The final scoreboard might now exactly reflect it, but Tennessee had to fight hard on Saturday against a pesky Vanderbilt team. The six-win Commodores were always going to give Tennessee their best shot, but the question was going to come down to this — could they bring a four-quarter fight to the Volunteers?
The answer turned out to be a no.
Despite coming out and punching Tennessee in the face with a two quick scores, the tides slowly began to turn. Vanderbilt was gashing Tennessee with their option-run game early on, stringing together first downs to keep the clock moving.