milroe. very clean game in madison. important for alabama to have that game on the road, clean up those penalties and turnovers before the big showdown. hawkins -- now he's pressured and brought down. this tennessee front has not throttled back at all. and jaxson moi -- all inked up, he's enjoying every second of his time out there. >> kirk: he's been relentless. they continue to rotate those bolds like we talked about earlier, to stay fresh. these guys are playing hard. >> chris: hawkins trying to make something happen again outside the pogt. gets a block, and scoots out of bounds. there's so much depth and talent. you get out there for a rep on the defensive line for tennessee, you better try to make something happen. >> kirk: with that kind of competition, that's the beautiful thing. you hear coaches talk about that a lot. these guys all work so hard during practice all year round.

one way to motivate them is to reward them and get opportunities. and this defensive line definitely does that. >> chris: so, hawkins taking a long look to the sidelines here, needing 14 to get the first down. they bring pressure again. gets it away. but broken up underneath. coming across was will brooks. and it's fourth down. >> kirk: that time, i think they brought eight. they didn't have enough to protect him. and they're just forcing him on that third down and long to get the ball out so the receivers -- they can't get downfield before he's going to get hit. no chance of picking up a first down. >> chris: offense out there right now, two-score game. trying to come up with a magic comeback here. they need to convert this. >> kirk: walking up again.

oh, they roll the pocket out. trying to get some time. and a downfield pitch is over the head of pettaway that time. on the run, a difficult throw. and the vols will take over on downs. >> kirk: yeah, that was a nice rout here by pettaway. watch how he gets behind the other receiver and works outside. well designed. just misses him. >> chris: tim banks. some strong years at penn state, comes down here to tennessee. they add william inge, the codefensive coordinator for the huskies last year. we saw washington all the time. he's coaching the linebackers here. there he is, the professor with the specs on. really interesting, unique dude. >> kirk: we watched him five times last year on their run to the national title game against michigan.

>> chris: i had to talk to inge today. interesting guy. on the slant there, incomplete. looking for squirrel white. he said, we have to have the best linebackers on the field tonight, knowing that oklahoma's tandem, you know, stutsman and lewis, are really good. i think pili, carter, they have done a great job tonight. >> kirk: they really have. and the thing, if you're tennessee, what were the questions coming into this year? how the linebackers and the secondary, they lost so much on the back end of the secondary. all the starters, the corners, nickel, couple safeties. but they just keep getting better with every game and every rep they get. >> chris: opponents would say, the farther they get from the football, maybe tennessee's more vulnerable. but they've played well. so, where is the weakness, if there is one? >> kirk: after four games into the season now, because you're letting this secondary gain experience and gel and work

toget together, the way pili's come on, after missing last year, don't forget arion carter. he's getting better and better. his football iq has improved so much. >> chris: tennessee's got the football here, we're talking about their defense. you know? that's not normal. >> kirk: no. >> chris: it's a keeper by iamaleava, who lowers his shoulder and says, i'm going to keep these sticks moving. >> chr >> kirk: called it short. that's what josh heupel was frustrated about. >> chris: i thought he had leaned that long body -- oh, he slipped. >> kirk: really good call. it's where the football is when he slipped and lost his footing there. one last thing on that defense. when we had them for nc state, tim banks said, i know we lost a lot, but i think we're deeper in year four and we're faster. we just need to get some experience, and i think we have a chance to be a really good

defense, because of this defensive front and how good we are there. these linebackers and safeties and corners, we're going to be good. we're seeing four games in, he's right. >> chris: three takeaways, they got the safety. 11 tackles behind the line. clock stopped here. heupel. fourth down call coming up. >> kirk: you start to think about their schedule, and, you know, some massive games coming up, when you're in this -- at arkansas, i mean, the way -- they beat auburn today, any time you're on the road, you know, you wonder about that. >> chris: a bye week before the hogs. >> kirk: yeah, yeah, and then, you know, you got kentucky that's at home, mississippi state at home. at georgia. at vandy. so -- >> chris: those percentages, by the way, have changed. they changed -- they change minute by minute. >> kirk: who does that? are you in charge of that?

