ATHENS, Ga. – The seventh-ranked Vols battled but were unable to overcome No. 12 Georgia, falling 31-17 Saturday night at Sanford Stadium after jumping out to a 10-0 lead.
Running back Dylan Sampson led the offense on the ground, rushing 19 times for 101 yards and a touchdown. The score, his 21st of the season, moved the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native into a tie with Gene McEver for the single-season program record for total touchdowns scored.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava completed 20 of 33 passes for 167 yards. Wide receiver Squirrel White caught a team-leading six passes for 45 yards, giving him 128 career receptions and moving him into seventh place on Tennessee’s all-time list.
On defense, the Vols batted down a season-high-tying six passes, with six different players recording a pass breakup. Defensive back Will Brooks led the team with seven tackles.
Tennessee’s (8-2, 5-2 SEC) defense started strong, forcing a quick three-and-out on Georgia’s first possession. The Vols then marched 78 yards on their opening drive, capped by a one-yard touchdown run from tight end Miles Kitselman—his first career rushing score.
Tennessee went up 10-0 late in the first quarter when redshirt freshman kicker Max Gilbert connected on a 52-yard field goal—the longest of his career.
Georgia (8-2, 6-2 SEC) responded with touchdowns on consecutive drives to take a 14-10 lead in the second quarter. The Vols answered UGA’s scoring outburst with a 10-play, 75-yard drive, ending in a 27-yard touchdown run by Sampson to move back in front.
UGA kicker Peyton Woodring tied the game with a 36-yard field goal with five seconds left in the first half, making it 17-17 at the break.
The Bulldogs regained the lead with a 12-play, 87-yard drive in the third quarter, capped by a 10-yard touchdown scramble from quarterback Carson Beck.
Georgia added to the lead with a two-yard touchdown run with 2:26 remaining in the game.
UP NEXT Tennessee will return home to Neyland Stadium next Saturday, Nov. 23, to take on UTEP on Senior Day. The game is set to kickoff at 1 p.m. ET.
ATHENS, Ga. – No. 7 Tennessee and No. 12 Georgia will square off between the hedges on Saturday night at Sanford Stadium in a game that will have major implications in the SEC standings as well as the College Football Playoff race.
The Vols enter the game with the longest current win streak in the SEC, having won four straight, but will be playing their first road contest since a 19-14 loss at Arkansas on Oct. 5, while the Bulldogs will be playing at home for the first time since a victory over Mississippi State on Oct. 12.
BROADCAST INFO
Saturday’s game will feature a national broadcast on ABC with Chris Fowler (PxP), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst), Laura Rutledge (sideline reporter) and Holly Rowe (sideline reporter) on the call. Coverage is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m.
Fans can listen to Tennessee’s official radio broadcast on the Vol Network (Local: WIVK-FM 107.7/WNML-FM 99.1) over 65 stations across the state of Tennessee and the southeast, SiriusXM (Ch. 82) and the SiriusXM app (Ch. 82), as well as the Varsity App. A live audio stream of the broadcast will also be available on UTSports.com and the Tennessee Athletics App. Fans attending the game are encouraged to listen to the radio broadcast via the Vol Network Stadiumcast on 89.9 FM.
Bob Kesling (PxP), VFL Pat Ryan (analyst) and Brent Hubbs (analyst) will call the action, with VFL Jayson Swain handling sideline duties for the Vol Network radio broadcast. The Big Orange Countdown pregame show begins two hours prior to kickoff at 5:30 p.m. The pregame show is hosted by John Wilkerson, Brent Hubbs, VFL Jayson Swain and a rotating VFL special guest each week. Vol Network celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2024.
The Spanish broadcast is available locally on WNML-AM 990 with Carlos Lopez (play-by-play) and VFL Fuad Reveiz on the call. That version is also available on UTSports.com and the Tennessee Athletics app.
GAMEDAY INFO
All gameday information for this Saturday’s contest in Athens can be found HERE.
NEED TO KNOW
College GameDay on Site For the second time this season, ESPN College GameDay will be on site for a Tennessee road game. Saturday will mark the Vols’ 26th all-time appearance on the show, as well. In the previous four College GameDay appearances for the Big Orange under head coach Josh Heupel, they have posted a 3-1 record, with victories over Oklahoma (2024), Alabama (2022) and Florida (2022).
