KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Oct. 15, 2022) – After 15-years of heartbreak and coming up short of victory, the Tennessee Vols remain undefeated on the season after a nail-biter against SEC rival Alabama ends with a game winning 40-yard field goal as time expired.
In what started as a Volunteer blow-out, leading 28-10 early in the second quarter, the Crimson Tide proved why you should never count out a Nick Saban-led team after scoring 18 unanswered points on the Vols spanning the second and third quarter.
With a score of 28-28, it looked like the momentum had been sapped from the high-powered Tennessee offense and taken over by Alabama, but it only took the Vols 55 seconds for QB Hendon Hooker to connect with WR Jalin Hyatt for his third touchdown reception of the game. Tennessee would miss their point-after-attempt to make the score 34-28.
Both teams would continue to put points on the board and eventually even again at 42-42 midway through the fourth quarter.
In what felt like could be final blow by Alabama following 14 unanswered points, including an 11-yard fumble recovery and return for the score, the Vols found themselves down 42-49 late in the game.
Just as electric as they had been all night long, the fans on Rocky Top continued to will their Vols as they marched down the field looking to even the score. After a long drive for the Vols, a fourth down conversion was needed to keep their hopes alive on the Alabama 28-yard line.
For the first time all night, Neyland Stadium filled with silence as the fans witnessed Hooker throw his first interception of the season at the worst possible time for the Vols- but before the realization could sink in, a flag was thrown for passing interference.
In a rough night for Alabama, penalties were capped off with a costly error that gave the Vols a fresh set of downs in the redzone.
It would be WR Jalin Hyatt once again finding the endzone on a 13-yard pass by Hooker to even the score 49-49 with 3:26 remaining in the fourth quarter.
With plenty of time to work with, Alabama QB Bryce Young is no stranger to pressure as he led the Crimson Tide to field goal range before three big stops by the Tennessee defense forced the Alabama special teams unit onto the field to attempt a 50-yard field goal to take the lead with 15 seconds remaining in play.
A feeling that had become all too normal for Vol fans across the state began to set in. Another year of losing to Alabama was on its way… wide right as the Alabama kicker missed his mark.
Shock and excitement filled Neyland once again as the Vols now had a chance at a Hail Mary play, or force the game to overtime- but that was not what the Vols had in mind.
Wisely holding onto their final two timeouts, the Vols had 15 seconds to advance the ball far enough down field to get their kicker in range.
Hooker would do just that as he led his team down to the Alabama 23-yard line to set the Vols up for a 40-yard field goal attempt by kicker Chase McGrath.
After being iced by Alabama once, McGrath centered himself as the ball was snapped and with Alabama linemen clearing the block protection, the kicker solidified how special this year is for the Vols as the ball found its way between the uprights as time expired.
VOLS WIN 52-49.
Snapping a 15-year winless streak against Alabama and moving the Vols to 6-0. Now ranked No. 3 in the nation, one might ask themselves: is this what ’98 actually felt like?
