Washington Leads No.
7 Vols Past Tigers, 26-18
09/29/01
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Rohan Davey threw for 356 yards and two touchdowns, but it was not enough to stop Tennessee Volunteers and wide receiver Kelley Washington who caught 11 passes for 256 yards and a touchdown. Tennessee beat LSU 26-18 in front of the largest crowd to watch an LSU football game, 108,472.
LSU fell to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in Southeastern Conference play. Tennessee remained perfect on the season at 3-0 and 2-0 in SEC play.
Davey attempted a career-high 43 passes, completing 21 for two touchdowns without an interception. He was not thrown an interception in 121 pass attempts and has a 17-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio since the final game of the 1999 season.
Josh Reed caught seven passes for 125 yards, while true freshman Michael Clayton caught three passes for 93 yards. Although he struggled running the ball after getting a hip pointer in the first quarter, LaBrandon Toefield caught a career high four passes for 50 yards.
Tennessee held LSU to only 29 net yards rushing on 20 attempts while piling on 139 yards on 49 carries of their own. Running back Travis Stephens led the Vols with 95 yards rushing on 34 carries.
Tennessee possessed the ball for a total of 35:40, including 22:11 of the 30-minute second half.
A 67-yard strike from quarterback Rohan Davey to Clayton gave the Tigers a 7-6 halftime lead over the Vols. The pass came on the first play of the Tigers' second drive, as Davey hit Clayton in stride some 30 yards past the line of scrimmage without a defender in sight.
In the second quarter, Tennessee (3-0, 2-0 SEC) answered with two field goals by placekicker Alex Walls from 42 (13:55 remaining) and 44 yards (5:31) to cut the Tigers' lead to a single point at the break.
The Tigers drove the ball down the field with relative ease on the first drive of the game, as Davey hooked up with Jerel Myers for 29 yards on the second play from scrimmage. However, with second-and-6 at the 17-yard line, Davey fumbled the ball after being sacked by Keyon Whiteside on the Tennessee 29-yard line.
To open the second half, Tennessee drove 82 yards in 16 plays for a 3-yard touchdown run by Clausen to take a 12-7 lead. The two-point conversion attempt was foiled when Lionel Thomas broke up a pass at the 1-yard line. The drive lasted 7:20.
The Vols tacked on another score less than five minutes later, as Washington caught a 70-yard touchdown pass between two LSU defenders. The reception was the longest allowed by the Tigers since an 82-yard touchdown pass from Wayne Madkin to Terrell Grindele against Mississippi State in the 2000 season.
After the Tigers were outgained 152-16 in the third quarter, Tennessee once again scored on its opening drive of the fourth quarter. The Vols traveled 70 yards on 10 plays in 3:27. Travis Stephens jumped over the line for a 1-yard touchdown run.
LSU faught back with a score drive of its own with just under 11 minutes left in the game, as Josh Reed hauled in a 30-yard touchdown pass from Davey. The touchdown was Reed's first of the season and moved him ahead of Eddie Kennison for ninth place on the all-time LSU receiving yards list with 1,568.
With less than five minutes to play, Davey drove the Tigers 72 yards on nine plays but couldn't hammer the ball into the endzone on three tries from the 8-yard line. LSU was forced to settle for a 25-yard Corbello field goal to pull the Tigers within eight points.
Tennessee took over with 3:02 remaining in the game and LSU had all three timeouts. However, the Tigers were forced to burn a timeout on Tennessee's first play from
scrimmage at their 24-yard line when a Vol receiver went uncovered by the defensive formation. After a short rush and LSU's second timeout, Tennessee threw an incomplete pass before calling a timeout of its own on third-and-9 from its 25-yardline. A 30-yard strike from Clausen to Washington was the final blow, as LSU didn't receive the ball back until only 30 seconds remained in the game.
Davey took LSU down to the Tennessee 40-yardline with 0:05 remaining in the game, but a "Hail Mary" pass from Davey to two Tiger receivers in the back of the endzone was batted away.
LSU returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 6, at 2:30 p.m. against the Florida Gators in Baton Rouge. The game will be nationally televised by CBS.
No. 7/8 Tennessee (3-0, 2-0 SEC) def. No. 14 LSU (2-1, 0-1 SEC)
26-18
Sept. 29, 2001
Knoxville, Tenn.
ESPN, 7:45 EDT
Slinky's 2001
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