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Josh Heupel got the last laugh on Oklahoma.
In the former national championship-winning Sooner quarterback’s first game coaching against his alma mater, No. 6 Tennessee took care of No. 15 Oklahoma 25-15.
On a night in which all eyes were on Heupel and Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee’s defense was the star of the show. It allowed an offensive touchdown for the first time in 2024, but it did more than enough to stymie Oklahoma in its SEC debut.
Here are 3 takeaways from Tennessee’s statement win in Norman:
1. The Tennessee defense forced Jackson Arnold to the sideline before halftime in his first SEC start
How good was that Tennessee defense? Well, Arnold was benched in the second quarter after he had 3 turnovers and 0 touchdown drives. One of those came in the red zone immediately after Oklahoma had just forced a strip sack to set up a short field.
True freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. settled in late and led a touchdown drive, but that wasn’t enough to overcome a double-digit deficit. It was, however, enough to believe Oklahoma could endure a quarterback change before the calendar turns to October. It remains to be seen how Brent Venables will handle that.
Even though the Vols finally allowed an offensive touchdown, it was a dominant showing by Tim Banks’ unit. The Tennessee defensive front again won the battle up front by holding the Sooners to just 64 sack-adjusted rushing yards. Keenan Pili was everywhere for a Tennessee defense that looks plenty capable of being one of the nation’s best.
2. Nico Iamaleava’s first true road start was __________.
“Good in flashes, but far from perfect.”
Iamaleava suffered a pair of strip sacks with Tennessee’s banged-up offensive line (more on that in a second), but the poise was evident. His dart to Dont’e Thornton gave the Vols a much-needed splash play for the first touchdown of the night.
The most positive revelation of the night for Tennessee might’ve been the downfield shots to Bru McCoy. After a relatively quiet start coming off last year’s season-ending ankle injury, McCoy had a season-high 92 receiving yards.
Iamaleava didn’t necessarily punch his ticket to New York, but on a night in which the Oklahoma defense did its job defending the explosive Tennessee rushing attack, Heupel needed his quarterback to hit on those chunk plays. He did that 3 times in what was an atypically low-scoring victory for the Heupel era.
3. Tennessee’s bye week can help the Vols’ lone weakness on Saturday
That is, the health of the offensive line. At one point, Tennessee had a third-string left tackle. That wasn’t an ideal formula for a quarterback making his first career road start. LSU transfer Lance Heard was missed. It felt like it limited some of those potential deep shots for Iamaleava. Tennessee will need Heard to avoid some of those hits in what’s sure to be another hostile atmosphere at Arkansas in a couple weeks.
But that’s nitpicking on a night in which Tennessee beat an AP top-15 team on the road for the first time since 2006. The Vols look every bit like a national championship contender.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
