No. 15 Tennessee rallies in 4th quarter to beat Arkansas 24-17
George MacIntyre threw for 247 yards and a touchdown in his first career start, DeSean Bishop ran for 138 yards and No. 15 Tennessee rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Arkansas 24-17 on Saturday
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- George MacIntyre threw for 247 yards and a touchdown in his first career start, DeSean Bishop ran for 138 yards and No. 15 Tennessee rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Arkansas 24-17 on Saturday.
With the game tied at 17 with 4:07 left and Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) pinned inside its own 10 after an Arkansas punt, Bishop ran for 59 yards to help set up the go-ahead score.
Four plays after that run, Bishop took the ball into the end zone from 8 yards and Tennessee’s defense responded by forcing Arkansas three-and-out as the Razorbacks chose to punt with 1:36 left, trailing by seven points.
MacIntyre, a sophomore, took over for usual starter Faizon Brandon last week as Brandon dealt with a troubling shoulder injury and then made the start against the Razorbacks (2-4, 0-3).
“I thought he did a really good job in some of the adverse situations of just playing the next play and pulling the trigger,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. “It was a winning performance by him, ultimately.”
His best moments came in the fourth quarter. On the first play of the Volunteers’ drive in the fourth, MacIntyre connected with DeSaahn Brame down the seam for 68 yards to the 6. Three plays later, Brame, a wide receiver, took his first carry of the season over the goal line from a yard out to give Tennessee a three-point lead.
Arkansas, which had taken its first lead in an SEC game this season on back-to-back touchdown drives to start the second half, responded with a 55-yard field goal from Max Bryant with 7:20 left.
MacIntyre finished 18 of 29 for 247 yards with the touchdown and two interceptions. Arkansas quarterback KJ Jackson went 15 of 27 for 155 yards and a touchdown.
As for who will line up behind center going forward, Heupel didn't commit.
“With what (Brandon) was dealing with, he really didn’t rep during the course of the week. George knew on Monday he was going to start this week. We’ll continue to play it by ear as we keep going,” he said.
Arkansas lost its 14th straight SEC game, but played markedly better than in their first two conference games of the coach Ryan Silverfield era, though that’s hardly consolation given the length of the streak.
Outside of a couple of big passing plays, Tennessee never looked especially sharp, something that will have to change if the Volunteers want to upset Alabama on the road next week.
Tennessee: At No. 6 Alabama on Saturday.
Arkansas: At Vanderbilt on Saturday.
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