Super Sampson Superstar running back Dylan Sampson is coming off a career-high 149 rushing yards and scored his 20th touchdown of the season in last weekend’s victory over Mississippi State. His 20 rushing scores on the year are a single-season program record and lead the SEC while ranking third in the country.
Sampson has surpassed the 100-yard mark on the ground eight times this season, which leads the FBS. He also ranks No. 1 in the SEC in total rushing yards (1,129) and rushing yards per game (125.4). Both of those marks rank in the top-10 nationally, as well. Sampson’s eight 100-yard games are the second most in a single season in program history behind Jay Graham’s 11 in 1995.
Defense Holding Strong Tennessee’s defense has been among the nation’s best all season and has yet to allow an opponent to reach the 20-point mark this year. In fact, the Vols have held their last 10 opponents under 20 points dating back to last season’s 35-0 Citrus Bowl victory over Iowa.
UT has held opponents to under 20 points in the first nine games of a season for the first time since 1966. The Vols are the fifth SEC team to achieve that feat since 2000, joining 2003 LSU, 2011 Alabama, 2012 Alabama and 2021 Georgia. All four of those previous teams went on to win the national title.
Clutch Vols In what is expected to be another tightly contested game this Saturday down in Athens, the Vols should take plenty of confidence in the fact that they have been one of the nation’s best in one-score games. Tennessee is 7-1 in one-touchdown games (decided by 8 points or less) since the start of the 2022 season, and added to that total in back-to-back weeks with a 23-17 overtime victory over Florida on Oct. 12 and a 24-17 comeback win over No. 7 Alabama on Oct. 19. The 87.5-win percentage for UT in one-score games since the start of the 2022 season is the best in the SEC and second-best in the FBS behind Coastal Carolina (10-1, 90.9).
SERIES HISTORY
Georgia leads series, 28-23-2 This is the 33rd consecutive season that the Vols and Bulldogs are meeting, dating back to 1992. Tennessee will be looking to snap a seven-game losing streak in the series with its last victory coming in 2016 when Joshua Dobbs connected with Jauan Jennings on a Hail Mary on the game’s final play to pull out a 34-31 win.
Saturday will mark the 18th game overall in the series, including the third straight, in which both teams are ranked in the AP Poll. The Vols have posted a 10-7 record in those previous contests.
ABOUT GEORGIA
Kirby Smart has built the Bulldogs into one of the elite programs in college football and has led them to a pair of National Championships (2021 & 2022) during his nine-year tenure as head coach in Athens. Georgia has won 28 consecutive games at home, which is the longest streak in the nation, and once again has one of the SEC’s top defensive units, ranking sixth in scoring defense (18.4 ppg) and fifth in total defense (306.4 ypg).
Sophomore linebacker CJ Allen and junior defensive back Malaki Starks are tied for the team lead with 49 tackles apiece. Defensive lineman Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins leads the Dawgs with eight tackles for loss while linebacker Jalon Walker paces the team in sacks with 4.5 on the year. Walker has also racked up 40 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, six quarterback hurries and two fumble recoveries.
Offensively, veteran quarterback Carson Beck leads the attack with 2,488 passing yards and 17 touchdown passes on the year, both marks that rank among the top four in the SEC. However, Beck has also thrown 12 interceptions this season. Beck spreads the ball around to a group of talented pass catchers as UGA boasts four players with 200-plus receiving yards and five with two or more touchdown receptions. Dominic Lovett leads the team with 42 catches while Arian Smith’s 535 receiving yards are tops on the squad. Dillon Bell leads the team with four touchdown catches. Florida transfer running back Trevor Etienne is the Bulldogs No. 1 option on the ground with 95 carries for 477 yards and seven touchdowns.
Sevierville, TN (WOKI) The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Friday issued a Silver Alert for a man last seen in Sevierville.
According to the agency, 58-year-old Hank Brackins was last seen on Thursday near Arch Rock Drive.
TBI says Brackins also has a medical condition that could put him in danger and that he could be driving a 2000 Toyota 4Runner with license plate 26325PD.
Those with information are being asked to call 865-453-4668 or 1-800-TBI-FIND.
Jefferson County, TN (WOKI) A Jefferson County Schools bus driver has been charged with sex crimes.