>> chris: i just figure it out in my head. 46% chance to win at georgia. that sounds about right. yeah, we can just build that in the break. the computers notice what's going on here. tennessee is impressive. going for a field goal here for max gilbert. trying to make it 3 for 3. this from 32 yards out. offensive line was trying to convince heupel to go for it. little frustrated. they chose to take the three. makes it a 16-point lead. so, it's still technically -- >> kirk: general neyland's ten commandments, win the surest way. that's what heupel is doing viia for sure. we talked about georgia and alabama next week. work to do before the sooners take on the other ut. and that's the same

georgia/texas, against alabama/tennessee. >> kirk: that's awesome. you have those ten commandments memorized? >> chris: i need a refresher. >> kirk: john cooper, who grew up in east tennessee -- >> chris: read those to the team? >> kirk: he would. >> chris: pay attention to number ten? >> kirk: number ten was a throwaway, and number ten, win the surest way. there were some doozies there. if at first the breaks go against you, don't fret, put on more -- >> chris: i remember that one. that's one of your favorites. >> kirk: protect your passer -- >> chris: they had a couple of breaks go against them tonight, but mostly, they made their own breaks. this was impressive. most of the focus on this offense, that's scored 191 points through the first three games. tennessee defense, as you said, has taken that as a challenge, to re-establish the vols as a

program known for great defense, and made a strong statement tonight. >> kirk: i've had them twice now. when you were doing tennis, with the nc state game -- i don't know about those percentages. i really like this team. with the quarterback getting more experience, with that secondary and the linebackers coming together, scary, scary football team for anybody to play. >> chris: on the edge -- hawkins. completes it far side. pettaway. he continues to impress. >> kirk: one last thing i'll say about what stands out when you watch them, and it's showing it here at 25-9. josh hup m eupel has a hungry t. they don't play down to the level of their opponent. they get a lead, they keep the foot on the gas. they do not let up. there's just -- some intangibles about this team that you can really enjoy watching. >> chris: across the middle. there's a strike. pettaway running free.

makes a cut and pettaway down to the 15 yard line. that field goal kept it a two-score game -- 46-yard gain. touchdown, two-point conversion -- don't know. >> kirk: man coverage and, you know, you lose your footing like that and you get a little bit of separation, quarterback puts the ball right on the money. >> chris: hawkins has time in the pocket for once. now it's closing down, escapes. hit from behind. knocked down after about a four-yard gain at the 11 there by josephs. >> kirk: christian harrison on that big play just lost footing. now we're seeing hawkins here try to turn the tempo up himself. >> chris: escaping and scanning and flipping -- incomplete. now it's tennessee with a man

down, it's keenan pili. sitting down at the 3 yard line. trying to stretch that leg out, looks luke its like it's a cram. this is the night cap of an interesting day in college football. we talked about the last minute long drive by michigan, marching to come from behind. back and forth game in the big house over usc. nc state, a team that tennessee beat up on, got pounded by clemson. so, clemson and miami still looking good in the acc. a key game in the big 12, utah, another program win for them. >> kirk: without cam rising. >> chris: lsu had to earn it against the bruins. mizzou, forced to double overtime, but escaping against the commodores. so, there's a team that was ranked up there in that top

seven. you wonder if there will be some scrutiny, will they hold their ranking or not? pili's on the sideline here. sooners set up third and six on the vols' 11. michael hawkins jr. probably didn't exfoepect to play. if things had gone well, who knows when he would have had his chance to play meaningful snaps. they came tonight, and he's doing his best. to show the coaching staff and these fans that he is ready for the moment. pressure immediately. he escapes it. running for his life. and running for a first down. scooting around the end zone there. this will be the two-minute

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>> chris: moon with a decidedly tennessee tint here on this hot night in norman. it's been a night for the orange. sooners still alive, though, trying to convert here on fourth and two. keep a flicker of hope in two two-score game. hawkins, heavy pressure -- ball comes up in his hand. pressured by carter. it's recovered by an offensive lineman there. did it slip out of his hands? now tennessee's running the other way. haven't heard a whistle yet. little bit of confusion. there's a bunch of flags all over the place out there. >> kirk: they threw it right at the quarterback.

