Pregame Notes

 Today's game will obviously be a test for the Volunteers, especially on defense. A defense that ranks near the bottom of the SEC faces the talented running back duo of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. They rank first and second respectively in the SEC for rushing yards per game. Last Saturday, McFadden tied an SEC-record rushing for 321 yards and Jones contributed 163. Both teams are 6-3 and the Razorbacks are riding a three-game winning streak.

The last time these teams met in Neyland Stadium, the Vols ended up winning 41-38 in six overtimes. These teams have played each other 15 times since 1907 and UT leads the series 12-3. The Vols are 5-1 in Knoxville against the Hogs. Tennessee head coach Philip Fulmer is 9-2 against Arkansas while their head coach, Houston Nutt is 2-4 against the Vols.

Two good offenses look to attack porous defenses. I'm hoping for a shootout. I believe UT will end up pulling it out. They realize they control their destiny and the defense will come out looking for respect like they did against Georgia. McFadden and Jones will get their yards but the Vols will make enough plays to pull out the victory.

12:34 p.m. Lennon Creer has a solid return for 32 yards to open the game for the Vol offense.

12:40 p.m. The Vol offense is looking solid so far. They are moving the ball very well against the Razorback D and have drawn a couple penalties as well.

12:44 p.m. Vols come out with an unusual trips formation and use it to their advantage. Austin Rogers catches his second touchdown of the season to give the Vols the first score of the game.

12:52 p.m. The Volunteer defense steps up after the special teams gives up a big play and a penalty holding Arkansas just to a field goal making the score 7-3 UT. 

12:54 p.m. Dennis Rogan gives the Vols a monster kickoff return for 78 yards setting up the offense at the Arkansas 15. Special teams are looking good so far.

12:57 p.m. Arkansas is practically giving away first downs after receiving another penalty. This one is a personal foul.

12:59 p.m. The Razorbacks step up and hold the Vols to a field goal attempt. Lincoln nails the attempt and puts the score to 10-3.

1:02 p.m. UT plays it safe by squib kicking it away from McFadden and Jones

1:04 p.m. Defense stands strong and forces Arkansas to go three-and-out.

1:08 p.m. Arkansas' defense answers as well, forcing the Vols to punt for the first time. Let's see if the Volunteer defense can keep it up. 

1:14 p.m. The Vols will start the second quarter with second and four as they still lead 10-3. 

1:12 p.m. The Vol defense is here to play in the first quarter as they force the Hogs to punt again. These guys are looking good. The Vols were able to get a hand on the punt to give the offense a shorter field.

1:24 p.m. The offensive line is amped. The Vols have run it every play this drive and the Razorbacks bend but don't break holding UT to another field goal. 13-3.  

 1:29 p.m. A huge stop on fourth down halts the Razorbacks in their tracks as UT takes over at the Arkansas 44-yard line. The defensive line is showing that they do indeed have playmakers down there. They may not be the quality we are used to, but they are playing big today.

 1:39 p.m. Daniel Lincoln's 41-yard field goal attempt misses as the UT offense fails to convert a third down. They tried a little trickery by putting Gerald Jones in at quarterback and letting him run one but the Arkansas defense sniffs it out on second down.

1:44 p.m. The Arkansas playcalling is good but the UT defense is better. They are not overpursing and have a bunch of orange jerseys flying to the football today. The energy is high on the field.

1:51 p.m. Vols use two ill-advised false starts to their advantage and catch the Razorbacks defense off guard by calling a wide receiver screen to Josh Briscoe. Briscoe uses great vision and patience following his blockers into the end zone. The extra point makes the score 20-3.  

1:56 p.m. Arkansas decides to take a timeout with one second remaining to take a shot at the end zone and Eric Berry picks it off and returns it  37 yards. The Vol defense remains aggressive despite the lopsided score.

Halftime Notes

The Vols undoubtedly looked good in the first half against the Razorbacks. The defense must keep up the pressure if they want to win. McFadden only has six carries for 25 yards at this point while Jones has three carries for five yards. The secondary is doing a good job of keeping Marcus Monk out of the picture at this point.

The offense must continue to eat clock and move the ball. They have done a good job of getting points out of almost every drive so far. Montario Hardesty is the leading rusher with nine carries for 34 yards. Ainge is was efficient but not spectacular completing 9 of 19 for 103 yards to go along with two touchdowns. Let's see what the second half brings. If Arkansas opens up their playcalls more and UT goes into that conservative mode we know them for, this could turn into a close game.

