Mississippi State’s season was summed up as fans cleared Scott Field after Kyle York’s fourth down fumble with 7:51 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs (3-7, 0-6 SEC) never recovered and dropped their sixth Southeastern Conference game to Tennessee (6-4, 3-3 SEC). After a scoreless first quarter, the Volunteers got on the board first with a 34-yard touchdown run by running back Cedric Houston. From that point, Tennessee never relinquished their lead as Houston rushed for a career high 149 yards on 32 carries.
“I thought we were going to come out and run it a little bit and pass it a little bit. We just came out running,” Houston said.
Tennessee had 232 total rushing yards on 64 attempts against the Bulldog defense.
“We were going to run the ball. We were going to, obviously, protect that young quarterback,” Volunteers coach Phillip Fulmer said.
The “young quarterback” he is referring to is James Banks, who replaced Casey Clausen. Banks was eight of three for a total of 90 yards and one touchdown.
“Coach Fulmer wanted to get back to old Tennessee style anyway. He wanted to pound the football and show them how physical we are,” Banks said.
Mississippi State lost three of its five fumbles, including Jerious Norwood’s fumble on the first play of the Bulldogs next possession. Three plays later Cedric Houston rambled into the end zone from 10 yards out to put Tennessee up by 14 yard line.
“You can’t just give good football teams like Tennessee the ball,” Kevin Fant said.
Mississippi State’s next possession ended on another failed third down conversion. The Bulldogs were a disturbing three of 15 on third down conversions and two of four on fourth down conversions.
The Bulldogs got their next possession off a Cedric Houston fumble, which was recovered by Kamau Jackson on the Tennessee 47 yard line. Four plays later Kevin Fant threw his only touchdown pass to Donald Lee from 10 yards out. The first half ended with the Vols leading by seven.
On the second possession of the third quarter Fant was sacked inside the 10 yard line and fumbled into the hands of Tennessee’s Rashad Moore who took it nine yards to paydirt. That would be the last play Kevin Fant would run. Head coach Jackie Sherrill said that Fant’s injury is minor. “We put Kyle in because Kevin had gotten hurt.”
Sherrill also said that Fant could have come back into the game, but they wanted to keep him well. “Kevin should be OK. He just got beat up. We didn’t protect him a couple a times, and that’s something we have to do.” Coach Sherrill continued to say that Fant will start next week.
Mississippi State, lead by Kyle York, who was eight of 18 for 63 yards, rebounded on their next possession by putting together a 15-play 72-yard drive that included a 17-yard run by Norwood. York and Lee connected for a seven-yard pass to get the Bulldogs inside the five-yard line of Tennessee. On the next play, Justin Griffith heaved into the end zone to get the Bulldogs within a touchdown.
Arguably the biggest play of the game was the personal foul called on Mississippi State defensive back Korey Banks. On a crucial third and long deep in their own territory, Michael Gholar sacked Tennessee quarterback James Banks for a 14-yard loss, but 40 yards down the field Korey Banks was called for unnecessary roughness, and the Vols were rewarded with a first down.
“They were going down the field, and they were going after each other. It’s always when you’re the last one you’re going to get the flag. That was a big one. The momentum was getting ready to change because it was 21-17, and we would have had them in fourth in 28.”
After that play, the Volunteers scored two touchdowns back to back after a fumble by Mississippi State’s Elmore Wonsley on a kickoff return with 10:45 remaining in the game.
“I think we played well as far as the emotional side. We just gave up big plays,” Sherrill said.