#4 Volumes come up short in 19-14 loss at Arkansas

After falling behind 14-3 in the third quarter, the Razorbacks scored the final 16 points of the game to clinch the win and hand the Volunteers their first loss of the season, snapping a six-game winning streak.

A last-ditch attempt on the final drive narrowly failed as the Volunteers were stopped on fourth-and-5 at the 21-yard line on the final play.

UT's defense once again had a solid performance, but came up one stop short as Arkansas scored on the final possession of the game to take the lead for the first time in the second half. The Vols collected seven tackles for a loss, led by James Pearce Jr. (2.0) and Arion Carter (1.5), who were two of nine different players to have at least half a tackle for loss.

Despite the offensive difficulties overall, Dylan Sampson was once again a ray of hope. The junior running back recorded his fourth 100-yard rushing performance of the year and the eighth of his career, finishing his career with 140 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.

Sampson led the offensive push in the third quarter with two touchdowns on UT's first two possessions of the half. On those two drives, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana native carried the ball six times for 77 yards before rushing into the end zone to finish both possessions.

His two rushing touchdowns increased his total to 12 on the year, tied for 10th in program history in a single season along with eight other players. His 25 career rushing totals are 10^Th in UT history with Jay Graham (1993-96) and Jimmy Streater (1976-79).

The Big Orange matched nearly all of their first-half offensive output on the first drive of the second half, marching 75 yards in seven plays before Sampson punched in the ball from four yards out to give the Vols a 7-3 lead Extra point.

Sampson's 53-yard rush on third-and-4 a play earlier set up Tennessee's first score. His second rushing touchdown also came from four yards out, giving the Vols a 14-3 lead midway through the third quarter, but that was all they managed to score for the rest of the contest.

The Vols went scoreless in the first half for the first time under Heupel, but were only down 3-0 early in the half thanks to a strong defensive performance.

The Hogs opened the game with a 20-yard field goal after a 16-play, 74-yard drive that took 9:12 minutes, but remained scoreless for the remainder of the half, thanks largely to two scores Fourth down is stopped by UT's defense inside its own 35-yard line.

Tennessee had four tackles for a loss and had three players set season highs in tackles in the first 30 minutes Keenan Pili went on top with seven, closely followed by Will Brooks (six) and Pearce Jr. (five).

Three Vols finished with career tackle bests in Brooks (10), Pearce Jr. (nine) and Carter (eight), while Pili led all players with a game-high 14 stops, the most in a game during his UT career.

After taking a 14-3 lead midway through the third quarter, the Vols failed to score on their final five possessions after recording back-to-back touchdowns early in the second half.

Tennessee will look to bounce back when it returns to Knoxville for a four-game home series against Florida next Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised by ESPN.