Saturday afternoon the Tennessee Volunteers football team played in-state rival Vanderbilt with a chance at going to the College Football Playoff if they would pull out a victory. That victory looked in doubt after Vanderbilt jumped out to a 17-7 lead midway through the first quarter however the Vols would make the comeback. The Volunteers took down the Commodores with a final of 36-23.
Freshman Quarterback Nico Iamaleava played one of his best games of the season throwing for 257 yard and 4 touchdowns. Donte Thornton Jr. caught 2 of those touchdowns while Miles Kitselman and Freshman Mike Matthews also has 1 reception touchdown each. No player had a rushing touchdown which means Dylan Sampson’s streak of having a rushing touchdown every game this season has ended. Sampson did end up with 178 yards averaging 7.1 yards a carry.
Tennessee’s playoff hopes are all but official. According to ESPN’s Playoff Predictor Tennessee has a 98% chance to be in the College Football Playoffs. The Vols will find out in the coming weeks where they be in the tournament. The first round of the College Football Playoffs will be December 20th-21st. Coverage of the Vols playoff game (barring the CFP Committee’s decision) can be heard on 102.5 WOW Country.