Officials with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Friday announcing 56-year-old James Robert Smith was arrested and charged with 14 counts of sexual contact by an authority figure.
The arrest comes after the Department of Child Services reached out to the school system informing them of a complaint.
JCSO adds that investigators reviewed bus camera footage before taking Smith into custody and charging him.
He is being held on a $100,000 bond and has since been terminated from the school system.
Crossville, TN (WOKI) A high school teacher in Crossville is arrested Thursday after threatening a student in a classroom.
According to an affidavit from Cumberland County’s circuit court, Stone Memorial High School teacher, 56-year-old James Green, threatened the student with a knife after becoming upset with him for not following directions. The document indicates Green “retrieved the knife that he used to prepare his lunch from his desk area and made a threat toward the student.”
Green was arrested, charged with reckless endangerment and booked on a $40,000 bond.
He was also suspended from work and banned by school officials from entering all school system properties.
A teacher at Stone Memorial High School was arrested after threatening students, according to officials with the Crossville Police Department. (Courtesy: City of Crossville via Facebook)
Rocky Hill, TN (WOKI) The co-owners of Rocky Hill Pharmacy are set to face trial in January after pleading not guilty in a case regarding a health care fraud conspiracy.
Tiffany Haney and Anne Warren, both licensed pharmacists, were indicted on multiple charges earlier this month amid accusations they were part of a health care fraud conspiracy that involved altering and forging prescriptions to get money from drug plan and pharmacy benefit managers.
According to court documents, a jury trial has been set for January 21, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. at the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee in Knoxville.
According to federal indictment documents, both women are accused of conspiring to commit health care fraud, making false statements relating to health care matters and aggravated identity theft.
A jury trial has been set for January 21, 2025 in Knoxville. (Credit: Frankly Media)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has lowered the age recommendation for people who should get vaccinated for pneumonia from age 65 to 50.
This as pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses surge in East Tennessee and across the country.
The CDC says lower the recommended age will better protect adults who are in that age range where the risk of respiratory illness significantly increases. The updated age-based recommendation could improve pneumococcal vaccination coverage among adults 50 through 64 years old with a risk condition. Risk conditions include chronic conditions, immunocompromising conditions, and other factors that can increase someone’s risk for pneumococcal disease.
Pneumococcal bacteria can cause serious illnesses, including pneumonia, meningitis, and bloodstream infections.
A Maryville man is convicted of assaulting police, among other felony and misdemeanor charges, during 2021’s January 6th breach of the U.S. Capitol.
The FBI says 35-year-old Edward Kelley was found guilty of three felonies, destruction of government property and assaulting, resisting or impeding officers.
Kelley joined a growing list of people who stormed the Capitol after the 2020 election, upset with election results.
The FBI pointed to several videos which showed Kelley entering the building and assaulting officers.
So far, more than 1,500 people have been charged for crimes related to January 6th.
Maryville, TN (WOKI) One man is dead and a woman is injured following a shooting Thursday morning at the office of adult probation in Maryville.
Officials with the Maryville Police Department say an active shooter call prompted a large police response around 10:00 a.m. at Blount County’s adult probation office.
The caller told police that two people, a man and a woman, had been shot; they were later identified as 39-year-old Brian Steven Yates and 43-year-old Rikki Nicole Allen.
MPD says Yates shot Allen then himself. Officials add that the two share two children, but neither were present during the shooting.
No other injuries were reported, and the investigation is ongoing.
Scene safe after shooting in Maryville, police say. (Courtesy: WVLT)
Monroe County, TN (WOKI) The wife of a man accused in a Monroe County murder has been arrested.
Nicholas Hamlett made headlines after he was accused of murdering 34-year-old Steven Lloyd, making a fake call to 911 claiming he was a distressed hiker, then fleeing the state; he was taken into custody on Sunday.
According to charging documents, Hamlett’s wife, Taylor Fiber, is now facing numerous charges including lying to police concerning her husband’s identity and helping Hamlett evade capture by purchasing him a bus ticket to South Carolina so he could flee the state.
Fiber’s arrest warrant also states she warned Hamlett that law enforcement was on the lookout for him.
Nicholas Wayne Hamlett made headlines after he was accused of murdering 34-year-old Steven Douglas Lloyd, making a fake call to 911 claiming he was a distressed hiker, then fleeing the state. (Courtesy: TBI)
