By: Matt Laws (matt.laws@averyjournal.com)The Tennessee Vols started their Halloween celebration in a new style on rainy Saturday night. When the night was over, they left with a treat for themselves and the fans.
The Vols took advantage of early Gamecock miscues as they took a 31-13 victory in Knoxville on Saturday. Tennessee surprised the fans in attendance as well as a national TV audience as they spilt the traditional “T” with black jerseys after warming up with the traditional orange.
“It's a players game, and our players had been begging for them for a while,” Tennessee Coach Lane Kiffin said. “It was a night game and it was Halloween night. A couple of our players went over to Mike Hamilton and asked him about it. It was unbelievable to get them done that fast. I think it gave us some energy. I think you saw that in the way they came out and played early.”
The Vols responded to the treat with an inspired performance. The Vols took advantage of two early Gamecock fumbles as they rushed out to a 14-0 lead four minutes into the contest.
"It was really good for us to get some excitement right away in the game and to capitalize on a turnover,” Kiffin said. “It gives our players a lot of momentum, and we did it again today. I think we capitalized on it every time on the four turnovers. It was huge. We've played great defense lately, but we have not been an explosive
defense. To come out and get four turnovers today was a credit to the players.”Jonathon Crompton showed he may have finally turned the corner. Crompton hit Austin Johnson for a 38-yard touchdown on UT’s second offensive play after the first South Carolina fumble, then found Kevin Cooper for a two-yard pass on a fourth and goal in the early stages of the second quarter.
"I thought Jonathan played great today,” Kiffin said. “I didn't think we played great around him. But, if you throw two touchdowns, don't turn the ball over and manage the game well, you put yourself in position to win.”
Crompton finished the game 12 of 24 for 142 yards and the two touchdowns.
Montario Hardesty also got back on track. Hardesty scored the Vols second touchdown of the night with his 14-yard run, and also found the endzone from seven yards out in the third quarter. Hardesty had 121 yards on 23 carries. Bryce Brown added 60 yards on nine carries.
For the Vols, the victory over South Carolina was a great way to celebrate Halloween. Not only did they get an important win, they showed they can keep from turni
ng the ball over."This was a very good win for our program to beat a top 25 team in front of a national TV audience,” Kiffin said. “We're really excited about that. Obviously, it was kind of sloppy at times because of the weather and both teams completed 50 percent of the balls. The whole game was going to be about turnovers, and we talked about that at the start of the game when it started to rain. So it was going to be about protecting the ball, and we pride ourselves on that. We have done a very good job on that of late. Last week we had 74 plays and didn't put the ball on the ground, and then to pitch a shutout (on turnovers) today was great. I think that's the story of the game.”
The Vols will entertain Memphis on Saturday as they celebrate Homecoming 2009. The game is to be televised on ESPNU and will kickoff at 7:00.
