Tennessee vs. Texas A&M score, takeaways: No. 19 Volunteers use suffocating defense to stay in SEC East race

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No. 19 Tennessee topped Texas A&M 20-13 at Neyland Stadium in a massive game between cross-division foes. Aggies quarterback Max Johnson was picked off by Kamal Hadden at midfield on a fourth-and-10 with 22 seconds to play to ice things away and keep the Volunteers at least in the mix of the SEC East title race.

With Tennessee up 17-13 under four minutes to play, Gabe Jeudy-Lally picked off Johnson on third-and-10 and returned it to the Aggie 6-yard line. The Volunteers couldn’t punch it in for six, but Charles Campbell kicked a 24-yard field goal to make it 20-13 with 2:31 to play and force the Aggies to try for the end zone on their final drive.

The biggest play of the game came in the third quarter when Tennessee took the lead on a 39-yard punt return for a touchdown courtesy of Dee Williams. The short field was set up by Vols punter Jackson Ross, who pinned the Aggies at their 1-yard line, and a defensive stand that forced the Aggies to punt from the back of the end zone. That play gave the Volunteers the 14-10 lead — one that they wouldn’t relinquish.

Johnson was harassed all day by the stout Volunteer pass rush, which recorded three sacks and eight tackles for loss. That doesn’t include the numerous times it impacted plays by forcing Johnson out of the pocket or a running back to make an early cut. Johnson finished the afternoon 16 of 34 passing for 223 yards, zero touchdowns and two picks.

Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton didn’t have a great day with 50% passing for 100 yards, one touchdown and one interception. However, he added 34 yards on the ground and his 7-yard strike to Jacob Warren in the first quarter gave the Volunteers the early lead.