Tennessee 36-23 Vanderbilt (November 30, 2024) Game Recap

NASH.VILLE, Tenn. — Nico Iamaleava threw for 257 yards and four touchdowns, helping No. 7 Tennessee rally from a 14-point deficit within the first five minutes to a 36-23 win over in-state rival Vanderbilt on Saturday.

The Volunteers (10-2, 6-2 Southeastern Conference; No. 8 CFP) needed a big win to impress the College Football Playoff committee enough to secure a home playoff game in December.

They defeated Vanderbilt (6-6, 3-5) for the sixth straight time.

Better yet, they recovered from a nightmare start and gave up the first 14 points by scoring 29 straight. They led 24-17 at halftime after Iamaleava’s first three touchdown passes.

Junior Sherrill returned the first kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown for Vanderbilt, stunning a mostly Orange crowd. Dylan Sampson fumbled on the Vols’ second play from scrimmage and Sedrick Alexanader’s 4-yard TD run on a 26-yard drive gave Vandy a quick 14-0 lead.

Then Iamaleava got Tennessee going with a 28-yard TD pass to Dont’e Thornton Jr.

Tennessee got a break when Max Gilbert’s 50-yard field goal bounced off the crossbar and over. Iamaleava found Thornton again with an 86-yard catch-and-run touchdown, then threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Miles Kitselman just before halftime.

Iamaleava capped the first drive of the third quarter by hitting Mike Matthews with a 14-yard touchdown pass for a 31-17 lead. The Vols added a safety from Tire West and another field goal from Gilbert.

Diego Pavia threw a 31-yard TD pass to Richie Hoskins late, Vandy’s 2-point conversion failed for the final lead.

Impact on the survey

Tennessee didn’t initially make a good impression with another slow start. The Vols will have to hope for some help to have a chance of moving up a spot or two. The big question is whether the Vols can host a playoff game in December at Neyland Stadium, where they have gone undefeated this season.

The takeaways

Tennessee managed TD drives of 91 and 96 yards in the first half alone. The Vols then beat Vandy in their own keepaway game after having the ball for less than 10 minutes in the first half. They finished that statistic with a 538-212 lead over Vandy.

Vanderbilt had some of the best offensive success of any opponent this season against Tennessee. The Commodores had 114 rushing yards and 17 points at halftime against a defense that ranked sixth nationally and allowed just 98.8 yards per game. The Vols were fourth in the country giving up just 13.1 points per game after holding 10 of 11 opponents under 20 points this season.

Sampson’s latest record

The Tennessee running back, who set the program record with 22 rushing TDs this season, failed to reach the end zone for the first time this season. Sampson finished the season rushing for 178 yards, bringing his total to 1,485 yards. This surpassed the school mark of 1,464 set by Travis Stephens in 2001.

Next

Tennessee waits to find out its place in the CFP field, while Vanderbilt will find out its bowl destination on December 8th.

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