>> chris: matt leffler getting some steps in, running down there to signal touchdown. >> kirk: i think arion carter, as he got his hands up to knock the ball down, hands may have got into the face mask of hawkins. >> chris: looked like it slipped out of his hands. not sure if the arm was moving forward. it was tough to tell. but then got whacked in the head. >> kirk: yeah. >> if they rule this a fumble, where it was picked up and recovered by a teammate, the ball would become dead there because of the fourth down fumble rule. so, it will be interesting to see what -- what they do with this. >> referee: personal foul, roughing the passer, number 7 on tennessee. contact above the shoulders. half thedy answe distance to th. >> chris: bill still with us here. so, they ruled it incomplete, bill, so, it wasn't a fumble,

so, dead ball at that point, and oklahoma's going to get a first down on the personal foul. >> kirk: yeah. >> that would be correct, yes. >> kirk: bill, what is your call on that ball in his hand, as the hand comes forward? >> boy, that's tight. >> kirk: that is. that's why i'm asking you, my man. >> it's probably coming forward by an inch or so, but -- and that's why we go by. if the hand is moving forward, then that's going to be a forward pass. >> chris: as you said, the distinction is important, because it puts that dead ball foul into play here and sets up oklahoma, first and goal from the 4. >> right. you go back to the previous spot and enforce the penalty from the previous spot. >> chris: fake it to barnes. hawkins flips it high. caught -- and jay roberts, the tight end, lost the ball at the end, they're going to spot him down at the 2. >> kirk: if your goal is to score a touchdown and kick an

onsides kick, you really have to get going here. >> chris: three time-outs. >> kirk: yep. a little bit of urgency here. >> chris: slant. incomplete. tried to squeeze it into a tight position there, and the safety was right there. >> kirk: yeah, good tight coverage there by for great player. good tight coverage. kind of expecting that quick slant to the bigger tight end. so, he's able to get a hand in and knock it away. good news for ou, clock stops. you don't need to use that time-out. one of those three. >> chris: third and goal. hawkins escapes and goes head over heels. touchdown, oklahoma! the young fella down on the

field. paid a heavy price, but made an acrobatic move there, wow. >> kirk: this kid's your quarterback. this is the quarterback right here, number 9. moving on into next week. this kid's done enough in these handful of series in the second half. this is what it's all about right here. this kid is fighting for every inch. what a job of improvising and then holding onto the football as he goes -- remember bradford in bedlam went over top like that. an effort to try to get that ball into the end zone. >> chris: they're making sure he scored. it would be nice if he did. >> kirk: just give it to him. i don't care where the spot is. >> chris: if head is down. the ball is obscured there. man. there was a huge cheer -- every oklahoma fan -- most of them -- most of them have stayed. really appreciating the grit and

the effort of this quarterback and this offense, really. if it is a touchdown, they'll go for two, of course, and try to make it an eight-point game. set up for an onside kid. >> kirk: yeah. they were stopped short on that last possession and settled for three on fourth and one. that kept it a two-score game. touchdown really puts it away. >> kirk: yeah, yeah. >> chris: see if you can get an angle that shows whether or not that ball got across. he hasn't landed there. progressive pylon cam -- did it break the plane? his body sure broke the plane. as he came down, if you slow it down, at impact, when he hits the ground, i think as he went end over end, the ball looked like it did just break the plane. >> chris: bill, how do you see this? does the call stand? >> i agree with kirk there. as he turned over there, you know, all it takes is a lace of

the ball to break the plane of the goal line. and i -- i go with the touchdown on this one. >> kirk: just holding onto the ball, right? here we go, keep going. once he lands -- right there. doesn't that look like it broke the plane? right on the line. >> chris: so close. might be the laces, as bill said. >> kirk: zero touchdowns for this tennessee defense, we talked all night about 19 quarters, versus nonmobile quarterbacks. two touchdowns in one quarter against a mobile quarterback. so, if you are looking for, maybe a potential concern, they've looked so good, maybe it's that. jalen milroe down the road. >> chris: can you say, when a dude comes into a game, plays well, somersaults in, he lands, you give the benefit of the doubt. is that in the rule book? >> it's not in the rule book, chris.

>> chris: i understand. >> but i can tell you, sometimes human feelings go into it. >> kirk: didn't knoi don't know- >> referee: after review, the player was short. >> chris: zero. all business. >> kirk: cute effort. somersault, love it. bring the ball back. they were on the six-inch line. what are we now, two-inch line? >> chris: can he just jump over the pile? >> kirk: old school under center quarterback sneak. >> chris: pili comes back out there. the tennessee defense is not going to surrender those two inches easily. >> kirk: it's fourth down. >> chris: yeah. fourth down. to try to -- >> kirk: that play -- they still practice getting under the center, right, on these two and

three-inch to gain? >> chris: so hawkins is coming out of the game. jackson arnold, who is a very physical running quarterback, he goes in there. interesting move. and all eyes are going to be on him. you have two tight ends in the game. his first action since late in the second quarter. not going to be under center. shotgun. so, arnold in there now. i just don't know why you go gun on the six-inch line. a lot of people do it. except for jalen hurts. >> chris: vols crowding the line. handoff in the middle -- no. he's going to be stopped.

