s=20
Aggies’ Last Time Out
Although they did it once in a historical fashion, Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies were unable to outlast Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide as Alabama downed Texas A&M 26-20.
It was a rather unimpressive outing by one of college football’s powerhouses, but the Tide were able to hang on and leave College Station with the win.
The Aggies fell flat on both sides of the ball despite the many handouts Alabama gave them. The Tide committed 14 penalties throughout the game, nine of which were false starts, and turned the ball over twice. Thus, Alabama prevailed as Jalen Milroe was able toss three touchdown passes despite the Aggies’ defense sacking him six times.
https://twitter.com/AggieFootball/status/1710781527905222824?s=20
Words From Heupel
Ahead of this week’s game, Josh Heupel praised the Aggies’ defensive line and said that one of their primary focuses this game will be protecting their quarterback.
Looking Ahead
This is a critical outing for the Vols as it will wrap up their three game home stretch before they hit the road to face two ranked SEC opponents, Alabama and Kentucky. This is a must-win game if they want to have any chance at catching 3-0 Georgia for the SEC title.
On the other side, Texas A&M’s SEC-west-title hopes are looking dismal after losing to top-ranked Alabama.