No. 8 Tennessee makes statement with 40-13 blowout win over No. 25 LSU
No. 8 Tennessee made a statement on Saturday.
The Volunteers went into Baton Rouge and trounced No. 25 LSU 40-13 on Saturday to improve to 5-0 on the year and set up a massive showdown with No. 1 Alabama next weekend in Knoxville.
In the win, the Vols thoroughly outplayed the Tigers in all facets of the game. LSU fumbled the opening kickoff to give Tennessee a short field and an early 7-0 lead. From there, UT continued to add on. The lead was 13-0 after one quarter and 20-0 early in the second.
By halftime it was 23-3 and the Vols continued to pile on, going up 37-7 entering the fourth. Along the way, Hendon Hooker picked apart the LSU secondary even with star receiver Cedric Tillman sidelined and got plenty of help from Jabari Small in the running game.
Meanwhile, Tennessee’s defense turned in an excellent performance. The Vols stuffed LSU on fourth down three different times in the first half. All three of those defensive stops led to points — two field goals and a touchdown.
The touchdown was a beautiful 45-yard deep ball from Hooker to Jalin Hyatt.
An absolute dime from @henhook2
📺 @espn
📲 https://t.co/lnbA1pDKyh pic.twitter.com/fVfDjIdQwe— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) October 8, 2022
It was another excellent outing for Hooker, who has developed into one of the best quarterbacks in the country after transferring to Tennessee from Virginia Tech last year. He threw for 239 yards and two touchdowns in this one while pitching in 63 yards on the ground.
Small also had a key role in the win, going for 127 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. Bru McCoy led the receiving corps with seven catches for 140 yards. Hyatt had 63 yards and two scores on four receptions.
Nobody had questions about Tennessee’s offense entering this game. The defense was another story. The Vols had one of the worst defenses in the SEC last season and had a bit of an uneven performance in the 38-33 win over Florida two weeks ago. After a bye, that unit came to play on Saturday.
UT completely stifled LSU in the run game. The Tigers rushed for just 55 yards on 28 carries, putting a ton of pressure on the shoulders of LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels. Daniels is a talented player but didn’t have much success Saturday playing behind a banged-up offensive line. He finished the day with 299 yards, but did so on 44 attempts.
To pull off an upset over the Crimson Tide next weekend, the Tennessee defense must continue to improve. The offense, especially if Tillman is back in the lineup, has the firepower to compete with anybody.
On the LSU side, the Tigers dropped to 4-2 with the loss. The Tigers, in their first year under Brian Kelly, travel to Gainesville to meet Florida next weekend.