wait a second. now -- now they say. okay. took a little conference. it looks like he did land just across the goal line. you got to be patient with these officials, i guess. >> kirk: interesting to take 9 out of the game for this play to hand it off. now, he -- you can see it pretty good here. some penetration, bounces off of it. doesn't give up on it. eventually barnes gets into the end zone. >> chris: hawkins is back out there for the two-point conversion. this to make it an eight-point game, which would give you a chance to make an onsides kick and still have three time-outs to work with. but they got to hurry. the play clock wound down --

>> kirk: yeah, they have to get the spot of the ball before they have to worry about the play clock. they're going to take a peek at the previous play to see if he was up before he broke the plane. if his knee touched. >> chris: barnes is hit immediately. work ed hard to get in there. i guess it's going to stand. so, hawkins again back in there. looking to throw for it -- and now scramble for it, and he'll be brought down. arion carter makes the play. the lead is ten. and that should just about do it. >> kirk: tennessee, good job of spying the threat of him taking off and creating. used the linebacker, arion carter, who is a high school running back. you can tell what kind of speed he has. no chance he was going to get away from him.

>> chris: very fast learner. knows the defense very well. sophomore. >> kirk: he's just sitting right there. he's seen enough of michael hawkins pulling out of there. >> chris: interesting sequence there. sooners go down the field. tremendous, courageous play by hawkins. they take it off the board. then they bring in arnold to hand it off, get the touchdown, barely, and then hawkins back in for the two-point try. and now schmit going to try for the onsides kick here. would have been a different situation if they had hit that two-point play. and they fall on it there and make the recovery. nimrod. so, josh heupel downplayed it

all week, comes back to oklahoma, where he was national championship quarterback in 2000. so many emotions tonight. he's still working down there, still business. still in the office, but the fact is, you know, his family is so intertwined here. and josh lost his mom cindy heupel in may. she battled for years. there's josh with the family, when he showed up at oklahoma as a player. and his dad is on the sideline. ken is watching this game. and josh played his cards very close. he doesn't share a lot. but you know coming back to this state and this stadium for the first time since he lost his mom and to have his dad over there in a tennessee jacket, this guy, who doesn't show you many emotions, has got to be feeling them, and who knows, when he

gets a quiet moment at the end of this one, what this means to come back and bring a tennessee team in here, that played really well. and come away with a hard fought road win. we talked about that streak. it's over. they've now beaten a top 15 team on the road after losing their last 29 as a program in that situation. most of them, obviously, not involved him. >> kirk: yeah, yeah. you're right. a lot of mixed emotions, i'm sure. i think, as a coach, you always think about the task at hand, and thinking about overcoming any kind of potential obstacle for you, and he's been focused on getting his team ready, but you know, you get to the end of that, and -- then you can come over and see some of these assistants that you're familiar with on the ou sideline, and having his dad down there means a lot, i know, to him, so -- doing a heck of a job building this program back up. we know that. >> chris: you can see ken there with some emotions there. it's a stoic family. but the pride is evident.

won't be the last time they face ou. we were here when heupel was on the staff as an assistant. oklahoma got the win over tennessee that night. but it was an 8-5 season. and that's when bob stoops made the tough decision to part way with a guy that he called his most important recruit ever. not only did he quarterback the national championship team, he brought a lot of talent to it. and the program was strong for a long time. and then they had those years when, you know, sam bradford was here, they were scoring 50 a game. those guys left, and production wasn't awful, it just kind of dropped off from that lofty height, when josh was calling plays here. but he, as he's told us and told many folks, it was a growth experience, and it took him to where he is right now. that forced change, to leave norman. a

aaeye mall have a. what an impressive performance by this young uquarterback for tennessee. and there's his dad. >> kirk: what a move there. he shakes the veteran defender. there's that quickness, at 6'6", and then, the right thing to do. just try to get down before anything happens. the team that makes the fewest mistakes will win. crack researcher -- >> kirk: that's right. >> chris: tennessee made fewer mistakes. play for and make the breaks. when it comes your way, score. oklahoma did not do that. >> kirk: keep going. >> chris: if the breaks don't go your way, put it on your teammate. protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead, and our ball game. >> kirk: nice, nice. they did that. >> chris: cover block -- i know, translate that. i don't know what old general neyland was going on about there.