South Alabama Jaguars vs Tennessee Volunteers Match Player Stats On Sep 28, 2013

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 28, 2013


Tennessee 31, South Alabama 24: Justin Worley threw for 204 yards and a pair of touchdowns, shaking off three interceptions, as the Volunteers held off the visiting Jaguars.

Rajion Neal totaled 169 rushing yards and a touchdown and Marlin Lane added 66 yards on the ground and a score of his own for Tennessee, which outgained South Alabama on the ground by more than 140 yards. Josh Smith and A.J. Branisel caught touchdown passes from Worley for the Volunteers (3-2), who returned to the win column after losses to No. 2 Oregon and No. 19 Florida the last two weeks.

Ross Metheny led the offense for the Jaguars (2-2), throwing for 234 yards and running for 67 more - his two TDs coming on the ground - but the Tennessee defense kept South Alabama under wraps in the first half, while its offense racked up 338 total yards before the break. Metheny was victimized by two interceptions and fellow quarterback Brandon Bridge threw another and the Volunteers capitalized with 10 points off Jaguar turnovers.

The Jaguars opened the scoring on a 32-yard scamper by Matheny to cap the game's opening drive. South Alabama's offense struggled to build any momentum, however, failing to score again until midway through the third quarter.

With Tennessee leading 17-7, Lane's 2-yard rumble closed out the scoring in the first half and Neal followed that up with an 11-yard run to the end zone to extend the Volunteer lead to 31-7 just after halftime. A Chris Dinham 3-yard touchdown run brought South Alabama to within a touchdown and the Jaguars had a chance to tie the game late but Metheny was intercepted by Brian Randolph in the end zone with 1:51 to play, sealing the win for Tennessee.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Volunteers improved to 9-0 all-time against Sun Belt teams. ... Junior WR Shavarez Smith led all receivers, pulling in four catches for a career-high 83 yards for South Alabama. ... Tennessee, which came into the game leading the SEC in forced turnovers, added three more to its total on picks by Randolph, LaDarrell McNeil and Brent Brewer.