Tennessee and Pittsburgh combined to play some ugly football Saturday. That usually doesn’t bode well for the Vols, but this time, UT pulled out the 34-27 win.
The Vols started slow — something that’s usually not an issue for Josh Heupel’s Tennessee teams. Hendon Hooker and the offense went three-and-out on the game’s first two drives and then turned it over on downs on its next opportunity, after needing 10 plays to move the ball 36 yards into Pittsburgh’s side of the field. It was an Hooker-to-Tillman miss that killed the drive.
Tennessee trailed 10-0 at the end of the first quarter, and then had its only good quarter of football of the game.