Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt: Box score, stats, game summary and more ft. Nico Iamaleava

Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt kicked off at Noon ET on Saturday. The Vanderbilt Commodores (6-5) hosted the No. 8-ranked Tennessee Volunteers (9-2) in the final game of the regular season for both teams.

Both teams have had successful years based on preseason expectations, although both struggled with consistency at different points in the year. Before the game, Vanderbilt had lost two games in a row, most recently 24-17 to LSU last Saturday. Tennessee was coming off a 56-0 win over UTEP.

Vanderbilt has had success against top teams, including Alabama, this season. As a result, Tennessee was not as big a favorite as fans would think before the game started. DraftKings gave Tennessee -395 odds as pregame favorites and Vanderbilt +310 as pregame underdogs.

Although Vanderbilt had a solid first quarter, Tennessee rallied and dominated the rest of the game. The Volunteers won 36-23.

Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt box score

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Total
Tennessee	7	17	9	3	36
Vanderbilt	17	0	0	6	23

Tennessee passing stats

Player	Completions	Attempts	Yards	Passing TDs
Nico Iamaleava	18	26	257	4

Tennessee rushing and receiving stats

Player	Rushes	Yards	Rush TDs	Rec	Yards	Rec TDs
Dylan Sampson	25	178	0	2	6	0
DeSean Bishop	13	61	0	0	0	0
Nico Iamaleava	6	42	0	0	0	0
Miles Kitselman	1	0	0	2	33	1
Peyton Lewis	2	0	0	0	0	0
Dont'e Thornton Jr.	0	0	0	3	118	2
Chris Brazzell II	0	0	0	5	54	0
Chas Nimrod	0	0	0	1	6	0
Mike Matthews	0	0	0	3	30	1
Ethan Davis	0	0	0	1	6	0
Kaleb Webb	0	0	0	1	4	0

Tennessee kicking stats

Player	Extra Point Made/Attempted	Field Goal Made/Attempted	Long
Max Gilbert	4 for 4	2 for 2	50

Vanderbilt passing stats

Player	Completions	Attempts	Yards	Passing TDs
Diego Pavia	8	17	104	1
Richie Hoskins	0	1	0	0

Vanderbilt rushing and receiving stats

Player	Rushes	Yards	Rush TDs	Rec	Yards	Rec TDs
Sedrick Alexander	17	60	1	0	0	0
Diego Pavia	11	45	0	0	0	0
Chase Gillespie	1	3	0	0	0	0
Moni Jones	1	1	0	0	0	0
Junior Sherrill	0	0	0	4	30	0
Eli Stowers	0	0	0	1	15	0
Richie Hoskins	0	0	0	1	31	1
Loic Fouonji	0	0	0	1	24	0
Quincy Skinner Jr.	0	0	0	1	4	0

Vanderbilt kicking stats

Player	Extra Point Made/Attempted	Field Goal Made/Attempted	Long
Brock Taylor	2 for 2	1 for 1	32

Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt game summary

Entering the game, Tennessee was expected to handle this matchup with Vanderbilt relatively easily. However, it was Vanderbilt that took control of the game early.

The game opened with Josh Turbyville returning the opening kick over 100 yards for a TD. Then, after Tennessee fumbled the ball two plays into its first drive, Vanderbilt capitalized with another TD a few minutes later. Tennessee was able to slow the bleeding on its next drive, scoring a TD of its own.

However, Vanderbilt scored a field goal with four minutes left in the first quarter to take a 17-7 lead. Fortunately for the Volunteers, while they dominated the first quarter, they also dominated the second quarter.

They scored a field goal midway through the quarter to open the scoring, then a touchdown two minutes later to tie the game. With 22 seconds remaining, they scored another touchdown to take a 24-17 lead into halftime.

The Volunteers had even more success in the third quarter. Halfway through, they added to their lead with a touchdown. Then, with a minute remaining, the defense scored a safety to take a 33-17 lead into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Tennessee scored first with a field goal with eight minutes left. Vanderbilt finally got on the board for the first time since the first quarter with a TD with six minutes left to cut the lead to 36-23. However, that is where the comeback ended as Tennessee held on to win 36-23.