Tennessee Knoxville, TN - There’s always a play which sometimes seems inconsequential at the time, but proves to be pivotal in a game’s outcome. Leading 14-7, Tennessee faced thirdand-three from the Memphis 33 with eight minutes left in the first half. Memphis defensive back Glenn Sumter jumped off the Neyland Stadium turf clutchNeyland Stadium ing the ball after Knoxville, TN what was ruled an incomplete pass. Nov. 10, 2001 Emphatically he Att. 107,221 pleaded his case that he had picked off his second pass of the game. Replays showed merit to Sumter’s argument as the ball bounced off UT receiver D o n t e ’ Stallworth and Sumter cleanly snared the pick. A play later, UT quarterback Casey Clausen tossed a 33yard touchdown pass to Stallworth on fourth down. A botched point-after kick was turned into a two-point conversion as Seth Reagan completed the scoring pass to Constantin Ritzzman and the Vols went up 22-7 en route to a 49-28 win. Tennessee would add a 27-yard Alex Walls’ field goal with 1:21 left in the first half to lead 25-7 at the break. Clausen would complete 22-of-35 passes for 298 yards and five touchdowns, directing the Volunteers to 24 secondhalf points including 17 unanswered in the third quarter to extend UT’s lead to 42-7. Walls kicked a 27-yard field goal, Stallworth would catch a 14-yard touchdown pass from Clausen and Derrick Tinsley would add a 16-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Walls’ second-half field goal was set up after Memphis punter James Gaither went to a knee to retrieve a low snap at the Memphis 26. UT stayed primarily on the ground to put together touchdown drives of 72 and 57 yards later in the quarter. Tennessee totaled 520 yards of total offense – 234 rushing (106 in the third quarter) and 302 passing. Memphis redshirt freshman quarterback Danny Wimprine would engineer three successive touchdown drives in the fourth quarter. The Tigers drove 67 yards on 12 plays with Wimprine scoring on a 1-yard run with 11:08 to play,
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cutting UT’s lead to 42-14. The drive was aided by a holding call in the end zone with Memphis facing third-and-goal from the UT 19 and a pass interference call on an incomplete pass with the Tigers facing fourth-and-goal from the 10. Each penalty resulted in a U of M first down. Tennessee would go three-and-out on its next two series. Wimprine tossed a 25-yard touchdown pass to Bunkie Perkins on the Tigers’ next drive. Wimprine’s 20-yard pass to Darron White helped set up the scoring drive. A 49-yard hookup between Wimprine and White would set up a 10-yard touchdown pass to Travis Anglin and Ryan White’s point-after cut the Volunteers’ lead to 42-28 with 3:59 to play. Off the bench, Wimprine completed 12-of-21 passes for 186 yards in less than a half of play. White had a career-high 104 receiving yards on six receptions. Clausen would come back on the field in the fourth quarter and throw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Stallworth for the game’s final score after the Tigers failed to recover an on-side kick. Clausen completed five of seven passes on the Volunteers’ first drive of the game, culminating in a 17-yard pass to Jason Witten in the back of the end zone. Walls’ pointafter gave UT a 7-0 lead with 12:25 left in the first quarter. Clausen began the game with a 21-yard pass to Stallworth then fired a 13-yard completion to Will Bartholomew. A 7yard screen to Travis Stephens followed. UT faced thirdand-10 from the Memphis 35 when Clausen completed an 18-yard pass deep across the middle to Kelley Washington. The Volunteers began their second series from their own 13 and moved the ball inside the Tiger 10. The Vols converted three, third-down conversions including a 27-yard pass from Clausen to Bobby Graham. Tennessee faced first and goal from the 10. DeMorrio Shank stopped Clausen for a 1-yard gain before Stephens picked up 3 yards before being tackled by Sumter. On third down, Clausen passed across the middle. Witten deflected the ball into the hands of Sumter who was credited with a 33yard return. An illegal block moved the ball from near midfield to the U of M 16. Sumter had a banner day. In addition to intercepting a pass and having a second pick being ruled an incomplete pass, he had 11 solo tackles and seven assists for a total of 18 stops and broke up two passes. Shank finished with nine tackles. Memphis running back Jeremiah Bonds fumbled on the first play of the second quarter. John Henderson recovered at the UT 12. On first-and-goal from the three, Clausen completed a touchdown pass to Troy Fleming. A 34-yard kickoff return by Antoine Harden would set up a three-play, 60-yard Tiger scoring drive early in the second quarter. UM starting quarterback Neil Suber completed a 23-yard aerial to Bunkie Perkins before Harden laid out for a 33-yard reception to the UT two. Suber would then find Aaron Meadows for a 2-yard touchdown completion. Memphis had cut the lead to 14-7 with 13:22 to play in the first half.
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SCORING SUMMARY Memphis 0 7 0 21 - 28 Tennessee 7 18 17 7 - 49 UT (12:38 re 1st) Witten 17 pass from Clausen (Walls kick) UT (14:16 re 2nd) Fleming 3 pass from Clausen (Walls kick) UM (13:22 re 2nd) Meadows 2 pass from Suber (White kick) UT (8:12 re 2nd) Stallworth 33 pass from Clausen (Ritzmann pass from Reagan) UT (1:21 re 2nd) Walls 27 FG UT (12:02 re 3rd) Walls 24 FG UT (5:29 re 3rd) Stallworth 14 pass from Clausen (Walls kick) UT (1:32 re 3rd) Tinsley 16 run (Walls kick) UM (11:08 re 4th) Wimprine 1 run (White kick) UM (6:48 re 4th) Perkins 25 pass from Wimprine (White kick) UM (3:59 re 4th) Anglin 10 pass from Wimprine (White kick) UT (2:24 re 4th) Stallworth 35 pass from Clausen (Walls kick) TEAM STATS
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UT
First Downs Rushes-Yds Passes Passing Yds KO Return Yds Punts-Avg Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yds Time of Poss. Sacks by
20 27-23 18-37-2 281 168 5-40.2 3-2 5-44 23:56 3-14
28 43-218 24-39-1 302 54 4-49.0 3-0 12-85 36:04 0-0
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS Rushing: MEM-Sanders 10-20-0, Harden 111-0, Perkins 1-10-0. UT-Stephens 20-124-0, Fleming 5-38-0, Houston 6-36-0, Tinsley 4-29-1. Passing: MEM-Wimprine 12-21-1-186-2, Suber 6-16-1-95-1. UT-Clausen 22-35-1-298-5, Mathews 24-0-4-0. Receiving: MEM-Harden 6-104-0, Perkins 687-1, White 2-69-0. UT-Stallworth 7-142-3, Bartholomew 3-36-0, Washington 3-30-0. Interceptions: MEM-Sumter 1-33-0. UTBattle 1-0-0, Baker 1-0-0. A- 107,221 (Weather: Sunny, Wind: SW 5-10, 67 Degrees)
NOTES ◆ Tiger safety Glenn Sumter registered his fifth interception of the season against Tennessee. He also logged 18 tackles ◆ Memphis kick returner Antoine Harden set a school record with eight kickoff returns for 160 yards. The 160 yards ranks as the third highest single game total in Tiger history