Colton Hood pick-6 puts Tennessee back in front at Mississippi State
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Colton Hood gave No. 15 Tennessee a much-needed jolt in the first quarter of Saturday’s SEC showdown at Mississippi State, intercepting Blake Shapen and returning it 23 yards for a touchdown to give the Volunteers a 10-7 lead.
There was still just 4:19 left in the opening quarter and it was only a 3-point lead, but it was just what Tennessee needed at that moment after falling behind 7-0. The Vols got a field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3, but then the sophomore defensive back gave Josh Heupel‘s slow-starting team life and the lead in a hostile environment.
Here is the video of Hood’s pick-6, as he went untouched to the end zone after snagging Shapen’s deflected pass:
Mississippi State, which is off to a 4-0 start, took the lead back early in the second quarter, so that made Hood’s pick-6 even more important since the Tennessee offense had been unable to get into the end zone itself up to that point.
The Volunteers were desperate on Saturday to bounce back from that home loss to Georgia in Week 3, and although the Bulldogs were making it hard on them early, Hood at least kept Tennessee afloat in the game that was being televised on SEC Network.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