2:23 p.m. Arian Foster finds a gaping hole in the defense that even I could have run through and scores another touchdown for the Vols from 59 yards away. The Razorback defense that stopped South Carolina last week clearly stayed in Fayetteville.

 2:30 p.m. The Razorback offense is finally in rhythm and getting first downs. They have three first downs so far on this current drive.

 2:38 p.m. Despite allowing first downs, the UT defense mans up and holds the Razorbacks to a field goal giving them their first points since the first quarter making the score 27-6. If Arkansas continues to move the ball like that they will eventually find the end zone. The defense must get back to playing like they did in the first half.

2:43 p.m. The UT offense comes out and stalls going three-and-out. The punt gives the Arkansas offense good field position. Let's see what they do with it.  

2:52 p.m. The UT defense steps up once again on fourth down and keeps the Razorbacks out the end zone. McFadden is slowly chipping away at the Vol  

 2:54 p.m. Good coverage on third down by Arkansas forces Ainge to just throw a ball out of bounds over Foster's head. Meanwhile Arkansas replaces quarterback Casey Dick with Nathan Emert after Dick is flagged for grounding.

2:57 p.m. The Vol defense gets into the untested Emert's head and sacks him. Pressure rattles him the entire series and the Vols force fourth down after a three-and-out. Emert got some garbage time against Florida International, but he doesn't seem ready for an SEC defense yet.  

3:05 p.m. Once again the Vol offense stutters and ends up punting the ball. The Razorbacks begin backed up in their own territory but will probably move the ball deep and come away with either a field goal or no points at all again.

3:08 p.m. Casey Dick comes back into the game and the Hogs use a little trickery to get 36 yards into UT territory. Great play call. They ran the same play against South Carolina.  

3:16 p.m. Arkansas gets into the end zone for the first time today on a questionable call. Officials took time to look at the replay but confirmed it. I don't agree with them, but they make the calls and I just write about them.

 3:26 p.m. The Vols are just milking clock right now doing their best to end the game without giving Arkansas the ball back again.

3:32 p.m. Jerod Mayo picks off a pass and takes off to the end zone for a defensive touchdown. Lincoln's extra point is good and the score is now 34-13 with 2:46 remaining.  

3:39 p.m. Berry keeps the pressure up on the Arkansas offense and catches his second interception and returns it 61 yards. The Vols will take a knee and end the game here.  

Postgame Notes

UT came out and played a solid football game today. They played sound on both sides of the football. The defense wasn't given much of a chance before the game especially after Arkansas put up so many yards against a good South Carolina defense last week.

No one gave them a chance and the Vols showed that when they put their minds to it, they can play great football. They made stops and forced turnovers. Jerod Mayo led the defense with nine tackles and returned an interception for a touchdown. Jonathan Hefney finally had a day most were expecting from him with eight tackles and a pass breakup.

 "Every time you guys (in the media) talk bad about us we come out and play good. So keep talking bad," said Mayo.

Mayo also gave defensive coordinator John Chavis credit for the defense's play.

"Coach Chavis put in a great game plan to stop McFadden, and we executed it well," he said.

Mayo said the defense wanted to keep Arkansas under the century mark.

"A realistic goal was to hold those guys to under 100 yards rushing."

Darren McFadden only had 116 yards rushing but even more important he didn't have a touchdown. Felix Jones left the game with a bruised thigh so he was never able to get going since the first half.

Coach Fulmer was really appreciative of the way the defense played today. "Defensively I could not be more proud of the group of kids, thinking how much they've been through and how much they have improved," Fulmer said.

The offense came out and executed as usual. Though Ainge's numbers weren't flashy, he didn't turn the ball over which was the most important factor. The running game was solid as Arian Foster and Montario Hardesty combined for almost 150 yards. Ainge knew his teammates were ready to play.

"Arian (Foster) never shuts up, and I've never seen him this quiet. He was really focused. That makes you feel good as a quarterback," Ainge said.

Special teams did a great job of setting the offense up as well to start the game. Dennis Rogan's 78-yard return in the first quarter showed life in a unit that seemed non-existent some games. Daniel Lincoln made two field goals from 25 and 28 yards but he also missed one from 41 yards, so special teams weren't perfect but they were better than they have been.